Introduction to Three Major Coffee Bean Processing Methods - Characteristics of Natural Process Coffee Beans: Yellowish Color and Higher Sweetness

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FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Three Major Coffee Processing Methods

Natural Process

The commonly known natural process coffee beans are called "Natural" in English. This is natural drying, also known as dry processing. It doesn't necessarily require sun drying - any method that allows it to dry naturally is called Natural. When dried to the state shown in the picture below, the dried pulp and inner parchment are removed, leaving us with the coffee beans we need.

Washed Process

The washed process first removes the fruit skin, and while the mucilage layer is still present, it's soaked in water for ten to dozens of hours. In the first few hours, the mucilage begins to decompose into the water and then starts fermenting. The following dozens of hours are somewhat like our pickling process - after the substances decomposed in the water begin to ferment, those flavors are absorbed back into the beans, which is why it's different from white honey and wild stream washed processing.

Honey Process

After removing the pulp, it's taken to dry, and then classified according to the percentage of pulp left: White Honey, Yellow Honey, Red Honey, and Black Honey. White honey has all pulp completely removed. Yellow honey might be between 20% to 40%, red honey might be between 40% to 60%, and black honey might be between 60% to 80%.

Detailed Description of Natural Process

The natural processing method is the simplest and cheapest traditional method in coffee bean processing. During processing, the harvested fruits are spread on cement floors, brick floors, or grass mats and dried in the sun. They are often raked evenly to prevent fermentation. If it rains or the temperature drops, the fruits must be covered to prevent damage.

After processing, the moisture content of each fruit will drop to approximately 12%. At this point, the fruits are dry. In Brazil, coffee beans at this stage are called "cocoa." Their skin is dark brown and brittle, and you can hear the coffee beans making a "clattering" sound inside the fruit shell.

This process actually requires a lot of technique. If coffee beans are over-dried, they are easily damaged during dehulling. Conversely, insufficiently dried coffee beans are also easily damaged.

This method is commonly used in Ethiopia and Brazil, and most Arabica coffee beans are processed this way.

Knowledge Point

The internal fermentation method is when Indonesian civets eat coffee beans, which undergo fermentation in their digestive system before excreting the indigestible coffee beans.

In Summary

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Important Notice :

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