Have you ever stood in a coffee shop, looking to buy some new specialty coffee beans? Reading a package of specialty coffee beans can be a confusing experience as all of the information written on the label can be overwhelming. You may have seen words like washed, semi-washed, or natural but do not know more information. Well, this article will give you the answers you want.

Everyone has his/her different preferences for coffee flavor. Some appreciate the bright, acidic flavors typical of washed coffee, while others prefer the fruity sweetness often found in naturals. In fact, those tasting notes don't just come from the type of beans or how it's brewed. There's actually so much more to it - including the fermenting process.

What's coffee processing?

The coffee beans we brew and drink every day are the seeds of a small, bright berry referred to as the coffee cherry. Two seeds lie inside each cherry and are encased in many different layers, including outer skin (pulp), mucilage (a silky, sticky layer that's responsible for much of the coffee's sweetness), parchment (a papery layer or endocarp), and silver skin (a membrane which covers the two seeds). Once the cherries have been harvested, they need to be processed to remove these layers, so as to be left with only the coffee bean, or seed.

Cherry – Coffee stars as a plant with cherries on the branches. Its seeds are coffee beans.

Parchment – Flakes that form on the seeds as they dry.

Green Bean – Coffee seeds that have been dried but not roasted yet.

Roasted Bean – Seeds of the coffee cherry that have been processed, dried, and cooked/developed through a roasting machine.

Processing has a significant impact on the final profile, affecting everything from acidity and sweetness to body and clarity. The processing method used by producers usually depends on a number of factors, including resources, climate, and cost.

There are several methods for coffee processing such as washed processing, natural processing, wet-hulled processing, and honey processing, each having an effect on your final coffee brew, and ultimately the flavor you enjoy.

Let's talk about washed processing first.

What's washed processing?

Washed processing, also known as wet processing, is the most widely used processing method, where coffee seeds get removed from the cherry, washed of its mucilage, then dried, resulting in the coffee with high clarity, light body, and prominent acidity.

Traditionally a washed coffee is where the use of water has been applied to wash off the mucilage after the coffee has been fermented. This can sometimes take up to 24 hours, allowing time for tiny microorganisms in the beans to create enzymes that break down the sticky outer layer. During this phase, "bad" beans float to the top and are removed, while the rest are regularly stirred to ensure all the mucilage has dissolved. Once the mucilage layer has come off with turbulent water, the coffee is then dried, either under the sun or using dedicated drying machines (or sometimes a combination of the two).

How the washed process goes?

The whole process can be divided into 5 steps.

Step 1 Sorting

Once the coffee fruit has frowned and been picked, it needs to be sorted to ensure any damaged or unripe coffee fruits are removed. Picked coffee cherries are sorted by size and density using water.

Step 2 Depulping

Now the skin of the coffee fruit has to be removed, or commonly known as pulped. This is generally carefully done in specific machines and is where all the layers are removed except for the mucilage layer.

Step 3 Fermentation

This stage takes up to 24 hours to finish in which all the coffee goes into tanks full of water. During fermentation, tiny microorganisms in the coffee beans create enzymes that help break down the mucilage.

Step 4 Wash

The seeds are washed off the leftover mucilage before they dry.

Step 5 Drying

This stage can either be done naturally in the sun on a drying bed or mechanically (many combining the two, but generally comes down to the size of the farm).

Pros and cons of washed processing

On the one hand, because coffee farmers have more control over every step of the process, washed coffee beans tend to have a more consistent flavor. They're often lighter-bodied than natural coffee beans and tend to have more complex flavors with brighter and more acidic notes.

On the other hand, washed coffee requires the use of a lot of water and various machines and types of equipment, which requires considerably more energy and produces much more water waste than the natural process. Besides, those who know how to run that equipment are hired by coffee farms, so the costs are multiplied up many times.