Skip to content
CoffeeHQ

Thermal shock processing

A processing variant in which cherries or parchment are deliberately exposed to a rapid temperature change (commonly an ice or cold-water bath, or alternating hot and cold water) partway through an otherwise standard washed, honey or anaerobic process — intended to interrupt or alter fermentation activity at a chosen point rather than letting it run to a fixed time or pH target. Like carbonic maceration, this is a recent, producer-driven experimental technique rather than a long-established regional tradition, and terminology and technique both vary by producer.

Steps

  1. Standard depulping and initial fermentation (washed, honey or anaerobic, depending on the base process)
  2. Rapid temperature-change intervention (e.g. ice-water bath) at a chosen point
  3. Resumed fermentation or direct transition to drying
  4. Drying

Possible flavour influence

  • producers report using it to aim for cleaner or more controlled fermentation outcomes than an uninterrupted ferment

Inferred, not independently verified — A very recent experimental technique with limited independent published evidence; claims about its flavour effect currently rest mainly on producer reporting rather than controlled comparison.