Cup Engineering

The scan

What's new in coffee

Industry news, published research, notable bean releases and equipment launches, gathered by a weekly scan and ranked by how much they should change what you do at the brew bar. Highlighted cards are the must-reads.

AllIndustryResearchBeansEquipment|Must-reads only

Week of Sep 14, 2026

1 item
BeansGlobal Coffee ReportT4 · Press

Pact Coffee Pays Record $55.50/kg for DRC's First Anaerobic Coffee Lot

At the Best of Congo Cooperatives auction (Sept 1-3, 2026) in London, UK roaster Pact Coffee outbid 63 other buyers to win Izuba, the top-scoring lot from growers at the Yetu Qahwah washing station — the first anaerobically fermented coffee produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The winning bid of $55.50/kg set a new price record for Congolese coffee; judges cited caramel and honey notes with a cognac-like finish. Every lot in the auction sold, with bidders from three continents.

Why it matters: It shows DRC moving beyond commodity-grade robusta and washed arabica into experimental fermentation, and Congolese lots starting to compete on price with more established East African origins.

Publication date unknown · collected Sep 14, 2026

fermentationprocessingprices

Week of Sep 5, 2026

3 items
ResearchBeverage Plant Research· Jul 7, 2026T1 · Peer-reviewed / standard

Anaerobic natural processing enriches the most flavour precursors in Catimor green beans

Haohao Yu and Faguang Hu's team at the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences split one batch of Catimor cherries from Baoshan, Yunnan, into four treatments (washed, natural, anaerobic-then-washed, anaerobic-then-natural), ran untargeted metabolomics on the green beans and cupped the roasted coffee. Processing method reshaped the green-bean metabolome, and the anaerobic natural treatment showed the strongest enrichment of amino acids, nucleotides, organic acids, flavonoids and tannins; 75 metabolites (including D-mannose, D-glucose, L-lactic acid, GABA, caffeic and sinapic acid) correlated with sensory attributes and were flagged as flavour precursors. Anaerobically fermented lots scored higher than conventional ones on dry/wet aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body and balance, while washed coffee scored higher on cleanliness and lower on sweetness. Caveats: a single variety, farm and season; the article gives correlations, not causal links between named compounds and cup attributes; the journal is a newer, lower-profile title.

Why it matters: When a bag says 'anaerobic natural', expect more sweetness and body and a busier aromatic profile than the washed lot from the same farm, and treat 'clean' washed coffees as a different, not lesser, target; it also explains why anaerobic Catimor from Yunnan is turning up on specialty menus.

Published Jul 7, 2026 · collected Sep 5, 2026

processingfermentationsensorygreen-coffeevarieties
BeansSey CoffeeT5 · Maker / roaster

Sey releases its first Aji separation from William Ortiz's La Cabaña in Pitalito, Huila

Sey's 2026 Colombia line-up from William Ortiz (La Cabaña, Pitalito, Huila, 1,700 masl) now includes a single-variety Aji lot, the first time Sey has offered this rare Colombian variety from him. Cherries are floated, held overnight, de-pulped, dry-fermented for 36 hours, washed and dried on raised beds to 10.5% moisture. Sey describes the cup as rose, açaí and ripe raspberry. Sibling lots from the same farm include Chiroso, Pink Bourbon and a second-harvest Chiroso.

Why it matters: Aji is one of the few Colombian varieties with a cup as floral and fruit-driven as Gesha; this is a rare chance to compare Aji, Chiroso and Pink Bourbon from one producer and one process.

Publication date unknown · collected Sep 5, 2026

varietiesprocessingharvest
BeansSey CoffeeT5 · Maker / roaster

Sey's 2026 Peru season opens with a wet-fermented SL9 from Carlos Saenz's Machay Pata

Sey's 2026 Peru release from Carlos Saenz (Machay Pata, in the valley around Amaybamba) is a washed lot of the SL9 variety, de-pulped on the day of harvest, wet-fermented for 32 hours and dried on raised beds to 10.5% moisture. Sey describes the cup as mango, jasmine and lychee. It joins other 2026 Peru lots from the Saenz family and Gilber Huayllas as the new Peruvian crop lands.

Why it matters: Peru is at peak freshness now and SL9 is a variety most drinkers have never tasted; this is a clean washed benchmark for the origin before the more common Typica and Caturra lots arrive.

Publication date unknown · collected Sep 5, 2026

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