What does honey in coffee honey processing mean? What is raisin honey treatment? What flavor is strawberry candy?

Whenever we talk about honey-processed coffee, Qianjie believes that everyone will always associate it with "sweetness" as soon as possible. Because most honey-processed coffee can indeed feel excellent sweetness when drunk, and the word "honey" in honey-processed coffee can easily be inserted into the meaning of "sweet as honey," everyone's association with honey-processed coffee will naturally evolve into coffee with high sweetness like honey.

But what we need to know is that the "honey" in honey processing has nothing to do with taste! Because this "honey" is not that honey, it does not describe the honey-like sweetness of the processed coffee. Honey processing translates from the English Honey Process, also known as Miel Proceedings. Whether it is Honey or Miel, it translates to honey. The term honey processing first appeared in Costa Rica, because the layer of sticky pectin that surrounds coffee beans is very similar to the texture of honey, so locals like to call it "Miel".

Then, because one step in the honey treatment is to wrap the coffee beans with pectin and dry them in the sun, people simply call this treatment method "honey treatment."

The processing process of honey processing is relatively not too complicated. Its predecessor was semi-sun processing in Brazil. First, the picked coffee cherries are floated and screened to remove bad fruits and impurities. A special peeler is then used to remove the peel and pulp, leaving the pectin and coffee beans to enter the sun drying process. When the coffee beans are dried to a certain moisture content, they can be recycled and stored, and they can be peeled before export.

Because pectin contains a lot of sugar, it will begin to oxidize when it is exposed to the air, and its color will gradually deepen as the drying time increases. From the beginning of yellow-white, gradually deepened to golden, yellow, or even red and black! The specific degree of transformation depends on the amount of pectin retained, and their drying time will vary from 2 to 4 weeks depending on the pectin content. The more complete the pectin retained during the peeling and meat removal process, the longer the drying time will be, and the deeper the color of the pectin will be. The white, yellow, red and black honey treatments we are familiar with actually refer to honey treatments with different degrees of pectin retention. White honey retains less pectin, followed by yellow and red, and black honey retains the most complete pectin.

In theory, black honey treated coffee will be treated with honey recently exposed to the sun because it retains the most complete pectin and the deepest fermentation. But what is interesting is that each manufacturer has different definitions of honey processing for different colors, because there is no clear standard in the industry to define it. Therefore, it is easy to encounter embarrassing situations such as: the definition of "yellow honey" in one house is "white honey" or "red honey" in another house. In addition to conventional honey treatments such as white, yellow, red, and black, there are also some more special honey treatments. For example, the Qianjie strawberry candy and Mozart in the Qianjie bean list use the relatively alternative "raisin honey treatment." The main difference between raisin honey processing and conventional honey processing is that the coffee cherries will be dried for at least three days before peeling! After the coffee cherries begin to dry out, peel and shell, and start the honey processing steps.

This kind of treatment can allow coffee to develop a richer flavor! For example, Qianjie Strawberry Candy has complex flavors of strawberries, berries and raisins, and is very sweet! To sum up, everyone knows that no matter what kind of honey treatment is used, its "honey" does not refer to the taste of coffee, but the pectin in the form of honey ~

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