Honey process

Honey processing sits between washed and natural. The cherry skin is removed as in washed processing, but some or all of the sticky mucilage layer is left clinging to the bean while it dries.

There is no honey involved. The name describes the texture of that layer.

The grades

The colour names describe how much mucilage remains, and therefore how much fruit character ends up in the cup:

• White honey — around 10 to 25 per cent left. Closest to washed: clean, bright.
• Yellow honey — around 50 per cent. Sweeter, still clean.
• Red honey — around 75 per cent, dried more slowly and often in shade. Fuller, sweeter.
• Black honey — nearly all of it, dried slowest of all. Closest to a natural: heavy, fruity, syrupy.

Slower drying means more fruit character and more risk of fermentation going wrong.

What it achieves

Sweetness and body from the mucilage, with more of the clarity that washing provides. A good honey-processed coffee often reads as the best of both — the structure of a washed coffee with the sweetness of a natural.

Where it comes from

Costa Rica popularised the modern honey processes, and El Salvador, Panama and Nicaragua use them widely. Brazil’s pulped natural is a close relative and predates the honey terminology.

The labour cost

Honey processing needs constant attention. The drying beans must be turned frequently — sometimes hourly in the first days — or the sugary coating ferments unevenly or moulds. That labour is part of why these lots cost more.

For brewing

Versatile. They suit both pour-over and immersion, and they are forgiving of a slightly imperfect brew because the sweetness carries them.