Steel Oak Joins James Hoffmann's Global Fermentation Project

Steel Oak is one of the roasters taking part in James Hoffmann and Lucia Solis's Fermentation Project, a global coffee cupping built around a single question: how much does fermentation actually change what's in your cup. Our green coffee arrives later this month. Pre-orders open shortly, and we're hosting an event at the roastery in Ormond Beach to support the public tasting, tentatively set for September.

In this post

• What is the Fermentation Project, exactly?
• How does the testing actually work?
• Why does fermentation change how coffee tastes?
• What Steel Oak is doing for the project
• FAQ

What is the Fermentation Project, exactly?

The Fermentation Project is a global coffee cupping event organized by James Hoffmann, the World Barista Championship judge, Square Mile Coffee co-founder, and one of the most-watched voices in specialty coffee, in partnership with Lucia Solis, a fermentation and green coffee expert who has spent years studying what actually happens to a coffee cherry between picking and drying.

It's a follow-up to last year's project, which focused on decaffeination and sold around 30,000 tasting kits to roasters and coffee drinkers around the world. This year the theme is fermentation, and the goal is narrower and more useful than it sounds: not "weird and wacky" experimental ferments, but the fundamentals. What does a clean, controlled fermentation process actually do to flavor, and how much of what we taste in a fermented coffee comes from the process itself rather than the bean.

How does the testing actually work?

Solis took one single lot of coffee grown in Guatemala and split it into four micro-lots. Each micro-lot went through a different fermentation process, with everything else (the farm, the variety, the altitude, the picking) held constant. That's the part that makes this interesting to anyone who roasts or drinks coffee for a living: it isolates fermentation as the one variable that changed, so any difference in the cup is coming from the process and not from a different farm or a different harvest.

The four micro-lots are being offered to roasters in a single project offering. Steel Oak Coffee was selected to participate in this project and our shipment of green coffee is expected to arrive later this month.

Why does fermentation change how coffee tastes?

Fermentation happens during processing, after the cherry is picked and before the bean is dried. Wild and added yeasts and bacteria break down the sugars and mucilage around the bean, and the byproducts of that breakdown (acids, alcohols, esters) get absorbed into the bean itself. That's why a washed coffee, a natural, and an anaerobic-fermented coffee from the exact same farm can taste like three different coffees. The processing didn't just clean the bean, it changed its chemistry.

This is also why fermentation has been the most talked-about topic in specialty coffee over the past two years. Competition cuppers keep scoring heavily fermented and co-fermented lots higher, roasters keep chasing those scores, and the industry is still arguing about where the line is between "complex" and "out of control." The Fermentation Project is, in part, an attempt to answer that with controlled data instead of just opinions at a cupping table, and we wanted Steel Oak in that conversation.

What Steel Oak is doing for the project

We signed Steel Oak Coffee up to roast and offer the four Fermentation Project micro-lots. The green coffee lands at the roastery (187 S Yonge St, Ormond Beach, FL) later this month, and once it's in, we'll roast it, cup it, and get it on the shelf.

Pre-order for the coffee will open shortly, before the coffees are even roasted, so you can lock in a tasting kit and participate in the project, while it lasts.

We're also planning to host an event at the roastery to support the public tasting, tentatively planned for September. The plan is to pour our coffees alongside the others as part of the broader global tasting, so Ormond Beach gets a seat at a table that's normally just an industry conversation. Details on the date, time, and how to RSVP are coming as soon as they're locked.

A project that isolates fermentation as a single variable and lets the cup speak for itself is the kind of thing we want our customers to experience. 

Frequently asked questions

Who is Lucia Solis?

Lucia Solis is a green coffee and fermentation specialist, a member of the 2021 Sprudge Twenty cohort, and the co-creator of the Fermentation Project alongside James Hoffmann. Her work focuses on the science of what happens to coffee during processing, particularly fermentation.

What was last year's project about?

Last year's project focused on decaffeination methods and sold roughly 30,000 tasting kits to roasters and coffee drinkers worldwide, making it one of the largest coordinated coffee tastings ever run.

When can I get the Steel Oak Fermentation Project coffee?

Our green coffee arrives later this month. Pre-order opens shortly, ahead of roasting, so you can reserve the tasting kit before it's gone.

Is there an event in Ormond Beach for this?

Yes. Steel Oak is hosting an event at the roastery to support the public tasting, tentatively scheduled for September. We'll share the date, time, and RSVP details as soon as they're confirmed.

What's the difference between natural, washed, and anaerobic processing?

Washed coffee has its mucilage removed before fermentation and drying, which produces a cleaner, brighter cup. Natural coffee ferments and dries inside the whole cherry, producing heavier body and more fruit-forward sweetness. Anaerobic fermentation happens in a sealed, oxygen-free tank, which tends to produce more intense, sometimes boozy or tropical flavors. The Fermentation Project is built to test exactly these kinds of differences under controlled conditions.