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Understanding the Washed Processing Method

The washed processing method, as its name suggests, is a processing approach that utilizes water. However, to be precise, we need to understand the differences between processing methods by examining the structure of the coffee fruit. The traditional washed processing steps include floating, depulping, fermentation to remove mucilage, washing or soaking, and finally drying.

In coffee-producing regions, coffee cherries are transported to washed processing facilities as quickly as possible after harvesting. Once "entering the facility," the coffee cherries begin contact with water. The cherries undergo a floating operation in water. Mature coffee cherries, having grown completely with sufficient weight, will sink in water; underdeveloped or insufficiently dense cherries will float on the surface. Workers remove these unqualified defective beans, which represents the first more refined factor of washed processing compared to traditional natural drying methods.

The coffee cherries selected through floating are sent to a depulper to remove the peel and pulp from the coffee fruit structure. At this point, the coffee still retains a sticky mucilage layer. How to remove this layer is a key aspect of the washed processing method. Generally, the washed processing method chooses to use microbial decomposition to remove the mucilage layer, which is "fermentation."

The coffee beans with mucilage undergo fermentation for 18 to 36 hours, with the time determined by factors such as the quantity of coffee beans and weather temperature. Initially, workers can rub the beans with their hands to check if the sticky mucilage still remains on the coffee beans. Because the purpose of traditional washed processing fermentation was originally to remove mucilage, unlike today's approach of pursuing fermentation products to enhance coffee flavor expression.

After fermentation is complete, the coffee beans are washed with clean water. After washing away the decomposed mucilage, they are sent to drying areas for drying. Sun drying takes about two weeks. The advantage of washed processing compared to sun drying and other processing methods is that it removes most of the fruit structure, so the moisture content is inherently lower, which can significantly reduce drying time. This helps lower the risk of defective flavors during drying, which is one reason why washed processing produces cleaner flavors compared to natural processing. After drying is complete, the coffee beans are stored in their parchment state in the warehouse until the parchment is removed just before shipping.

Advantages of Washed Processing

Production areas using the washed method must build washing pools and have access to a continuous supply of fresh water, resulting in higher production costs. During processing, the fermented beans are placed in the pool and moved back and forth, using the friction between the beans and the power of flowing water to wash the coffee beans until they are smooth and clean. Each step removes impurities and defective beans, resulting in more uniform raw bean quality, and the final trading price is higher than naturally processed coffee.

The washed processing steps not only significantly reduce the defect rate of coffee beans and stabilize the quality of raw beans but also preserve the inherent flavors of the beans themselves, with higher cleanliness that better presents the regional terroir. Therefore, in FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series, most adopt natural washed processing methods, hoping to let everyone taste the flavor profile of the origin region.

FrontStreet Coffee's Daily Bean Selection

FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series selects 7 major classic origins, covering multiple highly representative regions, varieties, and natural processing methods, including washed Yirgacheffe from Ethiopia, washed Huehuetenango from Guatemala, washed Huilan from Colombia, semi-sun-dried Cerrado from Brazil, washed Tarrazú from Costa Rica, wet-hulled Lintong Mandheling from Indonesia, and washed Baoshan from Yunnan, China. This allows everyone to taste regional flavor profiles at affordable prices, thereby confirming their own coffee preferences. It is a coffee series with excellent cost-performance from FrontStreet Coffee.

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Important Notice :

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