You've heard of natural coffee and washed coffee. Maybe even anaerobic coffee... but have you ever wondered what all these terms mean? It's actually quite simple once you understand the anatomy of a coffee cherry. The method for moving from fresh cherry to coffee bean makes profound differences to the flavor, acidity and body of the coffee.
If you're ever wondered where coffee comes from... it grows on trees! (Well, technically bushes, but we usually call them trees). The coffee beans you know and love are the roasted seeds from the coffee cherry. Farmers harvest these cherries and sell them to producers, who remove and dry the seeds. Then, they are sold to roasters all around the world.
However, the journey from cherry to bean is not as straightforward as it seems. There are many processes that farmers use to remove the seed from the cherry.
Anatomy of a Coffee Cherry
First, we must understand the internal layers of the coffee cherry. The seed, the literal "bean," sits at the very center of the cherry. Most coffee cherries actually have two seeds facing each other. Though some very rare varietals called "peaberries" only have one.
This seed is surrounded by a protective skin, which is called the silver skin. When coffee is roasted, any leftover silver skin flakes off and becomes chaff. Notably, this chaff is the biggest by-product in the coffee roasting industry, and it can be used for mulch, compost, or even car parts!
The next layer surrounding the silver skin is the parchment, a papery hull which provides extra protection to the seed. Surrounding that layer is the pulp, the actual "fruit" mass, which resembles a cherry. It mostly contains water and sugar.
The outermost layer of the cherry is a very thin skin around the fruit called cascara. This is used to make cascara tea and cascara syrup, and it is known to have a zesty orange taste.
Natural Process
Natural processed coffee (or sometimes called dry processed) does not mean that other processes are “artificial.” It’s a simple moniker which means that the whole cherry is dried before removing the seed. It originated in water scarce regions like Ethiopia, because the process requires so much less water.
In this process, the cherries are placed on large drying beds in the sun as soon as they are picked. These beds are often raised, to promote airflow, and they are raked throughout the day to prevent bruising. They are left to ferment on these beds, often for weeks. Throughout this process, the seed absorbs the sugars from the mucilage and the pulp. These sweet flavors latch onto the coffee and create a deep, rich, full bodied cup of coffee. Only once it fully dries, is the seed removed from the rest of the fruit.
Natural processed coffees, particularly those from Ethiopia, are well known for their unique and juicy flavor. Profiles can range wildly from one natural coffee to another, and these coffees can taste truly different than the caramel, nutty flavor you’re used to in a cup of coffee.
Source: Finca Terrerito
Washed Process
While natural coffees allow the cherry to go from tree to quietly relaxing in the sun, washed process (or wet processed) coffee is put through the wringer.
The fruit is harvested when it reaches optimal ripeness, ensuring the cherry is at its most flavorful. From there, the pulp and cascara is removed in a depulper. After that, the coffee is literally washed in a large tank of water which quickly breaks down all the mucilage, leaving only the seed.
Once all other components of the cherry have been removed, the seeds sit out and dry in the sun.
Due to the lack of fermentation (although they still undergo a slight fermentation process), washed-process coffee has a much cleaner and lighter body. It often has bright, acidic notes, and it can be quite refreshing. However, even without time for the bean to absorb all the sugars, these coffees can still be quite sweet.
Honey Process
It's hard to nail down a precise definition for honey processed coffee. Put simply, it is the happy medium between the natural and washed process. Though it is not practiced as often as the previous two.
The “honey” refers to the mucilage around the cherry. Usually in a honey process, the cherry is harvested and depulped, to remove the outermost layers of the fruit. However, instead of washing out the mucilage, the bean is left out to dry still surrounded by the sweet, sticky layer.
These coffees can have a variety of flavor. They tend to have cleaner bodies, like washed processes, but they still have the mellow notes that naturals tend to have.
There are actually plenty of variations of honey processes, depending on the particulars of what part of the cherry is removed before drying.
And Many More...
These processes have been the major processing methods for some time, but coffee is an ever developing industry. Within these, there are all kinds of variations. Beyond that, new experimental processes are constantly coming on the scene. Innovative producers are constantly taking finer control of the fermentation process to develop more unique coffees.
Our program at Solid State has a little bit of everything. More specific information on each of our coffees can be found on our Shop page. Plus, you can always visit the cafe and ask!
