What is The Fermentation Project?

The Fermentation Project is a global coffee tasting event co-organized by James Hoffmann and Lucia Solis, offering a rare opportunity to explore how fermentation shapes coffee. This project invites us to taste four expressions of a single harvest, each guided by a different controlled fermentation method.

What’s in the Kit?

At the heart of the kit is one coffee from Guatemala’s Finca San Miguel Urias, composed of Caturra, H1, and Bourbon varieties. The lot has been divided into four expressions, each processed through a different approach: mechanical demucilagination, wild fermentation, lactobacillus inoculation, and yeast inoculation.

We’ve added one more expression of our own — Alo Coffee’s award-winning River Flow Fermentation from Ethiopia. Here, anaerobic fermentation aided by the movement of running water, showing how a natural, physical element specific to the terroir uniquely influences a cup's character.

Each kit contains 5 coffees in 100g bags. Whole beans roasted to order from mid-September for the Global Tasting Event on 3rd October 2026.

How to use the Kit?

Prepare the coffees side by side and follow James Hoffmann’s guided tasting. With the coffees presented together, you can explore how each processing method influences aroma, flavor, acidity, body, and overall character.

When to use the Kit?

Mark your calendar for October 3, when James Hoffmann will lead us through The Fermentation Project: Global Tasting Event and guide us in discovering the many expressions fermentation can bring to coffee.

Hold on to your curiosity, friends. The tasting begins soon.