Honey Processed Coffee: Not Made with Honey | Understanding the Differences Between Various Honey Processing Methods

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Coffee Processing Methods: Understanding Their Impact on Flavor

Coffee processing methods are also important factors that influence coffee flavor. This is why, in recent years, coffee professionals have continuously drawn inspiration from fields like winemaking to innovate coffee processing methods.

However, besides niche processing methods like red wine processing, common methods such as natural, washed, semi-natural, and honey processing can also bring different flavor directions to coffee.

Honey Processing: The Sweet Middle Ground

Among these common coffee processing methods, "honey processing" is likely to attract more attention. This is not only because it's relatively uncommon but also because its name seems to suggest more sweetness in the coffee.

Honey processing, of course, doesn't involve using honey to process coffee. However, it can indeed bring more sweetness to coffee. To understand why, we should first understand the meaning of coffee processing methods.

Understanding Coffee Processing

Coffee processing methods involve removing the coffee cherry's skin, pulp, and mucilage layers to extract two parchment-wrapped coffee beans, which are then dried and matured before the parchment is removed. However, coffee processing is not just a physical process; it involves a series of chemical reactions that are time-consuming and labor-intensive, directly affecting the final cup flavor.

This is because to extract the coffee beans, one must overcome the transparent mucilage that adheres to the parchment layer. This mucilage is rich in fructose, glucose, and sucrose but doesn't dissolve in water and can easily ferment and spoil, contaminating the coffee beans.

Types of Honey Processing

When it comes to coffee processing methods, besides washed and natural, there's another common processing method—honey processing. This is a method that lies between washed and natural processing, particularly common in Costa Rica. Honey processing is further divided into white honey, yellow honey, red honey, black honey, etc. So what are the differences between these types of honey processing?

What is Honey Processing?

Brazil's depulped natural method spread to Central American countries like Costa Rica and El Salvador, where it was modified and became known as honey processing.

Honey processing is the process of making green beans by sun-drying with the mucilage intact. After removing the outer pulp from the coffee beans, there remains a viscous, gelatinous substance. In traditional washed processing, this would be washed away with clean water. However, due to water resource limitations in some high-altitude regions, this method of drying directly with the mucilage was developed.

According to the thickness of mucilage removal, sun-drying duration (or drying thickness), and turning frequency during drying, honey processing is further divided into black honey, red honey, orange honey, yellow honey, and white honey.

Classification by Mucilage Removal Thickness:

Black Honey: Almost no mucilage is removed, so drying takes the longest time, requiring more than 14 days continuously. During the process, to avoid drying too quickly, coverings are used to block excessive sunlight, allowing for more thorough sugar conversion.

Red Honey: 25% of mucilage is removed (specific practices vary among estates), sun-drying continues for about 12 days, and shade structures may also be used during the process.

Yellow Honey: 40% of mucilage is removed, dried with maximum light exposure, lasting about 8 days.

Some producing regions and estates differentiate based on the thickness of coffee bean drying and the number of turnings. For example, for yellow and white honey, both retaining 20-30% mucilage:

Yellow Honey: Thick layer drying, fewer turnings, longer drying time.

White Honey: Thin layer drying, more turnings, shorter drying time.

Flavor Characteristics

FrontStreet Coffee has compared several types of honey processing and found that in terms of flavor:

Black Honey processing shows noticeable acidity and sweetness, with a somewhat juice-like feeling.

Red Honey processing is relatively balanced, with distinct grape flavors.

Yellow Honey processing is cleaner, with less fermentation flavor, leaning toward citrus-like flavors.

White Honey flavors are closer to washed processing, with relatively clean flavor profiles.

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