Imagine a grape drying into a raisin. The once smooth and shiny outer skin, over time, turns into a rippled and tight fruit leather. The process and ending result is not all that different in the coffee harvesting and processing world of natural coffees. When coffee fruit on the tree is determined to be ripe, the cherries are picked and laid to dry out in the sunshine. Often this process will take anywhere from 20-30 days, on raised beds or patios. Keeping in mind that coffee grows best between the tropic of Capricorn and Cancer (+20 degrees north -20 degrees south), these locations have ample daily heat and hopefully not an excess amount of humidity that will effect the bean negatively in taste.
Inside this cherry are multiple layers of skin including a parchment, mucilage, and outer layer (which takes on pigmentation and indicates when to harvest). Click here for an illustrated cross-section diagram.
Because the mucilage has naturally occurring sugars and alcohol, a natural fermentation will occur in the small environment. What this yields for taste is often a dense heavy body, moderate acidity, with fruit "bomb" wildness and rustic flavors. Due to the rustic aspect of these coffees, we often do not recommend matching with dairy products.
1. Washed Coffees
Washed coffees focus solely on the bean. A natural or honey processed coffee requires that the coffee cherry around the bean be flavorful. Washed coffees, however, depend almost 100% on the bean having absorbed enough natural sugars and nutrients during its growing cycle. This means the varietal, soil, weather, ripeness, fermentation, washing, and drying are absolutely key. The washed process is able to highlight the true character of a single origin bean like no other process – and it’s the reason why so many specialty coffees are washed. Most coffees are washed coffees.
2. Natural/Dry Processed Coffee
The natural process, also known as the dry process, is a back-to-basics approach that stems from Ethiopia. The fruit is left on the bean and is air dried with the cherry still attached. Natural process, although at times inconsistent in flavor, also has the potential to create the most flavorful coffees. If consistency can be achieved, then many argue that natural coffees can match washed coffees for clarity, and also provide some more interesting notes and characteristics as well.
Natural processing is akin to red wine, where you’re taking in more of the skin and the whole product itself into the beverage. With white wine, you’re leaving the skin and the tannins out. With natural processing, you’re letting the fruit and the nutrients from the skin and the sugars go into the bean through the drying process. With the washed process, you’re washing it clean so you don’t get those flavors in there.
Natural coffee is also the most eco-friendly coffee processing
3. Honey Processed Coffee
Honey processed coffee can literally taste like someone has put honey and brown sugar in your cup of coffee – although the name actually comes from how sticky the beans get during processing. In many ways, this type of coffee is halfway between a washed coffee and a natural process coffee: 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 mouthfeel.
We visited you this fall in September and loved the coffee. We are ordering more! Wishing you Happy Thanksgiving.
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