If you've ever picked up a bag of specialty coffee and wondered what "washed", "natural" or "honey" actually mean, you're in good company. They're the three main ways farmers turn a ripe coffee cherry into the green bean we roast, and each one shapes the flavour in your cup long before Nick fires up the roaster.
In short: washed coffees have the fruit removed before drying for a clean, bright cup; naturals dry inside the whole cherry for a fruity, full-bodied cup; and honey coffees sit in between, dried with the sticky layer left on for sweetness and a silky body.
Here are all three side by side, in plain English, so next time you choose a bag of freshly roasted coffee you'll know exactly what to expect.
First, what's inside a coffee cherry?
A coffee bean is the seed of a small fruit. Around the seed sits a thin papery layer called parchment, then a sticky, sugary layer called mucilage, then the fruit pulp and skin. Processing is simply how those layers come off, and when. That timing is what changes the flavour.
Washed (also called fully washed or wet process)
The skin and pulp are removed straight after picking. The beans then rest in tanks so the sticky mucilage loosens, are washed clean, and are dried in their parchment.
What it brings to the cup: clarity. With the fruit removed before drying, the coffee's own character shines through: its origin, its altitude, its variety. Expect bright, crisp acidity and clean, defined flavours like citrus, stone fruit, florals and milk chocolate.
Read more: What is Fully Washed Coffee?
Natural (also called dry process or sun-dried)
The oldest method of all. The whole cherry, skin and all, is laid out in the sun for several weeks and turned regularly so it dries evenly. Only once it's fully dry is the fruit removed.
What it brings to the cup: as the cherry dries around the seed, the bean takes on sweetness from the fruit. Expect a rich, rounded body and big, fruit-led flavours like berries, tropical fruit, red wine, jam and dark chocolate.
Read more: What is Natural Process Coffee?
Honey (also called pulped natural, miel, or sometimes semi-washed)
The skin is removed, just like a washed coffee, but the sticky mucilage stays on the bean while it dries. That glossy, golden layer looks a little like honey, which is where the name comes from. No actual honey involved!
What it brings to the cup: the sweetness and body of the fruit, with the clarity that comes from removing the skin. Think caramel, brown sugar, honey and stone fruit, with a lovely silky texture.
Producers decide how much mucilage to leave on. White and yellow honey keep less (closer to a washed coffee), while red and black honey keep more (closer to a natural).
Read more: What is Honey Process Coffee?
Why does honey have so many names?
This is the bit that confuses everyone, and it's not your fault. It's largely the same idea, named differently around the world:
- In Costa Rica and much of Central America it's called honey, or miel (Spanish for honey).
- In Brazil, where the method grew up, it's called pulped natural.
- Semi-washed is used too, but more loosely. Some people use it for honey coffees, others for a version where machines scrub more of the mucilage off before drying. In Indonesia, "semi-washed" usually means wet-hulling, which is a different process altogether.
So if you spot honey, miel or pulped natural on a label, you're looking at the same family: skin off, sweet sticky layer left on, then dried.
Where do those winey, rummy notes come from? Fermentation
Ever sipped a coffee and tasted red wine, raisins or even a hint of rum? That's fermentation at work, and it happens in every process.
As soon as a coffee cherry is picked, natural yeasts and bacteria start feeding on the sugars in the fruit, just like grapes on their way to becoming wine. How long the farmer lets that happen, and how, shapes the flavour.
In a washed coffee, the beans rest in tanks for anything from around 12 to 72 hours. A shorter rest keeps the cup crisp and floral. A longer one builds deeper fruit and more complexity.
In a natural, the fruit stays wrapped around the bean for weeks as it dries in the sun, so the fermentation is slow and gentle. That's where those lovely notes of red wine, raisins, jam and ripe berries come from.
Some farmers now go one step further with anaerobic fermentation. The coffee is sealed in airtight tanks or barrels with no oxygen, often for several days. The result can be intensely fruity, syrupy and boozy, with notes of rum, red wine and dried fruit.
So if a coffee tastes winey or rummy, it's not your imagination. You're tasting the farmer's careful timing in your cup.
The three processes side by side
Washed: fruit removed before drying. Clean, bright and crisp, with a light to medium body.
Honey: skin removed, sticky mucilage left on to dry. Sweet, rounded and balanced, with a silky medium body.
Natural: the whole cherry dried in the sun. Fruity, rich and jammy, sometimes winey, with a full body.
Process is only part of the story
Altitude, variety, climate and roast level all play their part too. A natural roasted light tastes very different from the same coffee roasted medium dark. If you'd like to go deeper, read What Does Roast Level Do to Coffee Flavour?
Which one will you love?
There's no right answer, only your taste buds. The best way to find out is to try one of each and taste them side by side. Every single origin specialty coffee we sell is freshly roasted to order by Nick in our roastery, just outside Canterbury, so it reaches you at its very best. Pop into our coffee shop on St Margaret's Street, Canterbury, to try a cup, or order online with free UK delivery on orders over £15.
Explore our fully washed coffees →
Explore our naturally processed coffees →
Looking for honey process? We don't always have one in stock, but there's always something exciting freshly roasted. Explore what's available now →