What are the flavor and texture differences between semi-dried and honey processed coffee? Which tastes better: semi-dried or honey processed?

Semi-Dry Processing

This is a method that falls between dry and washed processing, and can be further divided into two categories: pulped natural processing and honey processing. Both processing methods are essentially very similar—both first remove the outer skin of the coffee cherry like washed processing, but skip the "tank fermentation and clean water rinsing" steps of washed processing, going directly to sun drying. Although the methods appear similar, due to one important difference, they produce two vastly different flavor profiles, making it worth explaining them separately.

Semi-Dry Processing Procedure

1. First, coffee cherries are placed in large water tanks, removing the floating fruits, and then the sinking fruits are placed in a pulp remover to eliminate the pulp. This better removes unripe cherries and, more importantly, allows the coffee beans to dry in the sun without pulp, only coated with a layer of mucilage, which facilitates better control of the subsequent fermentation process.
2. After removing the skin and pulp from the cherries, you can see the yellow mucilage. The coffee cherries with mucilage are then sun-dried (after removing the pulp, coffee beans will have a layer of viscous gelatinous substance called mucilage).
3. Dry until the beans reach a moisture content of 10.5%-12%, then proceed with hulling.
4. Finally, before bagging the beans for export, perform polishing procedures.

This processing method uses much less water than washed processing, and partially resembles washed processing (removing skin and pulp), partially resembles dry processing (skipping tank fermentation), so it's also called semi-washed method.

Characteristics of Semi-Dry Processing

1. Suitable for commercial large-scale operations (commonly used in Brazil), semi-dry processing is relatively simple and easy to operate, saving water and protecting the environment.
2. During the process of removing coffee skin and pulp, ripe pulp is easily removed, while unripe green cherry skins are difficult to process, allowing for a second screening to filter out unripe fruits and standardize cherry maturity. Compared to dry processing, the selected coffee cherries have improved cleanliness and maturity, resulting in more consistent flavor in the coffee.
3. Drying time is shortened, saving time costs and adding more value.
4. Maturity is relatively consistent, which is more beneficial for storage and standardizing the quality of green coffee beans.

This method originated in Brazil, and FrontStreet Coffee's Brazilian daily bean is processed using this method.

FrontStreet Coffee · Brazil Red Bourbon

Region: South Minas, Brazil
Altitude: 1000m
Variety: Red Bourbon
Processing Method: Semi-Dry
Flavor: Nuts, Chocolate, Cream, Peanut, Caramel

When roasting these semi-dry Brazilian coffee beans, to highlight the rich flavor of these Brazilian beans, FrontStreet Coffee suggests medium-dark roasting these beans. Therefore, when brewing medium-dark roasted coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using water temperature of 88-89°C. Too high a temperature will extract unpleasant woody flavors from semi-dry Brazilian coffee beans, while too low a temperature will prevent the sweetness of semi-dry Brazilian coffee beans from being fully extracted.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

For darker roasted coffee beans to emphasize the rich body, FrontStreet Coffee chooses to brew with a Kono filter. The Kono filter features a soaking function that utilizes soaking to extract more coffee substances, enhancing the rich mouthfeel. The Kono filter has few ribs located at the bottom, allowing the filter paper to adhere closely to the filter to restrict airflow, thereby slowing water flow and increasing water-coffee contact time.

Brewing Parameters:
Water Temperature: 88°C
Coffee Amount: 15 grams
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Medium-coarse (70-75% pass-through on #20 standard sieve)

Technique: First pour 30g of water for 30 seconds of blooming, then pour 95g (scale shows about 125g), finishing in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale shows about 225g), finishing in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Complete drip filtration between 2 minutes to 2 minutes 10 seconds, remove the filter, and complete extraction.

Honey Processing

Honey processing originated in Costa Rica and is very common in regions like El Salvador and Costa Rica. Essentially, it's an improvement based on Brazil's semi-dry processing method.

Honey processing was a method tried by local coffee farmers to improve coffee bean quality, and gradually spread to other countries. So why did Costa Rican farmers try this processing method? Because farmers' income mainly comes from coffee bean trading, and higher-quality coffee beans can bring higher profits, so it's not surprising that farmers continuously try new processing methods.

For a coffee-producing region, there are three ways to improve coffee bean quality: first, improve processing methods; second, change the planted tree species; third, improve farm soil quality, which means relocating the farm. But just like when we extract coffee, before changing coffee dose and grind size, we first adjust extraction yield, pressure, and temperature. We first choose to change conditions that can save time and cost. For farmers, changing tree species and relocating farms are time-consuming and labor-intensive, so improving processing methods becomes their first choice.

Honey Processing Procedure

1. Picked coffee cherries are collected and screened to select high-quality, excellent coffee cherries.
2. Screened coffee cherries are placed in coffee pulping machines for depulping, which removes the skin and pulp of the coffee cherries while retaining the mucilage layer. The mucilage is the part with the highest sugar content in the coffee fruit and an important component of coffee processing fermentation. It can be said that this part determines 80% of the nutrient supply during processing. Yellow honey retains 60% of mucilage, red honey retains 75%, and black honey retains almost all mucilage. The more mucilage retained, the richer the final coffee flavor and higher the sweetness.

3. Unlike washed processing, honey processing retains some mucilage for drying. The drying process reduces the moisture content of coffee beans to about 11%, taking about 18 to 25 days, depending on climate and processor experience.
4. After drying, coffee beans are bagged and transported to warehouses for storage, with hulling to remove the parchment layer only before export.

Honey Processing Flavor Profile

Coffee beans processed by honey processing method have excellent flavor, with balanced acidity and sweetness. Like dry processing, because they undergo sun drying, the aroma of the coffee beans themselves is amplified, creating a rich body.

Color Grading of Honey Processing

Today, growers grade honey-processed green coffee beans according to their color. There are 3 levels: yellow, red, and black. The color variation originates from the duration of sun exposure during the drying process.

Yellow honey-processed green coffee beans have the longest sun exposure time. Longer sun exposure means higher heat, so this coffee can be dried within 1 week. Generally, coffee drying time depends on local climate, temperature, and humidity conditions. Red honey-processed green coffee beans have a drying time of 2-3 weeks, usually due to weather conditions or being placed in shade. If the weather is sunny, growers shade part of the sunlight to reduce exposure time. Black honey-processed green coffee beans are dried in shade for the longest time, with the shortest sun exposure. This coffee requires at least 2 weeks to dry. The processing of black honey-processed green coffee beans is the most complex, with the highest labor costs, making it the most expensive.

What's the Difference Between Yellow, Red, and Black Honey?

They are distinguished by different sun exposure times and mucilage amounts, and the amount of mucilage and endocarp determines the sun exposure time. Yellow honey retains 25% of endocarp, red honey 50%, and black honey 100%. Therefore, from yellow to black honey, longer drying time is required, and management requirements become more stringent.

If we must pick the best among the three, black honey has the best flavor because it has the most endocarp, resulting in the richest and more intense taste. So why produce yellow and red honey? Coffee farmers also need to consider from a commercial perspective—that is, producing black honey requires twice the drying beds of other types, and requires more time, labor, and energy; not all buyers have the economic ability to purchase black honey, so producing yellow and red honey can be seen as a choice made for the coffee production environment.

FrontStreet Coffee: San Isidro Labrador Estate · Honey Processed Geisha

Country: Costa Rica
Region: Tarrazú, Casoni
Estate: San Isidro Labrador Estate
Altitude: 1900-2100 meters
Variety: Geisha
Processing Method: Honey Processing
Flavor: Cherry, Orange, Yellow Peach, Floral Notes, Oolong Tea

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Brewing Parameters:
Water Temperature: 90°C
Coffee Amount: 15 grams
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Fine-medium grind (80% pass-through on #20 standard sieve)

Technique: First pour 30g of water for 30 seconds of blooming, then pour 95g (scale shows about 125g), finishing in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale shows about 225g), finishing in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Complete drip filtration around 1 minute 50 seconds, remove the filter, and complete extraction.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473