The Fermentation Project
😱 We've only got a limited supply available on-presale so once we're out, we're out!
Estimated shipping is August 17. If you add an additional item to your cart with The Fermentation Project it will be shipped with it in mid August :)
The Fermentation Project cannot be added to existing orders.
We didn't think twice. When The Fermentation Project opened its doors to roasters worldwide, inviting anyone curious enough to explore how fermentation actually shapes what ends up in your cup, we jumped at the chance. Funky, nerdy, mad-scientist vibe coffee is exactly what FUNK is here for, and this project has let us bring fermentation straight to you.
Led by James Hoffmann and Lucia Solis, The Fermentation Project takes a single lot of coffee and asks one thing: how much does fermentation actually change what we taste? Does each track really have a new groove to it?
Flip the record and let your tastebuds dance through the four processes. Close your eyes and listen to what you're experiencing. The same farm, same variety, and same altitude. The only thing that changes is what happens to the bean after it's picked, which is exactly the kind of detail we live for.
In typical FUNK fashion, there's a twist: there isn't a single tasting note on any of these 100g cans. Not an oversight, a choice. Put on a set of headphones, close your eyes, and taste it cup against cup. Land on your own opinion about what each process actually did. Brew the baseline first, then work through the three fermented coffees side by side. It's up to you to decide what each one is spinning.
Save some for October 3: Don't drink your way through the whole set right away. We're hosting a live tasting at FUNK Coffee Bar in Vancouver on September with The Fermentation Project. Keep your beans cool and dry until then. Finish off your experience with a custom Fermentation Project hoodie, designed by the FUNK team just for this release.
About The Fermentation Project
A global tasting experience from James Hoffman, Lucia Solis, and sourcing partner Caravela. Explore four distinct fermentation approaches using coffees from Guatemala rooted in traditional processes, guided by intentional control, and crafted for clarity in the cup.
FAQ
Stuff Everyone’s AskingWe provide free shipping for all orders over $75 within Canada. Shipping can take anywhere from one to 10 days within Canada, longer if you're outside the country.
Your tracking number will be sent to the email address provided when your order has been processed. Funk Coffee is not responsible for delays in your package delivery. If you have any concerns with your delivery, or need to change delivery arrangements, please first check the status of the tracking number sent to you before contacting us.
Wholesale orders for customers in the Lower Mainland, placed by 12pm on Wednesdays, are delivered the next Thursday. That's also when we deliver any orders for pickup at FUNK Coffee Bar, located at 1025 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver. You will receive an email when your order is ready for pickup!
All sales are final. If your order was damaged along the way, please reach out to orders@funk.coffee so we can resolve this as quickly as possible.
Yes! We currently offer two locations where you can pick up your order — FUNK Coffee Bar and House of Funk Brewing. Simply choose the "Pickup in-store" option at checkout and select your desired pickup location.
We deliver orders to those locations for pickup on Thursday afternoons. To ensure your order is included, place it no later than 10am the previous Wednesday!
Such a key question. Once roasted, coffee can stay fresh for several weeks — even a full month or two, if it’s sealed in an airtight container away from heat, light, and moisture. As it happens, our 250g coffee cans keep beans beautifully fresh, with their opaque material and the oxygen-scavenging seal in the cap. We’ve even had great results from freezing the beans, again in airtight, watertight packaging.
We tend to find coffee is too fresh if it’s brewed right after roasting, as the beans haven’t had time to rest and degas. Try it and you’ll find all that gas actually disrupts the contact of water to grinds, causing uneven extraction. Give the beans 3-7 days to age, and you’ll enjoy those exciting funky flavours all the more.
At the Coffee Bar, we actually age our espresso for at least three weeks before service!
Ideally, one week after the roast date — but at our Coffee Bar, we rest our espresso (sealed in its bag and stored away from heat, light, and moisture) for three weeks.
We want our coffees to be a full expression of the varietal, terroir, and process that the producers have so masterfully cultivated. So we roast the beans just long enough for our good friend Maillard to bring those funky flavours to palatable, aromatic life. Any longer and the exciting, naturally-occuring acidity in the coffee starts to degrade, and the flavour vibrancy we’re crazy about begins to dim.
As we love to say — acidity is not a crime, and you deserve better than bitter!
No sweat — the tasting notes we list are simply the flavours that coffee reminds us of, not in any way a reflection of the ingredients. Our coffees do not interact with anything else in our roastery, except for our barrel-aged coffees. They may have been grown or shipped alongside other products but generally there are no lasting vestiges of any allergens.
Acidity is the stuff of life!! It’s acidity that makes our favourite foods so next-level delicious. Think about how much you’d miss the tangy tomato sauce on your pizza, the hot sauce on your chicken wings, or the ketchup on your fries…
That secret pickle juice addition makes potato salad a million times better. Bananas would taste only of sugar without a smidge of tartaric acid. And believe it or not, honey is quite acidic, landing somewhere between 3.2 and 4.5 on the pH scale (right up there with grapes, peaches, and tomatoes).
We roast our coffee light here at FUNK, which means the naturally occurring acids (citric, malic, acetic, lactic, etc.) that result from the unique combination of varietal, growing conditions, region, processing, etc. and create such exciting profiles, tend to degrade when exposed to higher temperatures for longer periods of time.
Quinic acid, meanwhile, develops as those acids degrade during roasting, creating sour, bitter, and astringent flavours. You deserve better than bitter, so we lean into bright, sparkling acidity!
So glad you asked! They’re emblematic of when we roasted coffee and brewed beer under the same roof as House of Funk. We were gifted the can concept by our beer brethren — the crowlers are usually made for holding beer, but they’re actually ideal for coffee: the aluminum is porous, shielding the contents from air and light; there’s an oxygen-scavenging seal in the cap that continues to draw oxygen out of the can even once opened; and the sides provide ample real estate for showcasing funky artistic collaborations.
So glad you're keen to subscribe!
We offer two types of subscriptions: our Coffee Subscription Box, which includes two new limited release coffees shipped out to subscribers each month, and our Timeless Series subscriptions, which includes your choice of Technicolour, Monochrome, Mellow Caramelo, or Downtempo Decaf in 2LB or 5LB bags, delivered to your address at the frequency of your choosing.