What Does Washed Coffee Bean Mean - Pros and Cons of Washed Coffee Beans - Flavor Comparison Between Washed and Natural Coffee Processing

For more professional coffee knowledge exchanges and coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

Washed Processing: Another Method for Processing Green Coffee Beans

Processing Steps

1. Harvesting (same as natural processing). Can be done by machine or hand-picking.

Specialty grade coffee must be hand-picked, selecting fully mature coffee cherries. Some estates even wait until the cherries turn slightly purple before harvesting (for example, the famous Panama Elida Estate).

2. Screening – Removing pulp and skin

This can be done by manual screening or machine screening.

The depulping machine simultaneously serves the function of separating immature beans and removing the skin and pulp.

First, the green beans are placed in a large water pool. According to the principle of gravity, mature fruits sink while immature fruits float on the surface and are separated.

The skin and pulp are removed, and immature beans are separated once again (immature beans have harder pulp that cannot pass through the small opening of the depulping machine).

3. Fermentation in water pools for 12-36 hours

The purpose of fermentation is to use microorganisms to remove the mucilage remaining on the inner parchment of the coffee. During this period, the fermentation must be checked and confirmed to avoid over-fermentation. Over-fermentation causes coffee beans to become acidic.

It's worth mentioning that the water used for green bean fermentation can cause significant pollution to the nearby environment. Currently, some estates (such as Guatemala's Black Angel Estate) treat and recycle the fermented water for irrigation, while coffee cherry skins are made into organic fertilizer to reduce environmental pollution.

4. Washing

The beans are washed in flowing water pools, using the friction between beans and the impact of water to wash the coffee beans until they become smooth. This also helps to screen out lighter beans such as those damaged by insects.

5. Drying. Sun-drying/machine drying, or a combination of both.

During the sun-drying process, the beans must be turned over at least every six hours to ensure even drying, ventilation, and to prevent mold. This continues until the moisture content of the green beans reaches 10-12%.

6. Defect sorting and grading.

7. Removal of parchment (inner skin) before export.

Appearance

The green beans of washed coffee are greener in color than those processed by the natural method, and have more attached silver skin. The center line of washed roasted beans is very distinct.

Flavor

For the same green bean, washed coffee beans will be cleaner and have brighter acidity than natural processed beans.

Some specialty coffee association professionals once believed that only washed coffee beans could represent the quality of specialty coffee. However, with improvements in various processing methods, this view is now questioned and opposed. Some even believe that the washing process causes coffee to lose some soluble substances, which may lead to the loss of certain flavors, and could be the main reason why washed coffee beans are not as full-bodied as natural or semi-washed beans.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small storefront but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide 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