Honey Process Coffee Beans with Added Honey? Why Are Honey Process Beans Sweet? Understanding the Sweetness in Coffee

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Costa Rica Growing Region Information

News!

To date, COVID-19 has not been well controlled in the Americas. Border closures among Central American countries have made labor movement between nations extremely inconvenient, with many countries lacking labor personnel during the coffee harvest season. Before the harvest season began in November, Costa Rica signed the "Costa Rica-Nicaragua Bilational Controlled Worker Temporary Employment Agreement" with the Nicaraguan government to ensure the smooth progress of Costa Rica's coffee harvest from November to March of the following year.

FrontStreet Coffee - Costa Rica Yellow Honey Process Coffee Beans

Region: Costa Rica, Tarrazú

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai

Processing: Yellow Honey Process

Altitude: 1500m

Tarrazú Growing Region

Tarrazú is the most representative coffee growing region in Costa Rica. It is located south of Costa Rica's capital, San José, at an altitude of 1200-1700 meters. The harvest season runs from December to March of the following year, making it the most valued coffee growing region.

Most of Costa Rica's highest quality coffee comes from this region. Looking at the 2020 Costa Rica Cup of Excellence results, 9 of the top 26 coffees in this competition came from the Tarrazú region, with three of them taking the top three places. This demonstrates how highly regarded the coffee beans produced in Tarrazú are.

Why Are Honey Process Coffee Beans Sweet?

Honey processing is a green bean processing method between natural processing and washed processing. The degree of sweetness in honey process depends on the settings of the pulp remover - the more pulp and mucilage retained, the more obvious the sweetness of the honey process. Why? Coffee cherries consist of skin, pulp, mucilage, parchment, silver skin, and the seed (coffee bean).

The pulp and mucilage in coffee cherries contain the most sugar content of the entire coffee bean. Therefore, during the honey processing, the amount of pulp and mucilage retained from the coffee cherry affects how much sugar from the pulp and mucilage is converted during the drying process of the coffee beans. However, this also has drawbacks. Due to the high sugar content, FrontStreet Coffee believes that different degrees of honey processing require different drying methods. Sun drying cannot be applied uniformly across all types, as high temperatures will accelerate the fermentation of pulp and mucilage, causing the coffee beans to develop mold or excessive fermentation before they are fully dried.

Differences Between Yellow, Red, and Black Honey Processing

Black Honey (Honey Negro): Almost no mucilage is removed, so the drying time is the longest, requiring more than 14 days. During the process, to avoid drying too quickly, coverings are used to block excessive sunlight, allowing for more complete sugar conversion. In some regions, black honey processed coffee beans are shade-dried, which better ensures that sugars can fully convert into the coffee beans, but this also extends the drying time.

From FrontStreet Coffee's observation of black honey processed green beans, black honey processed beans have noticeably uneven color due to the higher retained mucilage content, and they emit a rich fermented aroma and fresh pear-like fragrance.

Yellow Honey (Honey Amarillo): About 40% of mucilage is removed. The drying method requires the most direct heat absorption, receiving the most sun drying, taking about 8 days to reach stable moisture content.

Yellow honey processed beans, having relatively less retained mucilage, appear uniformly yellow-green and smell of fresh grass and brown rice.

Red Honey (Honey Rojo): About 25% of mucilage is removed. Compared to yellow honey processing, the drying time is longer, and direct sun exposure time is reduced, sometimes using shade structures, taking about 12 days.

From FrontStreet Coffee's observation of red honey processed green beans, red honey falls between black honey and yellow honey, smelling of light fermented aroma and fresh grass fragrance.

Main Coffee Varieties in Costa Rica

Caturra: Very similar in appearance to Bourbon, making them somewhat difficult to distinguish. From the images, you can see that the end part of the Caturra variety is slightly more curved than the Bourbon variety, with a round and slender appearance as its characteristic feature. FrontStreet Coffee separately cupped Central American Caturra coffee beans and found their flavor profile to be overall bright with good sweetness.

Catuai: A variety produced from crossbreeding Caturra and Mundo Novo. It has Caturra's slender round shape and Mundo Novo's flat shape, meaning it appears round and flat overall, but the end part is relatively slender. Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee found this variety has excellent acidity and clean mouthfeel. Importantly! This variety's beans have fruity aromatics.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yellow Honey Process Coffee Bean Roasting Record

Preheat the roaster to 200°C and load the beans, with the damper set to 3; after 30 seconds, turn on the heat, adjust to 160, return to temperature at 1'42", maintain heat, turn yellow at 5'30", grassy smell disappears, entering dehydration stage, open damper to 4. When reaching 167°C, reduce heat to 130.

At 8'00" dehydration is complete, the bean surface shows wrinkles and black markings, toast smell turns to coffee aroma, signaling the prelude to first crack. At this point, reduce heat to 80 and listen carefully for first crack sounds. At 8'45" first crack begins, open damper fully to 5. Post-first crack development time is 2'30", unloading at 196°C.

FrontStreet Coffee's Yellow Honey Process Coffee Bean Cupping Report

Dry Aroma: Caramel, nuts

Wet Aroma: Caramel

Flavor: Citrus, cocoa, nuts, honey, caramel

FrontStreet Coffee's Yellow Honey Process Coffee Bean Brewing Experience

Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee found that Costa Rica's yellow honey processed coffee has good cleanliness, higher sweetness than washed processed coffee, and overall balance with richness. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a Kono dripper for brewing, aiming to enhance body and preserve sweetness as much as possible.

Dripper: Kono Meimon

Water Temperature: 88°C

Coffee Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: Medium-fine grind (about 75% retention rate on 0.85mm standard sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee's segmented extraction: First segment, inject 30g of water for blooming, bloom time 30 seconds, aiming to release carbon dioxide and better extract coffee. Second segment, inject water to total 125g, gently pour in circular motion while presenting a spiral route, from inside to outside, wait for coffee to filter slowly after injection. Third segment, inject remaining water, complete injection at about 1 minute 35 seconds, total extraction time 2 minutes.

Brewing Flavor: The mouthfeel has obvious fermented aroma, citrus acidity, chocolate-like sweetness in the middle section, caramel aftertaste and green tea sensation in the finish, with floral and cedar aromas in the aftertaste, overall balanced.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat, ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473