The Fermentation Process Nobody Else Is Running Quite Like This - Ana Maria Donneys

Most anaerobic coffees chase intensity — heavy, funky, unmistakable, the kind of cup that announces itself the moment you smell it. That's a valid approach, and plenty of excellent coffees are built around it. It's also not the only approach, and most bags don't tell you which goal a producer was actually working toward.

So when a coffee is anaerobic and fermented for nearly four days total, the instinct is to expect something loud. This one isn't. And that's not an accident — it's a specific, deliberate target.

Fifth Generation, One New Process

Ana María Donneys grows coffee at Finca Primitivo in Quindío, Colombia, land that's been farmed by her family for five generations. But the lot she's become known for — called Green Mist — isn't inherited technique. It's something she built herself, aimed at a very particular outcome: clarity, not intensity.

The process runs in two stages. First, 24 hours of carbonic maceration. Then 72 more hours of the same. Then an extended anaerobic period that stretches the total fermentation time to nearly 96 hours, guided throughout by selected yeasts rather than left to chance. Every stage is a decision about restraint — how far to push fermentation without letting it dominate the final cup.

What Restraint Tastes Like

The payoff shows up clearly in the cup: fresh mint, jasmine, cocoa. Clean, layered, and precise, rather than heavy or overpowering. It's proof that "anaerobic" doesn't have to mean "loud" — it can just as easily mean controlled.

Ana María's work extends beyond her own fermentation program, too. She's a co-founder of IWCA Colombia, an organization supporting women building careers in specialty coffee — a role that reflects the same deliberate, long-view thinking that shows up in her processing work.

[PHOTO — Ana María at Finca Primitivo] 

We buy this lot from Ana María and stay in touch as she continues refining the process. Green Mist is what happens when someone chases precision over volume — and gets it.

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