How Does Honey Process Coffee Differ From Semi-Washed?

Semi-washed and honey processing both remove the fruit skin and then dry the beans with pectin still attached, but the amount of pectin retained splits them into different flavor paths. Semi-washed, developed in Brazil, skips tank fermentation and suits large commercial batches. Honey processing, refined by Costa Rican farmers, keeps more mucilage and is graded as yellow, red or black honey.

In practice, semi-washed beans are depulped, dried with a thin layer of pectin to 10.5 to 12 percent moisture, then hulled and polished before export. Honey processing holds more of that sticky layer, which drives sweetness and body in the cup. Brewing parameters differ too, so a bean like Brazil Red Bourbon needs a different pour schedule than a red or black honey lot.

Semi-dry and honey processing both belong to the category of processing methods that remove the fruit skin and then dry the beans directly, yet a single key difference has led them to evolve in completely different flavor directions. Semi-dry processing originated in Brazil and skips the water tank fermentation step, making it suitable for commercial large-batch operations; honey processing was improved by Costa Rican farmers based on semi-dry processing, and is further divided into yellow honey, red honey, and black honey according to how much pectin is retained. This article will comprehensively sort out the operational procedures, flavor characteristics, and grading logic of these two processing methods, and combine Front Street Coffee's Brazil Red Bourbon and honey-processed beans to provide targeted brewing parameters and technique suggestions, helping coffee enthusiasts understand exactly how the two differ and what taste preferences each suits.

Semi-dry processing

This method sits between natural and washed processing, and can be further divided into two categories: pulped natural and honey processing. The two are highly similar in operation, both first removing the outer skin of the coffee cherry like washed processing, but no longer carrying out the "water tank fermentation and clean water rinsing" steps of washed processing, instead directly placing the beans in the sun to dry. On the surface the steps seem not very different, but because of one key difference, they ultimately present completely different flavor profiles, so it is necessary to discuss them separately.

Semi-dry processing steps

1. Pour the coffee fruit into a large water tank, scoop out the floating fruit, then send the sunken fruit into a pulping machine to remove the pulp. This not only more effectively removes unripe fruit, but more importantly, it means the coffee beans are no longer wrapped in pulp during the sun-drying stage, carrying only a layer of pectin, which makes subsequent fermentation easier to control.

2. After depulping, a layer of yellow pectin remains on the surface of the fruit, and it is sun-dried directly with this layer of pectin (after the coffee beans have their pulp removed, the sticky gelatinous substance on the surface is pectin).

3. Dry until the beans' moisture content drops to 10.5%-12%, then hull.

4. Finally, before bagging for export, perform a polishing step.

This processing method uses far less water than washed processing, and some steps resemble washed processing (removing skin and pulp) while others are closer to natural processing (no water tank fermentation), so it is also called the semi-washed method.

Characteristics of semi-dry processing 1. Suitable for commercial large-batch operations (Brazil mostly uses this method); semi-dry processing is relatively simple and easy to master, saves water, and is environmentally friendly.

2. During the removal of skin and pulp, ripe pulp easily falls off, while the skin of unripe green fruit is not easy to clean off completely, so this can serve as a second screening to filter out unripe fruit and unify the ripeness of the coffee fruit. Compared with the natural method, the selected coffee fruit is cleaner and more uniformly ripe, delivering coffee with a more even taste.

3. Drying time is shortened, saving time costs and adding more added value.

4. Relatively consistent ripeness is more conducive to preserving and unifying the quality of green coffee beans.

This method originated in Brazil, and Front Street Coffee's Brazil daily beans are processed using this method.

Front Street Coffee · Brazil Red Bourbon

Region: Brazil, South Minas region Altitude: 1000m Variety: Red Bourbon Processing method: Semi-dry Flavor: Nuts, chocolate, cream, peanut, caramel

When roasting this semi-dry Brazilian coffee bean, in order to highlight the rich, full-bodied flavor of this Brazilian bean, Front Street recommends using a medium-dark roast for this bean, so when brewing medium-dark roasted coffee beans, Front Street Coffee recommends a water temperature of 88-89°C. Too high a water temperature will extract unpleasant flavors such as woody notes from the semi-dry Brazilian coffee bean, while too low a water temperature will prevent the sweetness of the semi-dry Brazilian coffee bean from being fully extracted.

Front Street Coffee brewing suggestions

For coffee beans with a deeper roast level, in order to highlight the coffee's rich, full-bodied feel, Front Street Coffee chooses the Kono dripper for brewing. The Kono dripper's characteristic is that it has an immersion function, which can be used to extract more coffee substances and enhance the full-bodied mouthfeel. The Kono dripper has few ribs and they are located at the lower end, allowing the filter paper to cling tightly to the dripper to restrict airflow, thereby slowing the water flow and increasing the contact time between water and coffee grounds.

Brewing parameters:

Water temperature: 88°C Dose: 15g Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15 Grind size: medium-coarse grind (70-75% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve)

Technique: First pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour 95g (scale shows about 125g), finishing the pour in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale shows about 225g), finishing the pour in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Dripping is completed in 2-2 minutes 10 seconds; remove the dripper and extraction is complete.

Honey processing Honey processing Originated in Costa Rica; this processing method is very common in origins such as El Salvador and Costa Rica. In essence, it was improved by referencing Brazil's semi-dry processing.

Honey processing was a method local coffee farmers tried in order to improve coffee bean quality, and it then gradually spread to other countries. So why did Costa Rican farmers try this processing method? Because farmers' income mainly depends on coffee bean trading, and better-quality coffee beans can bring higher profits, so it is not at all surprising that farmers kept trying new processing methods.

For a coffee origin, there are three ways to improve coffee bean quality: first, improve the processing method; second, change the planted variety; third, improve the farm's soil, that is, relocate the farm. But just as when we brew coffee, before changing the coffee dose and grind size, we first adjust the brewing amount, pressure, and temperature, we first choose conditions that save as much time and money as possible. For farmers, changing varieties and relocating farms are time-consuming and labor-intensive, so improving the processing method became their first choice.

Honey processing steps

1. After picking, the coffee fruit is collected for screening, selecting coffee fruit of qualified and excellent quality.

2. The screened coffee fruit is put into a coffee pulping machine for pulping. This step removes the outer skin and pulp of the coffee fruit, retaining the pectin layer. The pectin part is the part with the highest sugar content in the coffee fruit and is also an important component of coffee processing fermentation; it can be said that this part determines 80% of the nutrient supply during processing. Yellow honey retains 60% of the pectin, red honey retains 75%, and black honey removes almost no pectin. The more pectin retained, the richer the final flavor and the higher the sweetness of the coffee.

3. Unlike washed processing, honey processing retains part of the pectin for drying. Drying reduces the coffee beans' moisture content to about 11%, and the time required is about 18 to 25 days, depending on the climate and the processor's experience.

4. After drying is complete, the coffee beans are bagged and transported to a warehouse for storage, and hulling to remove the parchment layer is not carried out until just before export transport.

Honey processing flavor performance

Honey-processed coffee beans have better flavor, with balanced acidity and sweetness, and because, like the natural method, they have undergone sun-drying, the coffee beans' own aroma is also amplified, with a rich, full-bodied taste.

Honey processing color grading

Today, growers grade honey-processed green coffee beans according to color. There are 3 levels: yellow, red, and black. The change in color depth comes from the length of light exposure during the coffee's drying process.

Yellow honey-processed green coffee beans have the longest light exposure. Long light exposure means higher heat, so this coffee can be dried within 1 week. Generally, the drying time of coffee depends on local climate, temperature, and humidity conditions. Red honey-processed green coffee beans have a drying time of 2-3 weeks, usually due to weather conditions or being placed in the shade. If the weather is sunny, growers provide shade to block part of the sunlight in order to reduce light exposure time. Black honey-processed green coffee beans are dried in the shade for the longest time, and their light exposure time is the shortest. This kind of coffee has a drying time of at least 2 weeks. Black honey-processed green coffee beans have the most complex processing and the highest labor cost, so they are the most expensive.

What is the difference between yellow honey, red honey, and black honey?

The three are distinguished according to sun-drying time and the amount of pectin, and the amount of pectin and inner parchment determines the sun-drying time. Yellow honey has 25% of the inner parchment, red honey 50%, and black honey 100%. Therefore, from yellow honey to black honey, longer drying time is required and management requirements become more stringent.

If one must pick the best among the three, the best-tasting is black honey, because it has the most inner parchment, so its mouthfeel is the richest and most intense. So why produce yellow honey and red honey? Coffee farmers also need to consider things from a commercial perspective; that is, producing black honey requires twice as many drying beds as the other two types, and requires more time, manpower, and energy; moreover, not all buyers have the financial ability to purchase black honey, so producing yellow honey and red honey can be said to be a choice made for the coffee production environment.

Flavor: Cherry, orange, yellow peach, floral, oolong tea

Front Street Coffee brewing suggestions

Brewing parameters:

Water temperature 90°C Dose 15g Coffee-to-water ratio 1:15 Grind size: fine-coarse grind (80% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve)

Technique: First pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour 95g (scale shows about 125g), finishing the pour in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale shows about 225g), finishing the pour in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Dripping is completed in about 1 minute 50 seconds; remove the dripper and extraction is complete.

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