Coffee Bean Processing: The Natural Method

The Natural Processing Method

The natural process, also called the dry process, is the oldest, simplest, and least mechanized way to prepare coffee. After harvest, the whole cherry is dried intact, with none of the flesh stripped away before drying.

Initial Processing Steps

Everything starts with sorting and cleaning. Unripe, overripe, and damaged cherries are picked out by hand, while branches, leaves, clods of soil, and stones that came in with the harvest are removed as well. Sieves are the standard tool for this first round of sorting.

Drying Process

The cherries are then laid out to dry in the sun, typically on concrete patios or raised drying beds. Drying takes roughly 3-4 weeks. During that time the cherries are raked several times a day so they heat and dry evenly and the pulp does not mold. At night they are covered to shield them from morning dew. Once the cherries reach a moisture content of 12.5%, they are gathered into storage bins. Before export, the lot runs through a hulling machine that strips off the dried husk, pulp, parchment, and silver skin in a single pass. The green beans are then sorted and packed, either by hand or by machine.

Quality Considerations

Drying is where most natural lots are won or lost. Cherries dried too long turn brittle and produce a high count of defective beans; cherries that come off the patio with too much moisture left in them are prone to spoilage and pest damage in storage.

Characteristics and Applications

The natural method remains the workhorse of coffee-producing countries such as Brazil and across Africa and Asia. Naturally processed beans tend to brew into a sweeter, fuller-bodied cup. Their color ranges from light green to light brown, and the hallmark of the process is a rich, smooth mouthfeel layered with sweet fruit notes.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you want to taste what natural processing does to a Brazilian coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon is a great starting point. It comes from the Mogiana region near southern Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil feeds the cherries and helps them develop a full aroma. The rare Yellow Bourbon variety, a natural mutation of Red Bourbon, gives a cleaner fruit character: brewed by pour-over, moka pot, or home espresso machine, it shows the sugarcane sweetness Mogiana is known for, along with fruit and chocolate notes.

For a more classic Brazilian profile, FrontStreet's semi-washed Cerrado Red Bourbon is a benchmark single origin. Cerrado is one of Brazil's best-known quality regions, and this Red Bourbon lot at a medium roast opens with aromas of creamy peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut. The cup is round and full, low in acidity with a gentle bitterness, and it works as a single origin as well as in blends.

• FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon - natural, fruity, sugarcane sweetness
• FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon - creamy, nutty, balanced
• FrontStreet Coffee Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry - bright fruit from a natural process