The Process of Honey Processing Coffee Beans Is So Difficult - Are Honey-Processed Coffee Characteristics As Sweet As Honey?

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FrontStreet Coffee - Honey Process Introduction

Honey processed coffee, a processing method as sweet as honey, what a beautiful and pleasant coffee term! Just this simple description can touch people's hearts (after all, most people like honey), and in fact, honey processed coffee has become increasingly popular among consumers recently. No other description is more suitable for this coffee processing method than "honey process": during the drying process, the coffee beans still carry golden yellow, viscous, sugary coffee mucilage. In the washed processing method, these mucilages must be completely removed.

The first step of all processing methods can be to simply filter out floating beans and wash the surface. Honey processing requires this step to be completed more thoroughly. Like the natural processing method, there is a greater chance of mold and infection. If each step can be precisely controlled, the proportion of defective beans will be effectively reduced.

Stirring the coffee beans repeatedly can more effectively pick up all defective and damaged coffee cherries. Remove the external coffee pulp and skin. In the second step, place the coffee cherries that have had floating beans removed into the depulping machine, preserving the mucilage as completely as possible. At this point, this is the biggest characteristic of honey processing - determining the degree of honey processing by the amount of mucilage retained (white honey, yellow honey, red honey, black honey). More mucilage → less mucilage = black honey → white honey.

The mucilage layer contains rich sweetness and flavor, which can determine the tone and mouthfeel of this batch of honey processed coffee. Place the coffee beans that have been determined to be honey processed in a dry, less vegetated area for sun exposure, because the sweet and aromatic mucilage easily attracts animals and insects to stay and eat, so it is necessary to stir the coffee beans several times a day to check the situation and reduce the possibility of coffee bean contamination. The amount of sun exposure time depends on the thickness of the mucilage layer, with the main judgment basis being a moisture content below 11% as the benchmark.

In the fourth step, the length of sun exposure time depends on the thickness of the mucilage layer, and finally the coffee bean moisture content reaching below 12% is used as the benchmark for storage.

Advantages:

It's a processing method between washed and natural processed beans, with an inclusive effect. The degree of honey determines the cleanliness, acidity, and sweetness of the coffee. Honey processing often gives the coffee beans a light honey aroma and strong fruit acidity flavor, while still maintaining the rich body of the coffee.

Disadvantages:

This processing method requires quite precise process management. It is necessary to ensure that the entire batch of coffee beans has the same degree of honey processing to ensure coffee stability. To maintain the defect ratio standard of specialty coffee beans, honey processing is often more costly than the washed processing method.

Knowledge Expansion:

Sumatra wet-hulling processing method, in addition to adapting to the rainy season, also produces unique earthy, herbal flavors, with a rich mouthfeel and less acidity.

In Summary:

FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research workshop, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. Our unreserved sharing is only to let more friends fall in love with coffee. Moreover, there are three low-discount coffee activities every month, because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends drink the best coffee at the lowest price. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past 6 years!

Important Notice :

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