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Processing Methods
Our Sandi specialty coffee offers complex flavors that are robust yet smooth, free from harshness or bitterness.
About
Coffee processing is an exciting journey that starts with extracting the seed from the vibrant coffee cherry! Just like other delicious fruits, coffee cherries house a seed, surrounded by flavorful pulp, mucilage, and a skin. With a variety of methods available to remove the seed, each technique adds its own unique twist to the flavor profile as the seed is roasted and transformed into the delightful coffee bean we all adore!
Natural Process
[Costumers Favorite]
Dry processed coffees are dried in the full cherry prior to de-pulping. Throughout the course of 3-6 weeks, the coffees will ferment, as producers rake these cherries and rotate them to prevent spoiling. Naturals tend to have more fruit and fermented flavors because the bean has more time to interact with the natural sugars from the cherry as enzymes break down the mucilage around the bean.
Sweeter, heavy body with deeper and complex tasting notes
Washed Process
[most common in the market]
In this process, the coffee beans are dried without the cherry. Beans are de-pulped then usually fermented in tanks full of water to promote the separation of any remaining pectin still stuck to the bean and parchment, then washed clean prior to drying.
Washed coffees are prized for their clarity and vibrant notes. Removing all of the cherry prior to drying allows the intrinsic flavors of the bean to shine without
anything holding them back. Fruit notes are still found in washed coffees, however, fermented notes and berry notes are less common.
Cleaner, more crisp tasting notes.
A variation of the wash process in which the coffee is fermented a second time to create a more complex flavor.
Double Fermentation Process
Honey Process
[Occasionally available in our shop for a limited time]
Honey processed coffee is a method that involves a combination of both the natural and washed methods.
It is a rare and demanding method, and not as commonly practiced as the previous two. During honey processing, a de-pulper removes the seed from the cherry before it dries out. However, it does not go into a washing tank to get rid of the mucilage. That mucilage, which is what the honey refers to, stays on the seed as it dries in the sun afterwards. The amount of mucilage left behind determines the sweetness, and there are even machines to control the amount on the seed. The seed then finishes out drying on the bed, and also gets raked and rotated to avoid mold.