Myth busting

Mario Fernández has a growing list of more than 50 problems, but his determination is not one. Rather, his spreadsheet of issues consist of common coffee processing myths he says are simply rumours that have circulated like a bad case of Chinese whispers.

For the past few years, that’s included the poor quality and mistrust of natural processed coffees, false claims about yeast fermentation and honey-processing methods, and one of Mario’s particular favourites – people preferring solar drying over mechanical drying just because it’s “more environmentally friendly”.

“We have to start myth busting. People process coffee all over the world, but no-one taught us how to do it properly,” says Mario of Coffee Quality Institute (CQI), a non-profit organisation working internationally to improve the quality of coffee and the lives of those who produce it. “There is no school to