Coffee review

What is "honey" treatment? Why do Costa Rican coffee use honey treatment to treat coffee?

Published: 2025-08-21 Author: World Gafei
Last Updated: 2025/08/21, The meaning of honey treatment in coffee workshop (Wechat official account cafe_style) comes from the sticky pectin layer of coffee beans before exposure, which feels as sticky as honey; when the coffee pulp is separated from coffee beans, the outer coated pectin layer becomes sticky by exposure, absorbing moisture from the air. At the beginning of honey treatment, there was someone

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

The meaning of honey treatment comes from the sticky pectin layer of coffee beans before exposure, which feels as sticky as honey; when the coffee pulp is separated from the coffee beans, the outer coated pectin layer is exposed to absorb moisture in the air and make the pectin layer sticky.

At first, some people saw that this treatment could continuously improve the quality of their coffee beans, and it originated in Costa Rica, and this treatment is now ramming.

So why did coffee farmers in Costa Rica plan to treat it with honey in the first place? When coffee farmers want to improve the quality or price of their coffee, they have three choices: change the species of coffee, change the altitude of planting, and change the method of treatment. Just like most people who brew coffee, they will want to use relatively simple ways, such as adjusting the grinding scale and the amount of powder, and then adjusting the amount of water, pressure and temperature of the coffee machine. Most coffee farmers also want to change the treatment method first. Then they will consider planting new tree species or moving the manor, which requires investment of time and money.

Since raw bean processing plants in most regions, such as Latin America, Kenya and Ethiopia, used to use water to transport raw coffee beans, coffee beans lose some of their mucous membranes during transportation. In places such as Costa Rica, Brazil or Colombia, local processing plants used to use high-pressure washing machines, so part of the mucous membrane was removed during the peeling process. According to the amount of mucosal residue (40% Mel 100%), honey treatment is divided into 4 grades: 40%, 60%, 80% and 100%. Of course, some growers deliberately remove part of the mucous membrane to ensure that the coffee does not become sour due to fermentation during the drying process.

0