A Guide to Washed, Honey & Natural Coffee
The process begins before roasting. How the fruit is removed and the seed is dried helps shape what you may taste in the cup.
Most customers do not walk into Akoma asking for a washed, honey or natural coffee. They know what they usually drink and whether they want something smooth, bright, rich or full of fruit. Processing helps explain why coffees from different places can taste so different.
Coffee begins as the seed of a fruit commonly called a coffee cherry. After harvest, producers remove the fruit and dry the seed before it can be roasted. The way they handle those steps influences sweetness, body, clarity and aroma.
First, the coffee cherry is harvested.
Ripe cherries are selected from the branch. What happens next is what separates washed, honey and natural processing.
Washed
The skin and most of the fruit are removed before drying. This method often produces a cleaner cup in which floral, citrus, tea or stone fruit notes may be easier to notice. Washed does not mean plain or weak.
Honey
The skin is removed, but some sticky fruit remains while the coffee dries. No honey is added. That can give the cup some of the clarity of a washed coffee along with some of the fuller sweetness of a natural coffee.
Natural
The whole cherry dries around the seed before the fruit is removed. The cup can be more aromatic and fruit forward, sometimes with berry, tropical fruit or wine like qualities.
Listen for the difference in the cup.
Our Yirgacheffe Washed may bring jasmine, lemon, peach, honey and a black tea finish. Ethiopian Bombe Natural may show blueberry, florals, wine like sweetness and lingering fruit. Costa Rica Red Honey may offer watermelon, tangerine, strawberry and syrupy sweetness.
Why I Often Recommend a Pour Over
Drip coffee gives you a dependable cup. Pour over gives the person brewing more control over how the water moves through the grounds. That slower attention can make the coffee’s individual qualities easier to notice.
When I explain these differences at Akoma, customers often begin tasting things they had not noticed before. You do not need technical language. Tell us what you normally enjoy, and we can help you compare the coffees available that day.
Experience the difference at Akoma
Visit Akoma Coffee & Books inside Priví Stonecrest to explore washed, honey and natural coffees. Ask what is available as a pour over or in a one pound bag, whole bean or ground.
Explore Akoma CoffeeFind Us Inside Priví