What Are the Taste Differences Between Washed and Natural Coffee Beans - Which is Better and Sweeter

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

Washed and natural processing are two very traditional coffee bean processing methods. Today, FrontStreet Coffee wants to compare the flavor differences of the same coffee bean using different processing methods. In 2020, Blue Mountain, the former coffee champion, introduced natural processing for the first time, and the new season's La Esmeralda Blue Label Geisha also launched naturally processed coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee happens to have these two coffees as examples to comprehensively compare how natural and washed processing affect flavor.

Two Coffees for Comparison

Two beans take part in this comparison. One is FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 from Clifton Farm in Jamaica's Blue Mountain region. This farm is one of the oldest in the Blue Mountain area, and its coffee quality is among the best in Blue Mountain. This year, Clifton Farm also pioneered FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Blue Mountain, changing Blue Mountain's history of having only washed processing.

The other comes from Panama's legend, La Esmeralda. In the new season's Blue Label, they also launched a naturally processed version for the first time. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Label Geisha is considered La Esmeralda's "affordable" line, allowing people to taste La Esmeralda Geisha at a civilian price. Before 2020, La Esmeralda's Geisha offered natural processing only for Red Label and Green Label, so this year's addition of FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Label natural version is undoubtedly a benefit for consumers.

Natural Processing Method

The natural method is the oldest and most original processing method for coffee beans. Over a thousand years ago, Arabs used this method to process coffee. It involves placing harvested coffee cherries directly on patios to dry in the sun for approximately 27-30 days, reducing moisture from 60 percent to about 12 percent. This processing concept is simple and inexpensive, but involves many variables and risks. For a long time it was used to process beans that were not of the highest quality.

Of course, this is an ancient method, and modern times require new natural processing methods, namely refined natural processing. Modern estates in the Blue Mountain and Boquete regions use refined natural processing. First, strict red cherry selection is carried out after harvesting, removing overripe, underripe, and damaged beans. The selected coffee fruits are then spread evenly on raised beds for drying. During the drying process, managers turn the beans to ensure even drying. When coffee moisture reaches about 12 percent, drying is complete, then hulling and polishing are performed before storage for export.

Washed Processing Method

The washed method is a technique invented by the Dutch in the 18th century. Harvested berries are processed through a depulping machine that separates most of the fruit pulp from the beans, then the parchment beans are guided to clean water tanks and soaked for fermentation to completely remove residual pulp layers. Through water processing, underripe and defective beans are selected out by buoyancy, then depulping, also called pulping, removes the coffee fruit skin by machine, leaving coffee with mucilage placed in fermentation tanks for 1-2 days to decompose the mucilage attached to the beans. Then clean water is used to wash the beans clean, and the parchment beans with their parchment skin are dried until moisture content reaches 12 percent for storage. The parchment is removed before export.

If the above seems too dry, here is FrontStreet Coffee's plain-language summary. Regarding natural and washed processing, the essential common characteristic is drying, while the difference is that natural processing dries the entire coffee fruit, whereas washed processing removes the skin, pulp, and mucilage, preserving the original coffee bean (seed) for drying. The drying process is also a fermentation process. In natural processing, the entire coffee fruit participates in fermentation, while in washed processing, mucilage and the original beans ferment in fermentation tanks, with very little fermentation during subsequent drying. Therefore, washed processed beans have very stable flavor control with few natural variables, and beans processed by these two methods each have their own merits.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Analysis

For the natural versions of these two beans, FrontStreet Coffee used the same roasting curves as their washed counterparts to make comparisons, with fine-tuned adjustments based on flavor feedback.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No. 1 uses a medium roast to highlight Blue Mountain's balanced and rich flavor.

165C drum temperature, 130 heat, damper at 3; return to temperature at 1'32", drum temperature 95.8C, heat unchanged; at 3 minutes damper adjusted to 4, at 4 minutes heat increased to 140. When drum temperature reached 153.3C, the bean surface turned yellow, grassy smell completely disappeared, entering the dehydration stage. At 8'36", the bean surface showed ugly wrinkles and black spots, toast smell clearly turned to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the first crack sound. At 10'06" first crack began, developed for 3 minutes after first crack, beans dropped at 198.5C.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Label Geisha uses a medium-light roast to highlight floral and fruit aromas and Geisha's unique pleasant acidity.

180C drum temperature, 130 heat, damper at 3; return to temperature at 1'32", drum temperature 104C, damper opened to 4, heat unchanged; when drum temperature reached 151.6C, the bean surface turned yellow, grassy smell completely disappeared, entering the dehydration stage. At 7'56", the bean surface showed ugly wrinkles and black spots, toast smell clearly turned to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the first crack sound. At 8'30" first crack began, damper opened to 5, developed for 1'28 after first crack, beans dropped at 190C.

FrontStreet Coffee Analysis

Natural vs Washed Bean Characteristics

First, observing FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain green beans, whether natural or washed, the beans are very full, with uniform size, slightly pointed at both ends, and oval in shape. From the side, the beans are flat and thin, typical of pure Typica varieties.

Observing FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Label Geisha green beans, Geisha coffee beans are slender, pointed at both ends, and elongated in shape, very easy to identify.

Comparing natural and washed processed green coffee beans, you will clearly notice that naturally processed green beans appear yellowish, while washed processed green beans appear dark green, with incomplete silver skin attached.

Observing the roasted beans, the biggest difference between natural and washed beans is that natural beans' silver skin comes off very cleanly, while washed beans retain pale yellow silver skin along the center line.

The reason is that during roasting, the silver skin at the coffee bean's center line is the most difficult to remove. Natural beans' outer silver skin connects as one piece, making it easier to remove along with the center line silver skin, while washed beans' silver skin attaches in fragments to the bean surface, and the silver skin in the center line cracks cannot easily separate.

Natural vs Washed Flavor Characteristics

FrontStreet Coffee immediately conducted horizontal comparisons of FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Blue Mountain and FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Blue Label with their corresponding washed processed coffee beans, obtaining the following sensory flavor characteristics:

FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Blue Mountain: Nutty, cocoa, berry sweetness and acidity, brown sugar

FrontStreet Coffee's Washed Blue Mountain: Chocolate, nutty flavors, high cleanliness, balanced mouthfeel

FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Blue Label Geisha: Fermented wine aroma, fruit sweetness, cantaloupe, tropical fruits

FrontStreet Coffee's Washed Blue Label Geisha: Jasmine floral aroma, citrus acidity, clean and bright, honey

In summary, using different processing methods on the same bean produces clear flavor trends. Natural processing tends toward sweetness and fermented notes, with richer fruit flavors and layered variation. Washed processed beans have milder, cleaner flavors. Light roasting also highlights the bean's acidity and subtle aromas.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

This comparison shows how much processing can change a single bean, and FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain and Geisha offerings let you taste both sides for yourself. The FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 comes from Clifton Farm, the same historic estate featured here, and its medium-dark roast brings the balanced, clean washed profile of nuts, cream, chocolate, and caramel with a soft sweetness. If you are drawn to the natural side of the Blue Mountain experiment, the FrontStreet Natural Blue Mountain layers nutty, cocoa, and berry sweetness over brown sugar for a noticeably fruitier cup. For the Geisha half of the test, the FrontStreet Green Label Geisha and the FrontStreet Blue Label Geisha keep the classic jasmine, citrus, and honey character of washed Geisha while showing how a natural version adds cantaloupe and fermented fruit depth. Tasting a washed and a natural lot side by side is the quickest way to understand everything this article explains.