The Difference Between Honey Process and Natural/Washed Processing: What is Raisin Honey Process?

Before truly understanding "honey processing," did you ever think it involved fermenting coffee beans with honey?

Actually, this is a processing method that falls between natural and washed processing. After honey processing became popular, another method called "raisin honey processing" emerged. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will briefly discuss these two processing methods with you.

Origins

Currently, the most common honey-processed coffee beans we encounter come from Costa Rica, which is also the birthplace of honey processing. Honey processing initially became widespread in Costa Rica not to pursue specific flavors, but due to the major earthquake in 2008, which caused power outages and water shortages. The hulling machine couldn't start, and coffee couldn't be rinsed. Honey processing naturally became the primary choice for coffee processing mills at that time. Later, through the efforts of the industry, honey processing spread from Costa Rica to the world, bringing a new chapter to coffee processing methods.

Differences

In traditional natural processing, the processing plant selects and washes coffee cherries, then spreads them whole on the ground or on raised beds for drying and fermentation. In washed processing, after soaking to remove floating beans, the pulp is removed, then the beans enter fermentation tanks where residual pectin is decomposed by microorganisms, finally undergoing drying dehydration (sun-dried/dryer-dried).

Honey processing, on the other hand, involves selecting coffee cherries through floating, then removing the pulp and some pectin, followed by direct drying on raised beds without any water contact. During this process, some pulp and pectin stick to the coffee beans, and the viscous pectin resembles a honey-like state, which is why this method is called "honey processing."

A Hundred "Honeys" Bloom

Coffee farmers in Costa Rica discovered that the less pectin removed, the shorter the fermentation and sun-drying time, and the longer the drying time, the darker the final color of the parchment beans, with a higher degree of fermentation flavor. Conversely, the more pectin removed, the lighter the color and lower the fermentation intensity. With the help of the precision pulping machine developed by Colombia's Penagos company, Costa Rican coffee farmers developed various degrees of pectin processing, creating several derivative types: black, red, yellow, and white honey. (PS: In fact, the main factors affecting the final color of parchment beans are the sugar content of fresh coffee cherries, as well as fermentation conditions such as turning frequency and humidity during drying.)

White Honey: Almost all pectin is removed, dried directly without pectin, dries fastest, resulting in parchment beans with a whitish appearance similar to washed processing.

Yellow Honey: The remaining pectin layer is thicker than white honey, dries slower than white honey, resulting in yellow parchment beans with a higher degree of fermentation flavor than white honey.

Red Honey: The pectin is thicker than yellow honey, dries slower than yellow honey, resulting in a reddish-brown color with higher fermentation flavor than yellow honey.

Black Honey: The pectin layer is thickest, most difficult to dry, takes the longest time, and has the highest degree of fermentation, resulting in a dark brown color. The pectin layer of black honey is the thickest, making it the most challenging to control fermentation. If the wine-like fermentation is properly controlled, the flavor is rich and full, most closely resembling naturally processed coffee beans in flavor profile.

Raisin Honey Processing

The so-called "raisin honey processing" originated from the 2017 Brazil Cup of Excellence, where champion Gabriel Alves Nunes used a yellow bourbon processed with the "raisin processing method." After winning the championship with a high score of 92.33 from international judges and selling at a record-breaking price of $124.5 per pound, this previously obscure processing method suddenly became popular.

The two processing methods are somewhat different. Brazil's "raisin processing" involves leaving fresh cherries on the tree without harvesting, allowing them to overripe until the skin shrinks to a dark purple color, resembling raisins, before picking. This results in more concentrated flavors.

The "raisin honey processing" prevalent in Costa Rica is more refined compared to Brazil's "raisin processing." It involves manually harvesting fully ripe red cherries through float selection, then spreading high-quality cherries flat to dry for 2-3 days until the skin wrinkles like raisins. After this, the skin and pulp are removed, preserving semi-dry pectin for further drying. This means the coffee undergoes two-stage fermentation: whole fruit fermentation and honey processing pectin fermentation. The entire process is complex and labor-intensive.

In both processing methods, the whole fresh cherries are fermented to a raisin-like state before further processing. Costa Rican coffee farmers adopted the Brazilian term to distinguish it from traditional honey processing.

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