Washed, Natural and Honey: Coffee Processing Methods Explained

A coffee bean is the seed of a fruit called the coffee cherry. Before it can be roasted, that seed has to be separated from the skin, pulp and sticky mucilage around it, then dried to about 10–12% moisture so it can be stored and shipped.

How farmers do this is called processing, and it is one of the biggest influences on how a coffee tastes — sometimes as important as the country it came from.

Inside a coffee cherry

From the outside in, a coffee cherry has:

1. Skin (exocarp)
2. Pulp (mesocarp)
3. Mucilage — a sticky, sugary layer
4. Parchment — a papery shell around the seed
5. Silverskin — a thin film on the seed
6. The seed — the coffee bean, usually two per cherry

Each processing method removes these layers at a different point, and that timing shapes the flavor.

Washed process

Also called the wet process, this method removes the fruit before drying.

1. Ripe cherries are sorted, often by floating them in water to remove underripe ones.
2. A pulping machine strips off the skin and most of the pulp.
3. The beans sit in tanks for roughly 12 to 72 hours while natural fermentation breaks down the sticky mucilage.
4. They are washed clean, then dried on patios, raised beds or mechanical dryers for one to three weeks.

Flavor: clean, bright and crisp, with clear acidity. Washed coffees are often described as "transparent" to their origin, which is why so many celebrated Kenyan, Colombian and Central American coffees are washed.

Natural process

Also called the dry process, this is the oldest method: whole cherries are dried with the fruit still on.

1. Cherries are spread on patios or raised beds in thin layers.
2. They are turned regularly for two to six weeks to dry evenly and prevent mold.
3. Once dry, the shriveled fruit and parchment are removed by hulling.

Flavor: fruity, sweet and heavy-bodied, often with notes of blueberry, strawberry, tropical fruit or wine. Naturals need careful drying — done poorly, they can taste fermented or musty. Natural processing is traditional in Ethiopia, Yemen and Brazil, and in other places where water is scarce.

Honey process

The honey process sits between washed and natural. The skin and pulp are removed, but some or all of the sticky mucilage is left on the beans while they dry. That mucilage feels like honey — which is where the name comes from.

Producers, especially in Costa Rica, describe honey coffees by color:

Brazil's similar pulped natural process removes the skin and leaves the mucilage, typically drying the coffee in the sun.

Flavor: sweet and round, with more body than washed coffees and less fruit intensity than naturals.

Other methods you may see

• Wet-hulled (giling basah): common in Indonesia, especially Sumatra. The parchment is removed while the beans are still wet, producing earthy, herbal, heavy-bodied coffees.
• Anaerobic fermentation: cherries or beans ferment in sealed, oxygen-free tanks, creating intense and unusual fruit flavors.
• Carbonic maceration: borrowed from winemaking, whole cherries ferment under carbon dioxide. Barista Sasa Sestic famously used a carbonic maceration coffee to win the 2015 World Barista Championship.

How to taste the difference

The best way to understand processing is to taste two coffees from the same region side by side — say, a washed and a natural Ethiopian. Brew both with the same recipe (our V60 guide works well) and notice how the washed coffee tastes crisp and floral, while the natural tastes jammy and sweet.

Once you know what processing does, the information on a coffee bag starts to make sense — and choosing coffee you will love gets a lot easier.