Why do honey processed coffees taste so different?

Honey processing gets its name from how much mucilage stays on the seed during drying and how often the beans are turned. White honey keeps 40% to 60% mucilage, ferments briefly and is turned often, so it lands closest to washed. Black honey is turned about once a day and sits near natural. Red honey, with 50% to 80% mucilage, falls between the two and is the most common type.

The guide breaks down the fermentation logic and flavor direction of white, yellow, red and black honey, then follows a red honey Catuai from the Dawn Estate in Costa Rica's Tarrazu region from green bean and variety through cupping. Yellow honey retains about 60% mucilage and dries in roughly 7 to 8 days, while red honey needs turning several times a day.

It's also honey processing, so why are some beans clean and bright, while others are wild like red wine? The key lies in the difference in the amount of mucilage retained and the frequency of turning. White honey is closest to washed, black honey is almost equivalent to natural, and red honey sits right between the two, becoming the most common honey color type on the market. This article will start with the processing technique, dissecting one by one the fermentation logic and flavor direction of white honey, yellow honey, red honey, and black honey, and take the red honey processed Catuai from Front Street Coffee's Dawn Estate in Costa Rica's Tarrazu region as an example, guiding you from green beans and variety to cupping, to fully experience the sweet charm of honey processed coffee.

Red Honey

When coffee cherries are picked, the mucilage layer surrounding the seeds is a substance with fairly high sweetness; it is full of moisture, rich in sugar, and tightly adheres to the coffee beans. When fresh cherries are processed by the honey method, the degree to which the mucilage is retained varies, and the color formed during drying will differ accordingly, which is also how the processing method got its name.

White honey processing is the type closest to the washed process among all honey processing methods; the surface of the green beans retains 40% to 60% mucilage, and the fermentation time is the shortest. It is generally dried in the open air and needs frequent turning to maintain the upper limit of enzyme and bacterial activity. Not long after drying begins, the mucilage is removed cleanly by the washed method, and then the coffee beans are dried further in preparation for export.

Yellow honey processing also retains about 60% mucilage, and the fermentation time is slightly longer than white honey, but it still falls within the category of rapid fermentation; the entire sun-drying process lasts about 7 to 8 days.

Red honey processing allows coffee cherries to undergo sun drying with 50% to 80% mucilage, so its position falls exactly between the washed and natural processes, and it is also the most common honey color type on the market. The darker the bean, the fewer manual turns are required. Black honey, which is closest to natural, is usually turned only once a day, red honey needs to be turned several times a day, and yellow honey needs to be turned every hour. Coffee cherries processed as red honey take about 12 days to dry completely.

Black honey processing has the highest degree of fermentation among all honey processing methods, and its taste is also closest to fully natural processed coffee. Because the black honey process has a very long fermentation time, at least two weeks, depending on weather conditions, its cost is usually the highest as well. The reason is that during the fermentation of the green beans, constant attention and careful supervision are required, and through additional fermentation the finished coffee reveals richer fruit flavors. Black honey processed coffee tends to be wild in flavor, with intense sweetness and a full body, sometimes also bringing a mouthfeel similar to red wine. To appreciate the charm of honey processing, Front Street Blackberry is the first choice; it comes from Costa Rica and has rich layers of floral and fruity aromas, with flavors of berries, grapes, dried blueberries, and fermentation on the palate.

Front Street observed from red honey processed green beans that the color before roasting is lighter than that of black honey, and it smells of a light fermented fruitiness. After roasting and cupping, one can often perceive rich layers of fruit aroma and a clean finish; in addition to obvious sweetness, it also has bright acidity and a light fermented vinous note.

Sweetness, an excellent trait that can add points to beans in cupping, is also the flavor expression that countless coffee brewers constantly pursue. When mentioning which country's coffee beans often have high-quality sweetness, many people will first think of Costa Rica, because the estates here are always good at using various styles of honey processing to let coffee show a clear and serene sweet tone.

Today, Front Street brings a red honey processed coffee produced in Costa Rica from Front Street Dawn Estate, and together with everyone will experience what kind of charm the so-called sweetness of honey processing actually has.

Tarrazu Region

Tarrazu

Dawn Estate (Café Sol Naciente) is located in Santa María de Dota in Costa Rica's Tarrazu coffee region, only 40 kilometers from the capital San José, and the most famous local product is the coffee grown there.

The estate is located at an altitude of 1,750 meters and covers an area of about 7 hectares, of which 6 hectares are used for growing coffee trees, half a hectare serves as a mountain reserve, and the other half hectare is used for processing and drying coffee cherries after harvest. Through maps, Front Street found that the reserve adjacent to the plantation is the starting point of the Los Santos Biological Corridor. It connects with the vast national forest reserve, not only possessing three different types of rainforest climate, but also providing 14 kinds of natural ecosystems for the animals inhabiting the area. Running parallel with the Talamanca Mountains, it has become an adventure destination highly recommended by countless hiking enthusiasts.

The Los Santos area is a lush valley surrounded by three provinces, where almost every household grows coffee, all because it is affected year-round by warm, moist air currents from the Pacific, with annual rainfall reaching 2,400 millimeters and an average temperature of 19°C, providing a good growing environment for coffee trees growing at altitudes of 1,500 to 2,100 meters. Dawn Estate is precisely a paradise surrounded by such a primitive green belt; walking into the farm, rare small animals can be seen everywhere.

Dawn Estate

Sol Naciente

In 1990, Arturo Bonilla and his partner Xinia Martínez jointly bought this land, which was originally used as pasture, and began coffee cultivation. Today, the farm is managed by them together with their family. In order to practice refined management, they divided the estate into multiple micro-lot parcels, then matched suitable processing methods to the terroir of different parcels, committed to creating higher-quality and traceable coffee.

Arturo and his partner formally established an ecological micro-processing station in 2015 and named it "Dawn." The estate's logo consists of three important elements, in order: the rising sun, coffee, and nature , each carrying their beautiful vision for the concept of sustainable development.

Since the beginning of its founding, founder Don Arturo Bonilla has devoted himself fully to specialty coffee cultivation and the construction of environmentally friendly ecological agriculture. It is said that in the first year after establishment, a green frog suddenly jumped onto his back, and later it was discovered that this frog was actually a rare local endangered species. Besides delighting him, this little episode also led the estate owner to always insist on protecting the ecological environment as his primary duty on the path of coffee cultivation.

At present, the estate mainly grows three varieties: Catuai, Ethíopia 47, and Geisha. In addition, in order to increase the diversity of varieties on the farm, the owner also cultivates quite a few experimental varieties. The lot Front Street purchased this time is the Catuai variety, using red honey processing.

Catuai

Catuaí

Friends who like to study varieties should not be too unfamiliar with Catuai, because it is a name that often appears in the coffee variety column in Central America. For example, on Front Street's bean list, Front Street Panama Elida Estate, Front Street Panama Butterfly, Front Street Panama Diamond Mountain, and Front Street Honduras Sherry all include Catuai.

Catuai was obtained by the Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC) in São Paulo State, Brazil, through artificial hybridization of Yellow Caturra and Mundo Novo, and was released in 1972; it was originally called "H-2077." Among them, Mundo Novo is the result of natural hybridization between two ancient varieties, Bourbon and Typica, and was first discovered in 1943 in Tietê, São Paulo, Brazil.

As a second-generation hybrid, Catuai not only inherits Caturra's excellent attributes of small size, good acidity, and ability to withstand full sun exposure, but also has Mundo Novo's characteristics of high yield, strong disease resistance, and good cupping performance. In cultivation, Catuai also has relatively good disaster resistance, especially in heavy rain or strong wind weather.

In addition, because the plant is short, it can be planted at twice the density of other varieties, and it is also more convenient for people to treat pests and diseases. Precisely because Catuai performs so well in disease resistance, pest resistance, yield, and growing environment, once it was released, it quickly attracted many Central and South American countries to introduce and plant it.

Front Street observed from red honey processed green beans that the color before roasting is lighter than that of black honey, and it smells of a light fermented fruitiness. After roasting and cupping, one can often perceive rich layers of fruit aroma and a clean finish; in addition to obvious sweetness, it also has bright acidity and a light fermented vinous note.

In order to preserve the clear fragrance and honeyed charm of this Front Street red honey processed Catuai while highlighting the caramelized substances in the coffee, Front Street adopted a medium-light roast and conducted cupping and tasting immediately.

Front Street Coffee · Costa Rica · Dawn Estate Red Honey Process Catuai Region: Costa Rica, Tarrazu Region Estate: Dawn Estate Altitude: 1,750 meters Processing Method: Red Honey Process Variety: Catuai

Flavor: Sweet Orange, Cream, Grapefruit, Honey, Black Tea

In terms of dry aroma, this Front Street Costa Rica Dawn Estate honey processed Catuai, after grinding, gives off obvious sweet aromas of orange, candied fruit, and cream, accompanied by pink floral notes, hazelnut, and a hint of fermentation. The aroma is rich and dense, making it very pleasant to smell. As the hot water hits, the coffee begins to transform into sweet aromas like honey and toffee.

Through slurping, Front Street perceived diverse layers of fruit flavors in the coffee. At high temperature, it first shows notes of red florals, grapes, prunes, and apricot. As the temperature drops slightly, the fruit acidity becomes bright and refreshing, citrus-like aromas occupy the mouth, mixed with a slight black tea note. The overall mouthfeel is clear, and the aftertaste is sweet .

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.