Processing is what happens to the cherry after picking, and it affects the cup as much as origin does.
Washed
The fruit is removed within hours, the beans are fermented to break down the remaining mucilage, washed clean, and dried bare.
The result is clean, transparent and acidic. Nothing sits between you and the bean, so what you taste is the variety, the soil and the altitude.
Most Colombian, Kenyan and Central American coffee is washed.
Natural
The whole cherry is dried intact, fruit and all, over two to five weeks. The sugars and the drying fruit influence the bean inside.
The result is fruity, heavy and sweet — blueberry, strawberry, rum, sometimes a fermented edge.
Most Ethiopian and Brazilian coffee is natural, for opposite reasons: Ethiopia by tradition, Brazil by water economy.
Honey and anaerobic
Honey removes the skin but leaves some mucilage on during drying. It sits between the two.
Anaerobic ferments in sealed tanks without oxygen, which can produce very intense and unusual flavours.
Which is better
Neither. Washed rewards you if you like clarity and acidity; natural if you like fruit and body.
The practical note
Naturals are more variable, because drying fruit is harder to control than drying a bare bean. A badly dried natural tastes of rotting fruit, and it is unmistakable.
Last reviewed 8 August 2026