Carbonic maceration
Also CM, semi-carbonic maceration, CO2-flushed fermentation
Carbonic maceration borrows a winemaking technique: cherries are held under a carbon dioxide atmosphere so that fermentation begins inside the intact fruit cells before microbes take over. It is a variant of anaerobic fermentation distinguished by deliberately adding CO2 rather than relying on the fermentation's own gas, and it was popularised in barista competitions in the late 2010s.
- Fermentation
- 24–120h
- Drying
- 7–25days
- Water use
- Low
- Origins listing it
- 0
- Ripe cherry
- Sort
- Pulp
- Ferment
- Wash
- Dry
- Hull
- Green
Step by step
Compare every method- 01Load whole or pulped cherry into a sealed tank
- 02Flush or pressurise the tank with carbon dioxide to displace oxygen
- 03Ferment for one to several days at a controlled temperature
- 04Release and either wash and dry as parchment or dry as whole cherry
Cup tendencies
intact-fruit intracellular fermentation gives bright red-fruit, candy-like and sometimes bubblegum notes
Risk
Pressure vessels and gas handling; same over-fermentation risks as other anaerobic methods
Where it is used
Other methods
- Anaerobic fermentation, natural
- Anaerobic fermentation, washed
- Honey process (yellow, red, black)
- Lactic fermentation
- Monsooned Malabar
- Natural (dry process)
- Pulped natural (semi-dry)
- Thermal shock fermentation
- Washed (wet, fully washed)
- Wet-hulled (Giling Basah)
- Yeast-inoculated (starter culture) fermentation