Costa Rican Las Lajas Estate SHB Honey Process Flavor | Production Differences between Natural, Washed, and Honey Processing

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Las Lajas Estate SHB Honey Process Flavor | What are the differences in production between natural, washed, and honey processes?

Las Lajas Estate, run by the Chacón family for three generations, is a beautiful coffee farm with its own ecological processing plant, located on the fertile hilly terrain of Poás Volcano in the Central Valley. Since Francisca Cubillo Salas took over management in 1990, she has uniquely and innovatively committed to establishing natural conservation organic agriculture, and in 2000 became one of the few officially certified organic coffee estates in Costa Rica. The high-quality coffee produced has earned a strong reputation in the market.

They believe that organic farming methods are better choices for environmental protection and the health of their family members. Despite facing many technical and organizational challenges, they still adhere to this belief. Establishing a naturally shaded estate through organic cultivation is a process that requires long-term investment, using native trees for shade. During the cultivation process, no chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used; instead, natural, homemade compost is used to increase crop nutrients, and soil and water conservation are maintained on the farm.

Typically, it takes three to five years of this organic cultivation method until analysis of soil, branches, leaves, and fruits shows no regulated chemical substances before it can be truly recognized as organic cultivation. The estate only harvests fully ripe and high-quality coffee cherries, using water-saving processing methods, using a pulper to remove the outer skin, and placing the parchment beans with mucilage on so-called African drying beds for sun drying.

Maintaining appropriate air circulation during the drying process produces sweeter and cleaner coffee. Waste residues generated during processing are recycled as pulp and fertilizer to maintain the natural balance of the ecological environment.

Flavor Profile

Honey, caramel, nutty aromas, honeyed plum, preserved fruit aromas, vanilla, wine aromas, rich flavor with long aftertaste.

Coffee Information

• Country: Costa Rica
• Region: Central Valley
• Grade: SHB
• Producer: Las Lajas Estate
• Processing Method: Honey Process
• Varieties: Caturra, Catuai
• Altitude: 1300 to 1500 meters
• Harvest Period: December to February

Coffee Processing Methods

The main coffee processing methods are divided into three categories: natural, washed, and honey process. The natural process involves directly drying coffee cherries before removing the outer skin and mucilage layer; the washed process removes the coffee pulp before drying and uses fermentation to remove the mucilage layer; the honey process is介于 between natural and washed processes: after removing the coffee pulp, the mucilage layer is retained and dried.

The term "honey process" leads many people to think that this processing method uses honey to treat coffee, or that coffee processed this way tastes as sweet as honey, but in fact, neither of these explanations is correct. The meaning of honey process comes from the very sticky mucilage layer of coffee beans before drying - the sticky feeling is like honey. When the coffee pulp separates from the coffee beans, the surrounding mucilage layer, after exposure to air, absorbs moisture from the air, making the mucilage layer sticky.

When coffee pulp is screened out, a mucilage layer remains around the coffee beans. The honey process initially started when someone saw that this processing method could continuously improve the quality of their coffee beans, originating in Costa Rica, and this processing method is now trending.

So why did Costa Rican coffee farmers initially consider using the honey process? When coffee farmers want to improve their coffee quality or price, they have three choices: change the coffee tree variety, change the cultivation altitude, or change the processing method. Just like most people brewing coffee, they want to use simpler methods like adjusting grind size and coffee amount, then adjusting the coffee machine's water volume, pressure, and temperature. Most coffee farmers also want to change the processing method first, before considering planting new tree varieties or moving the estate, which require investment of time and money.

The Honey Process: Time-Consuming and Meticulous

The honey process is not simple; processing requires a long time and must be handled carefully. So what steps does the honey process include?

First, coffee farmers must select ripe coffee cherries from coffee trees, then screen out the outer pulp, keeping the mucilage layer around the coffee beans as mentioned earlier. The mucilage layer retains a high proportion of sugar and acidity, and these sweet and acidic components are key to the honey process.

The next step is the most complex and meticulous part of the honey process: drying. Timing must be well-controlled, duration is key. If drying time is too short, the substances from the mucilage layer cannot be transferred to the coffee beans, and the time cannot be too long. Action must be quick to avoid internal fermentation of the beans, which would create moldy beans.

So how to achieve balance? Place the beans on sun drying beds or concrete floors. For the first few days, the beans must be turned several times every hour until the required moisture content is reached. This step usually takes 6-10 hours. For the next 6-8 days, the beans need to be turned at least once a day. Very time-consuming, right? The reason why the honey process sun drying is so time-consuming is that every night the beans absorb moisture from the air, so the next day requires more time for sun drying.

When coffee drying is complete, it's almost ready for drying and roasting like other processing methods. Honey-processed coffee generally has an excellent balance of sweetness and fruit acidity. The flavor is generally not as strong as natural-processed coffee but is fresher and more mellow. Why not? The key to this flavor difference comes from the sugar and acidity in the mucilage layer. During drying, the sugar in the mucilage layer becomes increasingly concentrated, and these sugars penetrate into the coffee beans.

Yellow Honey, Red Honey, Black Honey - What's the Difference?

When you want to buy honey-processed coffee, you usually have choices of yellow honey, red honey, and black honey. You may have heard that these honey processing methods retain different percentages of mucilage layer, but what exactly does this mean?

Coffee farmers will classify coffee, some retaining less mucilage layer for faster drying, while others retain more mucilage layer requiring longer drying time. Yellow honey (approximately 25% mucilage layer retained) must be dried in the least shaded environment (clouds, shade trees) to complete faster, resulting in a yellow appearance. Red honey (approximately 50% mucilage layer retained) takes longer and requires some shade for drying. Black honey (approximately 100% mucilage layer retained) usually needs to be covered during drying to extend the drying time.

Which is Better: Yellow, Red, or Black Honey?

Black honey might be superior. The flavor of honey process is more subtly and deeply influenced by the residual sugar from the mucilage layer - the more mucilage layer retained, the richer the flavor. (This is the original author's viewpoint. Coffee Seedling believes that each processing method has its own unique flavor, varying by personal preference.) However, for coffee producers, they must face another business consideration. Although the benefit of using black honey processing is producing better quality and higher-priced coffee, the risks and costs also increase significantly, which may affect farmers' willingness to use black honey processing.

The longer coffee is dried, the more likely bacteria will grow during fermentation, causing defective moldy beans. More frequent turning of these beans is required, and they occupy more drying space - up to twice as much as yellow honey processing. It's not just about producing high-quality coffee; it's also about enabling coffee farmers to produce the most profitable coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommends Brewing:

• Dripper: Hario V60
• Water Temperature: 90°C
• Grind Size: Fuji Royal grinder setting 3.5
• Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g coffee, first pour 25g water, 25s bloom, second pour to 120g water then stop, wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to halfway before continuing to pour, slowly pour until reaching 225g water, extraction time around 2:00

Analysis:

Using a three-stage brewing method to clearly distinguish the front, middle, and back end flavors of the coffee. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, stopping the water flow can extend the extraction time.

Important Notice :

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