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Any and all natural process coffee was viewed as inferior, it went directly to the cheaper end of the market, with the exception of some Brazils which have always produced clean naturals. Any detectable ferment taste would be scored as a defect and that lot would go to lower commodity grade.
As tastes got more adventurous people realised some fermenty flavours were enjoyable like those in high quality Ethiopias and they started getting traded in speciality markets. This led to the present day extremes of experimentation with ferment flavour producing polarising coffees which you’ll either be excited or revolted by.
It’s just progress. Before speciality took hold, flavour and style was defined by how much or little you carbonise the coffee in the roast. Now any hint of roast influence is deemed unacceptable in fancy circles. It’s the inverse of the fermentation thing.
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Stevethecoffee
Decomposition is exactly what I was getting at!
So if I understand that correctly, berry sweetness was undesirable for the longest time?
Interesting to hear your attitude towards sustainability via purchasing - it’s an aspect I had never even considered as a consumer. Makes total sense - I could see how chasing the newest developments and techniques from farmers would be fairly unstable for all parties.