Why Natural Process Coffee Beans Have Become Mainstream in Specialty Coffee_ Natural Process Coffee Brand Recommendations

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Reasons Why Natural Process Coffee Beans Are the Future of Specialty Coffee

Natural processing saves water resources.

Natural process beans offer rich flavors.

What is Natural Coffee?

For those unfamiliar with natural coffee, please don't feel inadequate, and for those who do understand natural coffee, please don't be arrogant. The main issue is that there are currently too many terms describing natural processing in the coffee market, causing confusion. "Pulped Natural," "Honey Coffee," "Dry-Milled," and "Semi-washed" are merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to green bean processing methods, and I've found that even coffee professionals frequently confuse these concepts and use them inaccurately.

In short, "Natural Coffee," or naturally processed coffee, involves sun-drying coffee cherries, either whole or with the fruit pulp (skin) removed. In contrast, the washed method uses water to peel coffee cherries, ferment them, remove mucilage, and complete a series of processes to create green coffee beans. Therefore, there are significant differences between natural and washed processing.

Natural Processing Saves More Water Than Washed Processing

One of the best reasons I love natural coffee is that natural processing requires very little water. The washed method uses at least 10 kilograms of water per kilogram of green beans, while natural processing uses at most 1 kilogram of water per kilogram. You can imagine what a disaster it would be for Earth's water resources if all green bean processing plants used the washed method.

Considering that currently 85% of green bean processing plants worldwide are still in water-stressed conditions but must use the washed method to process beans, yet they lack advanced scientific and technological support, and few coffee buyers and roasters help these farmers fund equipment upgrades. This is one of the reasons I prefer the natural method.

Ongoing Debates Continue Today

There are various opinions about natural processing methods for green beans, and reaching a final conclusion is certainly not simple. Washed or not washed? Natural or not natural? If you dig deeper, you'll find many "gray areas" in between.

Geoff Watts, founder of Intelligentsia Coffee, articulated this debate very well on the official blog, though that article has now been taken down. His main point was that "as a specialty coffee industry, natural processing may not be what we should promote at this stage."

I believe the biggest issue between natural and washed processing lies in the consistency of green bean quality. Due to various environmental impacts, natural bean quality cannot remain "consistently uniform." The reason Geoff Watts said this is because he didn't want coffee farmers to be put in difficult situations just to satisfy those "coffee extremists," ignoring farmers' risks and letting them be consumed by the fickle market characteristics of specialty coffee.

Different viewpoints approach the problem from different angles. Those zealous coffee lovers who advocate for natural processing are like stubborn new money wearing fur, disregarding the life and death of coffee farmers. However, water scarcity has become a fatal problem for coffee-producing countries, and natural processing offers an excellent solution. So, each side has its own reasoning.

The Flavor of Natural Coffee Beans is Truly Excellent

At a symposium held in 2015, Dr. Flavio Borem gave a brilliant presentation on natural processing, pointing out that when done properly, natural coffee is truly delicious.

In the market, natural coffee isn't actually that rare, but only a few cuppers and buyers evaluate it. Here are some professional understandings of natural coffee:

Ryan Ahn from Gastrograph: "Natural coffee has excellent fruit notes, rounded body, balanced and harmonious, highlighting subtle differences in origin and cultivar, elegant to appreciate, and full of flavor."

Kenneth Davids from Coffeereview: "Brandy fruit fermentation flavors, berry sweet and sour notes, dark chocolate flavors, quieter mouthfeel, full of fruit."

Kenneth Davids from Coffeereview: "Sweet and spicy, already possessing all the characteristics of washed processing, but with rich chocolate flavors, the wonder of honey processing lies in its sweetness."

Conclusion

Looking at the current development of the specialty coffee industry, natural coffee should have a future. Downstream coffee industry participants should provide economic and technical support to source processing plants, systematically improve natural processing procedures, and launch better-tasting, more balanced natural coffees.

Natural Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's freshly roasted single-origin natural coffee beans—such as Natural Yirgacheffe and Natural Sidamo—offer full guarantees in both brand and quality, suitable for brewing with various equipment. More importantly, they offer extremely high value-for-money: a half-pound (227g) bag costs only around 70-90 yuan. Calculating at 200ml per cup with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, one bag can make 15 cups of specialty coffee, with each cup costing only 5-6 yuan. Compared to coffee shops selling cups for tens of yuan, this represents excellent value.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online shop services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473