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

FrontStreet Coffee – The Three Major Coffee Processing Methods

Natural Process

What we commonly call natural process coffee is simply "Natural" in English — natural drying, also known as dry processing. It doesn't strictly require sunshine: any method that lets the fruit dry naturally counts as Natural. Once dried to the state shown in the photo below, the dried pulp and inner parchment are removed, leaving the coffee beans we're after.

Washed Process

In the washed process, the skin is removed first, and while the mucilage layer is still attached, the beans are soaked in water for anywhere from ten to dozens of hours. In the first few hours the mucilage begins to decompose into the water and then starts to ferment. The following dozens of hours are a bit like pickling: after the substances released into the water begin fermenting, those flavors are absorbed back into the beans — which is exactly what distinguishes this from white honey or stream-washed processing.

Honey Process

After the pulp is removed, the beans are taken to dry, then classified by how much mucilage remains: White Honey, Yellow Honey, Red Honey, and Black Honey. White honey has the pulp completely removed; yellow honey retains roughly 20%–40%; red honey roughly 40%–60%; and black honey roughly 60%–80%.

Natural Process in Detail

Natural processing is the simplest and cheapest traditional method in coffee. The harvested cherries are spread on cement floors, brick floors, or grass mats and dried in the sun, raked regularly to prevent unwanted fermentation. If it rains or the temperature drops, the fruit must be covered to prevent damage.

After processing, the moisture content of each cherry drops to roughly 12%, at which point the fruit is dry. In Brazil, beans at this stage are called "cocoa": the skin is dark brown and brittle, and you can hear the beans rattling — a "clattering" sound — inside the dried shell.

This stage takes real skill. Over-dried beans are easily damaged during dehulling; under-dried beans are equally vulnerable.

The method is commonly used in Ethiopia and Brazil, and the majority of Arabica beans are processed this way.

A Knowledge Point

The internal fermentation method refers to Indonesian civets eating coffee cherries, which ferment inside the animal's digestive tract before the undigested beans are excreted.

In Summary

FrontStreet Coffee is a specialty coffee research shop that loves sharing what it knows. We share without reservation to help more people fall in love with coffee, and we hold three discounted coffee events every month — because we want as many friends as possible to drink the best coffee at the lowest price. That has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for 6 years!

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Honey processing, incidentally, grew out of Brazil's pulped natural (semi-dried) method — a way of removing the cherry skin before drying that shortens drying time while solving the off-flavors caused by improper fermentation. FrontStreet Coffee's Cerrado is a classic Brazilian pulped natural coffee with pronounced cream, peanut, nut, and chocolate flavors. Costa Rica studied Brazil's success, borrowed the semi-dried approach, and refined it into honey processing by varying how much mucilage is retained and how long the drying lasts — eventually splitting into the finer distinctions of black, red, yellow, and white honey.

At the extreme end sits FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Blackberry, made with black honey processing: almost no mucilage is removed, and drying takes at least two weeks, with shade covers used to keep the sun from drying the beans too fast and regular turning to prevent uneven heat and over-fermentation — a method that demands far more labor and care. Roasted medium-light, the ground beans give off a rich fresh-flower fragrance, and the cup reveals grape, berry, and ripe blackberry flavors.

Even more inventive is raisin honey processing, an upgrade that departs from the traditional yellow-red-black spectrum: the whole cherries are pre-dried on raised beds for at least three days before the skin and pulp are removed and honey processing continues. Because it retains 100% of the mucilage with zero water, it demands even stricter timing than black honey. The reward is a richer dried-fruit sweetness — FrontStreet Coffee's Mozart, processed this way, delivers osmanthus, pineapple, and raisin aromas whether you brew it as pour-over, cold brew, or moka pot. And if you'd like to taste the Geisha side of that family, FrontStreet Coffee's Strawberry Candy Geisha blend pairs Panama Geisha's classic orange-blossom honey character with Costa Rica raisin-honey coffee: grape and dried blueberry fragrance, soft acidity, an almond finish, and unmistakable sweetness.