Brewing Methods: Tips and Tricks
THIS IS ALL LOREM IPSUM?
After origin, processing method is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle when it comes to understanding what’s inside your bag of coffee.
There are many different nuances to processing methods, but for our purposes, we’re going to explain the ones you’ll most likely encounter on our shelves.
SO, WHAT EXACTLY IS PROCESSING?
Coffee beans are not actually beans—they’re seeds of a cherry-like fruit. Processing refers to what happens—at the origin location—to separate the cherry flesh and the coffee beans.
WASHED PROCESS
The washed process is the most common method you’ll find in specialty coffee. It yields the cleanest cup and is very reliable and repeatable for the producers. In this processing method, coffee cherries are put in a pulper. It’s a machine that shreds off the coffee flesh to separate it from the beans. What remains on the beans is a sticky “mucilage” that can’t be taken off by the pulping machine. To take this mucilage off, the coffee beans are soaked in water and then rinsed.
NATURAL PROCESS
Naturally processed coffee skips the pulping step. After picking, coffee cherries (with coffee beans inside) are dried. When dry, the flesh of the cherry can be peeled off by hand. The mucilage is left on the beans.
This process causes the coffee to take on more of the fruity cherry flavors—powerful blueberry and winey grape flavors can be intense, especially in Ethiopian coffees. Other fruity flavors, such as lime, guava, grape, and peach are common as well.
Because these coffees are left to dry, they’re more difficult to produce well. Mold and over-ferment can plague these coffees, and importers and roasters search to find the best combination of clean clarity of flavor along with the exotic fruitiness.
HONEY PROCESS
The honey process is like a mix between washed and natural processes. The coffee flesh is washed off like in the washed process, but the mucilage that is usually soaked and rinsed off is left on. This combines the clean flavors of washed coffee and some of the jammy mouthfeel and slight fruitiness of naturals.
TAKEAWAYS (TL;DR)
Get a washed coffee if you’re looking for more of a classic flavor profile and less prominent flavor notes. Get a natural coffee if you want powerful flavors that really amplify the different origin characteristics.