How Many Coffee Bean Processing Methods Are There? What Unique Flavors Does Washed Processing Have?

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FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Coffee Processing Methods

When it comes to processing, three methods dominate the market: natural, washed and honey. Depending on where the cherries come from, there are also more experimental or hybrid methods. Even so, most coffee professionals remain loyal to these three.

Natural Processing

Natural processing is the most common and oldest method in the coffee world. Fruity flavors and sweetness are typical of the natural process, which makes it the most popular style in today's specialty market. It is relatively simple to carry out yet can produce complex, varied flavors.

The process begins by picking and selecting ripe, healthy cherries. They are then usually spread on drying beds, raked even and dried in the sun. Once the cherries are fully dehydrated and the beans are in good condition, they go to a hulling facility to remove the fruit pulp and parchment.

A well-made natural coffee should show complex fruit flavors and sweetness, with a full or delicate body.

Washed Processing

Washed processing has dominated the market for years. Every step is hard work for farmers, but the results are well known to be worth it. Because water is essential to the process, washed coffees taste cleaner and brighter than natural coffees. It starts the same way, by picking ripe cherries and removing defects: the cherries are sorted, then a depulper strips off the skin.

After fermenting in water for several hours to several days, the mucilage on the surface is rinsed clean, and the beans are spread on patios or drying beds to dry. Many people prefer washed coffee for its consistency, smoothness, clean taste and good acidity.

Honey Processing

Finally there is honey processing, the least common of the three. It sits between natural and washed, a semi-natural, semi-washed method that creates interesting, complex flavors.

Honey processing is relatively simple and starts like the other two. Ripe cherries are picked, sorted and depulped, then taken straight out to dry, leaving some of the mucilage on the beans until they are hulled. Honey processing yields a distinctive sweetness and fruit notes similar to natural coffee, with the clean, stable acidity of washed coffee.

Knowledge Point

Coffee quality can vary with altitude, latitude and soil chemistry. Grown outside the right range of these factors, the final quality changes significantly.

In Summary

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Honey processing grew out of the half-sun method: the fruit is depulped and then dried, which shortens the drying time and avoids the off-flavors that come from bad fermentation. FrontStreet Coffee's classic Brazilian Cerrado uses this half-sun approach, with clear notes of cream, peanut, nuts and chocolate. Brazil's success drew the attention of Costa Rica, which adapted the method and tuned how much mucilage to keep and how long to dry, giving rise to honey processing and to the finer distinctions of black, red, yellow and white honey. Black honey keeps almost all of the mucilage and dries for at least two weeks, with the beds covered to keep the sun from drying the beans too fast so the sugars can convert fully; the cherries must be turned at intervals so they do not over-ferment. FrontStreet Coffee's blackberry coffee uses this black honey method, and when roasted medium-light the ground coffee gives off a rich floral aroma and brews into a cup with grape, berry and ripe blackberry notes.

Some estates go further with raisin honey processing, an innovation beyond the traditional yellow, red and black honey styles. The cherries are pre-dried first, spending at least three days on raised beds, before the skin and pulp are removed and the honey steps continue. The method keeps 100% of the mucilage, which raises both the sweetness and the difficulty: it demands strict control of timing and is reckoned harder than black honey. It gives the coffee a richer, sweeter tropical-fruit character, and FrontStreet Coffee recommends the Mozart from this line, which brings out distinctive notes of osmanthus, pineapple and raisin whether brewed as pour-over, cold brew or in a moka pot.