What are the characteristics of coffee washing method | how to pour washed coffee to taste good

Professional coffee knowledge exchange more coffee bean information please follow the coffee workshop (Wechat official account cafe_style)

Traditionally, coffee has been treated in three main ways: washing, tanning and honey treatment. Of course, there are many other treatments, but they are relatively rare, such as the Indonesian wet planing method.

Water washing

Washed coffee only focuses on the flavor of the bean itself, which is designed to allow you to taste the flavor inside the bean rather than the flavor added to the bean surface.

Sun-or honey-treated coffee requires coffee cherries to have flavor. However, the flavor of washed coffee is almost 100% dependent on the natural sugars and nutrients absorbed by coffee beans during their growth cycle. This means that variety, soil, weather, maturity, fermentation, washing method and drying process are all absolutely critical.

Washed coffee reflects not only the perfect planting science, but also the fact that coffee farmers are an indispensable part of creating coffee bean flavor. When we deal with washed coffee, it is clear that origin and environmental conditions play a vital role in increasing flavor.

This means that the washing process can highlight the true characteristics of single-origin coffee beans like other processes-which is why so much boutique coffee is washed.

"washed Ethiopia and Kenya have extremely clear flavors, and if handled correctly, their high-quality flavors will be perfectly presented."

Water washed coffee tasting

The acid in the coffee

Sour taste is one of the characteristics of shallow roasted coffee, coffee beans are rich in a variety of organic acids, among which phenolic acids, aliphatic acids and amino acids have the greatest influence on the taste.

In terms of taste, the concentration of amino acid is high, it is easy to be sweet, the concentration of phenolic acid is high and bitter, and the concentration of aliphatic acid is high, which is easy to have sharp acid. Although the content of aliphatic acid only accounts for 5.4% of the soluble matter, far less than 13% of phenolic acid, it contains a lot of hydrogen ions, which is the main source of sour taste in coffee.

Aliphatic acids can increase the brightness of coffee and easily interact with sweetness, bitterness and saltiness, but if raw beans are not handled properly, resulting in high concentrations of acetic acid and lactic acid, it will produce a disgusting sour smell, and sucrose degradation will also occur during baking. but when it is roasted in the middle and deep, it will disintegrate quickly and reduce the sour taste.

The acidity of the washed coffee is bright and rising, so the warm temperature is suitable for tasting. Adding ice will dilute the purity of the coffee, and the washed coffee will drink less.

END