Knowledge centre
Natural, washed and honey, explained
Processing shapes how a coffee tastes, often more than the variety does. Three basic methods, one difference: how much fruit is still on the bean while it dries.
Washed
The pulp is removed mechanically, the remaining mucilage comes off through controlled fermentation or mechanically, and then the bean dries. The result is usually more clearly drawn, with pronounced acidity.
Natural
The whole cherry dries around the bean. Fruit sugars and aromatics migrate into it, which gives more intense, fruit-forward profiles and makes higher demands on the drying.
Honey
A middle road: pulping is mechanical, but the mucilage stays on the bean through drying. The method combines the sweetness and body of a natural with more clarity.
Experimental fermentation
Managed or extended fermentations now form a group of their own. Our catalogue records them as “experimental”; we state the exact method per lot on request.
Fermentation, drying and defects
Processing and fermentation
Processing describes what happens to the fruit layers. Fermentation is the microbial transformation during one stage of it. Time, temperature and pH are its key parameters; vessel, atmosphere and substrates belong in a record.
What shapes drying
Layer depth, turning, airflow and weather determine the course. Final moisture and water activity are measured separately. An even course helps to avoid different moisture levels within one lot.
Where defects can come from
Beans that are too wet or have been rewetted can grow mould; the FAO advises that mouldy coffee should be avoided in all circumstances. Badly adjusted pulpers or hullers can damage beans. Such general causes explain control points, not the finding on a single cherry.
Three different checks
A physical defect, a sensory fault and a mould analysis are different checks. A visible damage does not replace a laboratory test of its cause.
In the coffee journey: Station 05 · Processing and fermentation · Station 06 · Drying · Station 07 · Hulling and sorting
Café y Ciencia: Methods, profile by profile.
In short
- The difference is how much fruit stays on the bean while it dries.
- Processing shapes the sensory profile; the cited 2024 study examines its effect on heavy metal content.
- The portfolio holds washed, natural, honey and experimental processing.
Sources
Everything this article states rests on the sources below. Where our own catalogue is the source, it says so, and those figures can be counted on the product pages.
- Kilic, S. et al.: Effect of processing method (natural, washed, honey, fermentation, maceration) on the availability of heavy metals in specialty coffee, PMC10848008 (2024) pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- World Coffee Research: Sensory Lexicon, version 2.0, Sensory Analysis Center, Kansas State University (2017) worldcoffeeresearch.org
- LOS ANDES EUROPE GmbH: Own product catalogue, as published on this site; every figure can be counted on the product pages (2026)
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Arabica coffee manual for Lao PDR, chapter 6, Harvesting and processing (2005) fao.org