Differences Between Natural and Wine-Flavor Natural Process Coffee Beans_Coffee Bean Temperature_Natural Process Coffee Buying Guide

Natural Dry Processing Method

Coffee beans are the seeds of coffee fruit, also known as coffee cherries. Remove the outer skin and pulp of the coffee fruit and you get two coffee seeds, which are the raw beans. Ripe coffee fruit spoils easily after harvest, so it must be processed promptly for storage and transport. There are several ways to process coffee fruit, including natural, washed, and honey methods. For the natural dry method, the counterpart is the wine-flavor natural method. So what are the steps of these two methods, what are their advantages and disadvantages, and how do they differ?

Natural dry processing is the most traditional method, in which the fruit is dried in the sun after harvest. The steps are as follows:

1. After harvesting, farmers place the fruit directly in the drying yard to dry under sunlight;
2. During drying, the fruit must be turned and stirred periodically to avoid uneven drying or fermentation;
3. After several days, the fruit is fully dried;
4. The dried fruit is run through a hulling machine to remove the pulp and skin, extracting the raw beans.

Advantages: Coffee fruit processed by the natural method keeps its mucilage. Because mucilage itself tastes sweet, the sugars transfer to the beans during natural drying. Natural coffee therefore has relatively stronger sweetness, rich flavors, and distinct layers.

Disadvantages: There may be more defective beans and an inconsistent appearance, and the beans easily absorb odors and earthy flavors from the ground.

Wine-Flavor Natural Processing Method

The wine-flavor natural method has two extra words compared with plain natural processing. Does that mean alcohol is involved? The answer is no. It does not mean red wine is added during processing; rather, its fermentation method and degree resemble red wine fermentation. The steps are similar to the natural method, but the fermentation time is longer, which is where the name comes from. The steps are as follows:

1. After harvesting ripe red fruit, farmers place it directly in the drying yard to dry under sunlight;
2. During drying, the degree of fermentation is monitored continuously.

Advantages: Wine-flavor natural coffee has a higher share of ripe red fruit and a longer fermentation than regular natural coffee, which increases sweetness and gives the cup rich layers and a fermented flavor similar to red wine.

Disadvantages: This method consumes labor and time and is not suited to mass production, so it is generally used for more expensive coffees.

Natural Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's freshly roasted single-origin natural coffees, such as natural Yirgacheffe and natural Sidamo, are fully guaranteed in both brand and quality and suit any brewing equipment. More importantly, they offer excellent value: a half-pound (227g) bag costs only around 70-90 yuan. At 200ml per cup with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, one package makes 15 cups of specialty coffee, or only about 5-6 yuan per cup. Compared with the dozens of yuan per cup charged in coffee shops, that is extremely high value.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

This article deals with natural and wine-flavor natural processing, but the honey family sits between them and is worth knowing for the same reason: processing decides flavor. Honey processing grew out of the semi-washed method, in which the skin is removed before drying to shorten drying time and avoid off-flavors from poor fermentation. Brazil's classic semi-washed Cerrado, with its creamy, peanut, nutty, and chocolate notes, drew Costa Rica's attention, and Costa Rica adapted the approach by varying how much mucilage is left on the bean and how long it dries, producing the distinct black, red, yellow, and white honey styles.

FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Blackberry uses the black honey method, which removes almost no mucilage and dries for at least two weeks, with covers used to keep the sun from drying the fruit too quickly and regular turning to prevent uneven fermentation. It demands more attention than other methods. Roasted medium-light, it releases a rich floral aroma when ground and shows grape, berry, and ripe blackberry in the cup.

For a fruitier, sweeter result, FrontStreet's Strawberry Candy pairs a Panama Geisha with a Costa Rican coffee processed by the raisin-honey method, which keeps 100% of the mucilage and uses no water. Cherries are sorted in a water tank, with underripe and overripe fruit floating to the surface and removed, then dried on raised beds for at least three days before the skin is taken off and drying continues. The result has the floral-tea character of Geisha along with raisin and dried blueberry notes, soft fruit acidity, an almond finish, and clear sweetness. FrontStreet also offers the Costa Rica Mozart, made with the same raisin-honey method, whose longer, more delicate process brings out richer dried-fruit sweetness, with osmanthus, pineapple, and raisin aromas coming through whether you brew it as pour-over, cold brew, or in a moka pot.