What is the difference between sun-cured and honey-treated coffee? What are the differences in the flavor characteristics of sun-honey coffee?

In addition to sunning and washing with water, many friends are also curious about the difference between sunning and honey treatment, because coffee using these two treatment methods is characterized by "sweet". So everyone will be very curious, is the coffee treated in the sun sweeter? Or will honey processed coffee be sweeter?

So today, Qianjie will come to share what is the difference between sun treatment and honey treatment!

Sunning treatment Sunning treatment is the most widely used and oldest treatment method for coffee. Compared with other treatment methods, the steps and requirements of sun treatment can be said to be very simple, because we only need to treat the local area with abundant sunshine. In terms of process, you just need to lay the complete coffee cherries on any plane such as African-style drying scaffolds, cement floors, or your own roof balcony, and then wait for the fruits to be dried by the sun to a certain extent.

Since the sun treatment is to put intact coffee cherries into drying, and their moisture content is very high, the drying time of the sun treatment is very long. In the case of sufficient sunshine, it usually takes about three weeks to completely dry. In terms of flavor, because sun treatment will dry the peel, pulp, pectin and coffee beans together, this will bring a richer aroma and a stronger flavor to the coffee. Because there are more substances involved in fermentation, more volatile compounds, especially ester compounds, can naturally be produced.

Depending on the degree of fermentation, the flavor produced will also differ. If the degree of fermentation is light, then the fruit flavor of the coffee will be a lighter and fresh type. If it is heavy, then the coffee will easily produce a sweet aroma similar to that of mature tropical fruits, and it will also have something similar to the fermentation aroma of wine. Because of this, fermentation is controlled in some places by adjusting the treatment process. For example, in Central America, individual estates with conditions will build drying sheds with sunshade functions to extend the drying time of coffee, so that the coffee can produce flavors with different fermentation degrees. This slow sun usually takes 4 to 5 weeks to completely dry the coffee, which takes longer, but the flavor will also differ.

Before the honey treatment, Qianjie mentioned that the drying time of sun treatment will be relatively long and depends very much on the weather, which is not friendly to many coffee producing areas with short sunshine! As a result, many coffee producing areas have developed various treatment methods that can shorten the sun drying time according to local conditions, such as washing, semi-sun, and honey treatment. Honey processing translates from the English Honey Process, also known as Miel Proces. It originated in Costa Rica and was formerly known as semi-sun processing in Brazil.

Although the honey processing process is more cumbersome compared to sunlight, it is still a relatively simple processing method when put into a group of treatments. Because we only need to remove the peel and pulp of the high-quality coffee cherries that have been floated, and then dry the coffee beans that retain the pectin to a certain extent. This approach has two obvious advantages. One is that it can develop rich flavors, and the other is that it can shorten the sun drying time.

Then, because the pectin pulp is removed before drying, the sun drying time for honey treatment will be relatively short, usually about 2 weeks, depending on the degree of pectin retention. Just like sun treatment, honey treatment has many different subdivisions. For example, we often hear about white honey, yellow honey, red honey, and black honey. They represent honey-treated coffee that retains varying amounts of pectin. The honey in honey processing refers to the pectin of coffee. Because the pectin is rich in sugar, turns yellow after oxidation, and then becomes sticky and looks like honey, the coffee beans are made during the processing process. The processing method of pectin-wrapped like "honey" is named honey processing.

White honey retains the least amount of pectin, followed by yellow honey and red honey, and black honey retains the highest amount of pectin. Then, as Qianjie said earlier, the more substances involved in fermentation, the more flavor substances the coffee will ferment. So we can know that in addition to different drying times, white, yellow, red and black honey treatments, the coffee they develop also has different flavors. Generally speaking, the flavor of honey-treated coffee often tends to be between sun-cured and water-washed, but most of the time it tends to be toned with the aroma of sun-cured coffee, often with a ripe fruit flavor, followed by a solid and bright acidity. The taste also has a relatively clean performance.

Which is sweeter, sun-cured coffee or honey-treated coffee? After explaining the differences between sun-drying and honey processing processes, we came to the question that everyone was most concerned about: "Which is sweeter than honey processing or sun-drying coffee?" To be reasonable, as Qianjie often shares, the sweetness values of coffee and fruits are the same. It cannot be affected by a single factor. The sweetness of a cup of coffee is influenced by many aspects: variety, planting, processing, roasting, and brewing. For example, the coffee of ripe red fruits will receive higher sugar than the unripe fruits; coffee grown at high altitudes will also store more substances than coffee grown at ground altitudes... Of course, the treatment is also true. Because the coffee processing method determines the amount of substances involved in fermentation, and can also affect the degree of chemical reaction of the coffee beans during roasting.

But not only that, the sweetness of coffee also depends on the flavor description of taste and smell when drinking. At the same time, because the sweetness of coffee does not exist independently, we need to rely on the coordination of bitterness, acidity and aroma to associate it with sweetness. Therefore, we cannot directly say that honey treatment will be sweeter than sun exposure, or that sun exposure coffee will be sweeter than honey treatment. If you are very interested, you may wish to learn about the coffee beans in the Qianjie Bean List. There are many sun-cured and honey-treated coffees to choose from. For example, Qianjie Esseou ALO, Qianjie Esseou Hathiu, or Qianjie Esseou Huakui, red cherries, etc. in the Qianjie bean list. They are all sun-treated coffee beans. The brewed coffee has a very strong tropical fruit flavor, such as mango, pineapple, guava, lychee, etc., with a little fermented aroma and very rich layers.

Representatives treated with honey can choose Costa Rican coffee beans. For example, the new Front Street Costa Rican Blackberry that appeared on Front Street some time ago. It is a black honey treated coffee bean. The coffee brewed with it mainly tastes grapes and berries., mainly flowers, but also a little fermentation aroma, with a high sweetness, which is also very good

So, the above is all the content shared on Qianjie this time. In general, sun treatment involves more substances participating in fermentation and the fermentation time is longer, so the flavor of sun-cured coffee is usually richer and has a fermentation aroma; while honey treatment, because there are relatively not so many substances participating in fermentation, so the flavor of honey-treated coffee is not as rich as sun treatment, but it will be cleaner. Each has its own benefits ~

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