Coffee

Washed Dry

Beginning of this month, I started a series on 'getting to know your coffee!', since knowing more about the processes that go into making coffee can deepen appreciation and understanding of the beverage as well as make your coffee less bitter and more flavorful.

I began by talking about Coffee Cherry and continued with natural drying method. As a quick reminder, the general steps involved include depulping from the fruit, fermentation, removing the mucilage, and achieving a moisture content of approximately 11%. Now, I will be discussing other methods of drying coffee cherries: Washed and Honey.

Depulper Machine. Photo by Delightin Dee / Unsplash

Washing Process

Unlike the natural drying, which the coffee cherries are laid out on patios to dry in the sun after picking, in washed method coffee cherries will go directly to the depulper machine for removing coffee seeds from the coffee cherries. The result is the coffee seeds with the mucilage. Mucilage is a sticky substance that surrounds the coffee bean and it has pectin and sugars that serve to protect the coffee bean during growth and development.

In washed process, the mucilage is removed from coffee seeds during the washing process. The coffee seeds are first left to ferment overnight in a fermentation tank without any added water, known as dry fermentation, after which they are thoroughly washed to remove any remaining traces of mucilage.

Finally, The coffee is dried on tarps on a wooden patio, under a plastic cover. The coffee will be raked several times a day throughout its drying process to ensure that it dries evenly. The drying environment is designed to control the temperature and airflow in order to dry the coffee efficiently while preserving the quality. Similarly, the drying process typically takes a few weeks to reach a moisture content of approximately 11%.

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Honey Washed

Honey processed coffee is type of washed process with the outer skin of the coffee cherry is removed, but some or all of the mucilage is left on the beans during the drying stage. So, in the honey process, the drying process begins with mucilage still attached to the coffee seeds.

Depending on the variation of the honey coffee, coffee seeds either are laid out in thin layers on patios under full sun, or piled in greenhouses for a certain amount of time before being fully exposed under the full sun. Those different methods of drying have different fermentation processes and results in different characteristics and taste profile. The drying process typically takes a few weeks to reach a moisture content of approximately 11%.

Variation of Honey Coffee: Yellow, Red, Black. Source: Cafe Imports

The honey process has become more popular in recent years, particularly in countries like Costa Rica and El Salvador. However, the Washed process is still the most widely used method of coffee processing in many coffee-producing regions around the world.