Have you experienced sitting in your favorite coffee shop, drinking your coffee, enjoying, and savoring the moment until a question struck your mind, “How are these coffees made? And why do they taste so delicious?”
No worries, you don’t have to wonder anymore, you got me! Let me tell you how they process your coffee before the baristas serve it to you in a cup. There are three different traditional ways to process coffee and it’s natural, washed, and honey. If you want to learn more about how coffee is processed, I will tell you how.
Natural Process
Natural process, also known as a dry process, is the oldest way of processing coffee that originated from Ethiopia and in this method, coffee cherries are picked from the coffee tree and spread out in thin layers at the drying stations, and let dry under the sun. The coffee cherries are turned regularly to avoid rotting and fermentation.
After the coffee cherries are completely dry the dried skin and flesh fruit of the cherry is mechanically separated from the green coffee bean.
This process adds fruitiness and sweetness flavor to the coffee but on the other, it also has a fermented and alcoholic taste to it which could be a let down to someone who dislikes fermented flavors in their coffee.
Washed Process
In this method, they separate the coffee bean from the fruit flesh before the beans are dried. The bean that is still covered by a bit of mucilage is stored and fermented in water for 1 to 2 days depending on the altitude and climate and you don’t want your bean to be over fermented. After being fermented in water the extra flesh is removed and the coffee bean is dried.
This will lead the coffee to a bright and acidic flavor and compare to the natural process, it has a much fruitier flavor to it. Most baristas preferred this method because it reduces the risk of defects and it produces high-quality coffee.
Honey Process
Just like the washed process, they separate the bean from the flesh, but they will leave a specific amount of flesh, the more flesh that is left the sweeter it will taste. After depupling the seed, it goes straight to the patios to dry.
This process produces sweet coffees as if you already have sugar or honey added to it. The honey process is halfway between the process of natural coffee and the process of a washed coffee. It’s meant to be fruity so it can replace the brown or white sugar, making your coffee healthier.
