How much do you know about the honey processing of coffee beans?

Understanding coffee beans

Coffee cherries are divided into 5 layers

The outermost layer of the coffee fruit is wrapped in a hard outer skin (cut skin), the inner layer is the gelatinous pulp (pulp), the inner layer is the endocarp (parchament), and the skin tightly wrapped around the seeds is called the silver skin. The innermost layer is wrapped in green seeds, which are coffee beans.

Coffee Processing

Natural Sun-dried Method

Traditional Fully Washed

Hybrid Process: Semi-Washed, Pulped Natural, Honey Process

What is honey processing?

Honey Process, also known as Honey Process or Miel Process, is called Honey Coffee. It does not mean to coat the coffee beans with a layer of honey! The "honey" here refers to the mucous membrane layer of the coffee pulp. After the coffee cherries are harvested, the outer peel is peeled off with a peeling machine, and the pulp is left to be sun-dried, so that the sweetness of the pulp can enter the beans. It does not take as long as the sun-drying method. It is currently a popular processing method.

Black honey, red honey, orange honey, yellow honey, white honey

According to the thickness of pectin removal:

Black honey: Pectin is almost not removed, so it takes the longest time to dry, which needs to last for more than 14 days. In the process, to prevent it from drying too quickly, a cover will be used to block the strong sunlight to allow the sugar conversion to be more complete.

Red honey: 25% pectin is removed (specific practices vary from farm to farm), and the sun is dried for about 12 days. A shade shed may also be used during the process.

Yellow honey: Remove 40% of the pectin and dry under maximum light for about 8 days.

Some production areas and estates differentiate coffee beans based on the thickness of the beans and the number of times they are turned over. For example, yellow honey and white honey, both retain 20-30% pectin:

Yellow honey: Dry in thick layers, turn less often, and take longer to dry;

White honey: Dry in thin layers, turn over more times, and the drying time will be short.

Honey processing is the process of sun-drying green beans with mucus membranes. After removing the outer layer of the coffee beans, there will be a layer of sticky gelatinous substance. In the traditional water-washing method, it is washed away with water, but due to water resource restrictions in some high-altitude production areas, this method of directly drying with pectin was born.

Honey processing has different colors

Yellow Honey treated coffee beans are exposed to the light the longest. Long exposure means more heat, so this coffee can be dried in 1 week. In general, the drying time of coffee depends on the local climate, temperature and humidity conditions. Red Honey treated coffee beans are dried in 2-3 weeks, usually due to weather conditions or in the shade. If the weather is clear, growers will block part of the sun to reduce the exposure time. Black Honey treated coffee beans are dried in the shade the longest, and the exposure time is shorter. This type of coffee takes at least 2 weeks to dry. Black Honey treated coffee beans have the most complicated processing process and the highest labor costs, so they are the most expensive.

Flavor

The black honey processed flavor has a distinct sweet and sour taste, with a fruit juice flavor.

The red honey processing has a more balanced flavor with a grape taste.

The yellow honey processing has a cleaner flavor with citrus notes.

Honey processing steps

Step 1:

Coffee berry harvesting, manual or mechanical

Step 2:

Fruit sorting, manual or flotation

Step 3: Remove the peel and pulp

Use a peeler to remove the outer peel and most of the pulp

Step 4: Drying

Spreading the coffee beans with pectin on a terrace or elevated sun drying platform will dry the beans faster, increasing the sweetness and thickness of the taste.

Step 5: Shelling

When the coffee cherries reach the appropriate moisture content, they are shelled

Step 6: Storage

Coffee beans are stored as green coffee beans before being exported or roasted.

advantage

Its advantage is that it can best preserve the original sweet flavor of ripe coffee berries, giving the coffee a light brown sugar flavor and stone fruit sweetness, while the berry flavor also supports the aroma of the red wine base, and it also reduces the cost of water.

shortcoming

The honey processing process is susceptible to contamination and mildew, and requires close supervision throughout the process, constant turning, and accelerated drying to avoid the production of unpleasant fermentation flavors.

Because it is sun-dried with pectin, the sugar in the pectin enters the beans during the drying process, making the coffee beans balanced in sourness and sweetness and rich in flavor. In recent years, many award-winning beans in competitions have come from the honey processing process.

Coffee bean color classification

Honey processed coffee beans are graded. There are three grades: yellow, red and black. The color changes are due to the length of time the coffee is exposed to light during the drying process.

Yellow honey processed coffee beans have the longest light exposure time to remove 80% of the pectin. Long light exposure means higher heat, so this type of coffee can be dried within 1 week. In general, the drying time of coffee depends on the local climate, temperature and humidity conditions.

The drying time of red honey processed coffee beans is 2-3 weeks, and 50% of the pectin needs to be removed, which is usually caused by weather conditions or being placed in the shade. If the weather is clear, growers will block part of the sunlight to reduce the light time.

Black honey processed coffee beans have 20% pectin removed and are placed in the dark for the longest drying time with the shortest exposure to light. This type of coffee takes at least 2 weeks to dry. Black honey processed coffee beans have the most complicated processing process and the highest labor cost, so they are the most expensive.

Looking back at the history of coffee processing, we can easily find that the process of peeling coffee beans is also the process of coffee bean fermentation. Any processing method, as long as it is used reasonably, can enhance the flavor of coffee. For example, the sun drying method can improve the mellowness of coffee, the washing method can improve the brightness and acidity of coffee, and the honey processing can improve the sweetness of coffee.

With the development of specialty coffee, coffee is more and more accessible to everyone, and the processing methods of coffee beans have also become diversified, from the initial washing method, sun drying method, to honey processing, wet hulling method, to the internal fermentation processing method and carbon dioxide maceration method that have been very popular in recent years. The purpose is to make the taste and flavor of coffee more perfect!