Coffee Processing Methods

The picked coffee cherries have a thick layer of sweet red flesh. By the way, you can also find them in our stores as a tea infusion called Cascara. Inside are two seeds (biologically speaking, "coffee bean" is actually incorrect) that need to be separated from the flesh and dried before roasting.

There are several methods for this. Farmers usually choose the method that corresponds to their natural resources (e.g. water) or simply the one they have learned. Because a lot can go wrong during processing, and often the farmers' livelihoods depend on not making mistakes during processing. However, due to the increasing demand for specialty coffees, more and more businesses are experimenting with processing and achieving sometimes spectacular results.

Washed coffee or wet processing

In this method, the flesh is removed after harvesting, and the coffee beans without flesh are dried for about 4-10 days. This results in a very clear and clean taste in the coffee, which is also more acidic.

Natural coffee or dry processing

These beans are dried in the sun, including the flesh, and only then are they freed from the flesh. As a result, the beans absorb sweetness and flavour from the flesh. The coffees are sweeter and fruitier than washed coffees.

Mixed methods

These include the pulped-natural processing, semi-dry or semi-washed processing, and the honey-processed method. Although they differ from each other, the idea is always the same: the fruits are mechanically stripped of some of the flesh, but the so-called mucilage ("fruit slime") remains around the beans during drying. This allows the coffee to develop its clarity and acidity while also having a pleasant sweetness, often resulting in very balanced coffees.

You can find more about acidity in coffee in this article.