Washed vs natural coffee, and where honey fits in

What coffee processing actually means

Coffee is the seed of a small red or yellow fruit, the coffee cherry. Before it can be roasted, it has to be taken out of that fruit and dried. That step is called processing, and it's one of the biggest decisions behind what ends up in your cup.

It helps to know the layers of the cherry, from the outside in:

• Skin, thin and colorful.
• Pulp, the sweet, fleshy part.
• Mucilage, a sticky, sugary layer.
• Parchment, a papery husk protecting the seed.
• Seed, the bean that eventually gets roasted.

Every method comes down to one question: how much fruit stays on the bean while it dries? A lot of the sweetness, body and acidity depend on the answer.

Washed coffee: clean and bright

In the washed process, a machine strips off the skin and pulp. The beans, still coated in mucilage, sit in fermentation tanks for anywhere from a few hours to a day or two, depending on the climate. Then they're rinsed clean and dried to roughly 10 to 12% moisture.

Washed coffees tend to taste clean and clear, with lively acidity and a flavor that lets the origin, variety and growing altitude come through. It's the traditional method across much of Colombia, Mexico and Peru, though it takes water and infrastructure to do well.

Natural coffee: fruit and body

The natural, or dry, process is the oldest one. Whole cherries are dried in the sun on patios or raised beds for several weeks. They need turning often so they dry evenly and don't mold or ferment in the wrong way. Once dry, the whole shell comes off in one go.

Because the bean spends all that time inside the fruit, naturals usually have more body, more sweetness and ripe-fruit notes, sometimes with a wine-like edge. Done well, they're a treat. Done carelessly, they can taste boozy or earthy. Brazil processes a large share of its coffee this way, which we cover in our Brazilian coffee guide.

Honey process: the middle ground

In the honey process, the skin and pulp come off, but some or all of the mucilage stays on the bean while it dries. There's no honey involved. The name comes from how sticky that mucilage gets as it dries.

Depending on how much mucilage is left and how it's dried, you'll see yellow, red or black honey, from lighter to more intense. Brazil has a very similar method called *pulped natural*. In the cup, honeys usually land between the other two: sweeter and rounder than a washed coffee, cleaner than a natural.

Some producers also experiment with controlled fermentations. They can be fascinating, but the three classic methods are still the key to reading almost any label.

Washed vs natural coffee: how to choose

No process is better by default; there are only coffees processed well or badly. There are, though, tendencies worth knowing:

• Washed: for clean cups with bright acidity and citrus or floral notes.
• Natural: for body, sweetness and ripe fruit, think berries or dried fruit.
• Honey: for a balance of sweetness and clarity.

On a bag, the process usually sits next to the origin and variety, written as washed, natural or honey. If it's missing, it's worth asking. Few details tell you more about how a coffee will taste before you even open it.

Careful processing also prevents the defects that cost points at the cupping table, as we explain in what makes specialty coffee. Our after-dinner advice: try the same origin in two different processes, side by side. Nothing teaches the difference faster.