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There are various kinds of processing of green coffee, natural and honey being the most complex amongst them. This blog aims at reinstating information for proper understanding of the processes. One might wonder what exactly are these and how does one go about the process? Well here’s a comprehensive explanation to quench your brewing curiosity.
The Natural process, also known as the dry process, is a basic process that originated in Ethiopia. It is processed by leaving fruit on the bean, with little to no disruption while it dries. Although it needs less investment, it still requires certain climatic conditions to ensure the drying of the fruit and seed in time.
The harvesting process is very demanding for the production of Specialty grade Naturals, since the mass must be extremely homogeneous, to warrant a product with the adequate taste and conditions. The drying process implies an organized and scientific process, where the percentages of humidity and weight are recorded until coffees reach the ideal point and are stored away. Different than the washed coffee, the Natural coffee has metabolic activity along the time and stored where principally fungus, allows for a better quality of the beans, since this metabolism provides the green beans with better precursors of flavor and smell for the roasters to work with. This process has the potential to create the most flavorful coffees.
That is why stored Naturals, have a tendency to have more complex and pleasant flavors after 4-6 months of storage inside ECOTACT bags.
On the other hand, Honey processed coffee are halfway between a washed coffee and a natural process coffee. The name actually comes from how sticky the beans get during processing. It’s fruity, but not in as exaggerated a way as some naturals. It often has a more rounded acidity than washed coffees, with intense sweetness and complex mouth feel.
They have a less complex selection process, since the window of opportunity for harvesting is a little bit less narrow; unfortunately Honey coffees are more complex to produce, since the variability of the environmental conditions can affect the consistency of that type of process in a more dramatic way.
The Honey coffee is put to dry without washing the mucilage, making the parchment stained and conferring the name of the coffee from black to red to blonde etc. Once the coffee has been dried, storage inside ECOTACT bags will allow for further metabolic activity, again related to fungus (beneficial) that with time will enhance the availability of flavor and smell precursors that will enhance the coffee for the roaster to express.
Use as a store system for Parchment right at the farm, we recommend our producers to keep their properly dried coffees inside ECOTACT bags to prevent re-absorption of water and oxygen exposure, and extend quality and survival time for their crops.
Coffee processing is an integral part of the industry but is rarely spoken about. It is the most important step for the best flavor brewing in your cup every morning.
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