Thermal shock fermentation
Also double fermentation with thermal shock, hot-cold shock
'Thermal shock' describes a family of producer-devised protocols, mainly from Colombia, in which fermenting coffee is deliberately heated and then cooled (or the reverse) to reset microbial activity between fermentation phases. It is marketed widely in competition coffees, but we found no peer-reviewed description of a standard protocol or its measured effects, so quantitative fields are left empty and the method is recorded as a producer practice rather than a defined standard.
- Fermentation
- none as a step
- Drying
- not published
- Water use
- Medium
- Origins listing it
- 0
- Ripe cherry
- Sort
- Pulp
- Ferment
- Wash
- Dry
- Hull
- Green
Step by step
Compare every method- 01Ferment pulped or whole cherry (often anaerobically)
- 02Rapidly heat or cool the mass (for example a hot-water rinse followed by cold water) to halt one microbial phase and start another
- 03Continue fermentation, then wash or dry as the base method requires
Cup tendencies
producers report heightened aromatic intensity; not characterised in peer-reviewed sensory work found for this project
Risk
Thermal stress can damage seed viability and flavour precursors; results are highly producer-specific
Where it is used
Common in, per the method's sources
Origins and regions that list it
No origin record lists it yet.