Hello coffeelovers!
How's it sipping? Fruity, floral, mild, intense?
In this short blog we look at one important factor that can have a big influence on your answer - namely, how a coffee is 'processed' immediately after picking.
There are three main types of coffee processing:
Washed: Here the coffee cherries (fruits) are picked, the skins are taken off and the beans are washed in vats of water to remove the mucilage that coats them. Washed coffees tend to have 'transparent' and 'clean' flavour profiles that reflect a coffee's terroir and variety. Our new Colombian, La Gaitania is a good example of this.
Natural: The cherries are picked and dried under the sun without removing the skins. As a result the beans are encased in a sugary layer for several weeks before the dry skins are eventually milled off. This typically results in coffees that have fermented-fruit or 'funky' flavour profiles that can be really delicious. We recently launched two new naturals from Rwanda's Cyato washing station for espresso and filter preparations.
Honey: There is no actual honey used in the honey process. Instead it's a sort of halfway between Washed and Natural processed coffees. The skins are removed from the cherries after picking, but the sticky mucilage is left on the beans for several days before being washed off. These coffees typically have more fruity flavour profiles that washed coffees, but are less bombastic than naturally processed coffees. A delicious example from Ecuador coming up soon.
What's your favourite processing method, or do you like to mix it up? Feel free to let us know.
(photos above: 1) washed; 2)natural; 3) honey)
