Three Main Processing Methods for Costa Rican Green Coffee Beans: The Red Honey Processing Process and Flavor Characteristics of Villa Estate Coffee Beans

Washed Coffee Processing

Most of the coffee we see from the Tarrazú region is washed coffee.

Generally, washed coffee will have a very clean flavor profile. When tasting washed coffee, you're primarily tasting the flavors of the coffee seed and the roasting. Where the fruit comes from, ideally, it has undergone processes without external influences.

After picking ripe coffee cherries from the trees during harvest season, they are sorted, leaving only cherries with similar colors, weights, and sizes.

The coffee is then transferred to a depulper where the fruit is cut and separated from the seeds inside. After this stage, the coffee will be covered in a thick, viscous "honey-like" substance called mucilage. To continue as washed coffee, the mucilage needs to be removed.

The coffee seeds are transferred to a tank of water where they will ferment for 12 to 72 hours, depending on the climate, altitude, and the coffee itself. During these hours of fermentation, bacteria accumulate and naturally occurring enzymes cause the mucilage to dissolve.

After fermentation, the seeds are rinsed, dried, and finally, the parchment (a thin skin) is mechanically removed from the beans. The beans need to be dried to a moisture content of about 11% before being packaged and prepared for export.

Natural Process Coffee

The natural processing method, or "dry" processing, is the original way to process coffee. Due to its flavor profile and independence from water availability, it is used in many countries/regions around the world today.

In countries like Ethiopia and Brazil, where water is often not as readily available, the natural process is common.

Generally, natural coffees have tropical fruit flavors—primarily pineapple and jackfruit in the cup. This intense fruitiness is attributed to drying the cherries with the seeds, imparting their flavor to the seeds.

To be done well, naturally processed coffee needs the right conditions. It needs sufficient sunlight, heat, and humidity. It also heavily relies on the producer's close attention to ensure proper and even drying.

When everything goes according to plan, naturally processed coffee is an absolute delight—fruity, delicate, clean, balanced, and most importantly, sweet. Incredibly sweet.

That being said, the natural processing method, also known as the "dry" processing method, is not widely known among coffee geeks for producing clean, transparent coffee.

Instead, the natural processing method has a reputation for producing coffee with some undesirable flavor characteristics—coffee with an unpleasant "natural" fermentation taste. Think of red wine. A winy taste. This is attributed to over-fermentation that can occur during drying.

First, the coffee cherries are picked and sorted. Then, they are transferred to drying areas where they will dry and shrivel like raisins before machines separate the dried fruit (what we call cascara) and parchment from the dried beans. Machines can also be used for drying, similar to large dryers.

All growing regions in Costa Rica use the natural process, but it is more common in low-altitude areas.

Honey Process Coffee

Coffee producers in Costa Rica are innovative—constantly experimenting to find ways to improve the quality of coffee in the cup. The more desirable the coffee's flavor profile, the higher the price the producer receives.

Facing strict water restrictions and the undesirable characteristics of naturally processed coffee, the honey process was developed. This process, and the degree of honey, varies among producers.

First, the coffee cherries are picked and sorted. Like washed coffee, the cherries used for honey processing are then transferred to a machine for depulping, only this time, producers can adjust the machine to tell it how much of the sticky, sweet mucilage—what are the four types of honey processed coffee

The honey processing method is a hybrid between washed and natural processing methods. The ideal goal of honey-processed coffee is to achieve the sweetness and fruitiness of natural coffee, along with the clean, transparent profile of washed coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rican Villa Estate red honey processed Vilasarchi shows very distinct citrus, honey, lychee, and passion fruit flavors after red honey processing. FrontStreet Coffee will create a special feature on this coffee later, so if you're interested, you can look forward to it.

1. White Honey

Generally, the more mucilage left on the whole seed, the more intense the fruitiness and sweetness in the cup. However, the more mucilage left on the seed, the greater the risk of the coffee becoming defective and over-fermenting.

2. Yellow Honey

For the yellow honey process, 50-75% of the mucilage is removed.

3. Red Honey

Red honey is close to natural coffee, very dark in color after drying, similar to caramel. The red honey processing method removes 0-50% of the mucilage. The Saravechi from Villa Estate uses the red honey processing method, which is a type of honey processing, as you should all know by now. Villa Estate has a dedicated harvesting team that works on the farm. After harvesting the cherries, they proceed with depulping. Red honey processing retains 70% of the mucilage layer, then places it in a shaded pergola to sun-dry for about 12 days. After checking that the moisture content and fermentation are qualified, it can be stored in the warehouse.

4. Black Honey

Using the black honey process, basically only the fruit skin and a thin layer of fruit are removed from the seed. Most of the mucilage remains intact, with little or no removal.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473