Washed or dry? The relationship between the handling method and the level name

The coffee beans baked by us as ingredients are actually the seeds in the coffee fruit. Coffee farmers give the fruit another name "coffee cherry" (Coffee Cherry). If the pulp is separated from the seed, and how to dry the seed into a state that is easy to preserve, the whole process is collectively referred to as "treatment". As the processing process has a great impact on the quality and flavor of coffee beans, when buying raw coffee beans, you will sometimes see large treatment level words and other details about raw coffee beans.

1. Wet/Washed Process: the outer shell and film of the coffee bean are carefully removed step by step before the coffee bean dries. This kind of washed coffee beans, the quality of the cup is more stable, cleanliness, brightness, acidity are higher.

two。 Dry/Natural/Unwashed Process: the whole coffee cherry is dried together with the seeds, and then the dried seeds are separated, usually by machine to remove the pulp and peel. The dried coffee bean cup was unstable, the cup showed obvious fruit aroma, and the viscosity was thicker than that of washed coffee beans.

3. Exquisite semi-drying / semi-washing / mucosal natural fermentation (Semi-dry/Semi-washed/Pulped Natural Process): a compromise between the first two treatments, in which the peel of the picked coffee cherry is removed, leaving the pulp or mucous membrane to dry together, followed by a machine to remove the dried fruit. The technology was first developed in Brazil and is now widely used in Brazil, where coffee beans are often produced with staggering performance. It has both the clean taste of washing treatment and the flower and fruit aroma of drying treatment.

You can see a graphical overview of these three main approaches on pages 94-95 of this book. Understanding the differences in these treatments is only the first step. In the water washing treatment alone, different subtle adjustments can be made in each link. Here are a few examples:

1. In the traditional washing method, the outer dough-coated mucosa of coffee beans is naturally fermented to loosen itself before being washed off with water into the sink, and then completely removed by washing. This process is called "post-fermentation washing" (Ferment-and-wash).

two。 There is another method of washing, which skips the step of fermentation and removes the mucous membrane directly by adding water to the machine. This method is called "mechanical shelling" (Mechanical Demucilaging), or "water elution" (Aqua-pulping).

3. In addition, if some clear water is added to the fermentation step, the process is called "wet fermentation" (Wet Fermentation).

4. Can also be called no water, let the coffee beans in their own mucosa directly fermented, this process is called "dry fermentation" (Dry Fermentation).

All washed coffee beans from Kenya and Ethiopia are treated by wet fermentation, while most Guatemalan coffees are treated by dry fermentation. There is another kind of coffee that is washed with clean water after the fermentation process, but does not remove the mucous membrane completely, leaving part of the mucous membrane to dry together. Coffee beans treated in this way will have more fermented or mildew flavor. Indonesia-Sumatra-Mantenin and other Indonesian coffee beans treated by traditional semi-washing are treated in this way.

How do I dry the wet coffee beans? This step also has a great impact on the final flavor and quality of a coffee bean. According to the general rule, natural sun drying is better than machine drying. However, like the fermentation process mentioned above, the choice of drying methods is also based on the actual conditions to combine and adjust in order to achieve the most appropriate results. In some places, these two drying methods are used together, some in the natural sun and the other in a machine. When it comes to the temperature of machine drying, the effect of drying at low temperature for a long time is much better than that of rapid drying at high temperature. There are also some details that must be paid special attention to in the drying process, such as replacing shell coffee beans with a layer of dew or frost during the natural sun at night, which will end up better than no protection at all.