Have you heard of natural processing? Many if not most coffees come to consumers through washed processing rather than natural processing. Washed processing involves the following:
separating the coffee beans from the coffee cherry flesh via machine (whether automatic or hand-crank),
submerging the beans in water to eliminate the mucilage (the sugary fruit layer found between the cherry skin and the two coffee beans inside),
and placing the coffee beans on the drying beds (or other surfaces) until they are ready.
Unlike this typical washed processing, natural processing doesn’t initially remove the cherry skins (also known as depulping) from the coffee beans; instead, the beans dry with the skin still intact.
What does this mean for the coffee? Basically, the beans can absorb more of the natural, sugar-filled goodness from the cherries as they dry, resulting in an infusion of enhanced sweetness, richness, and fullness in the final cup of coffee!
Perfect Daily Grind explains the science of it this way: “The processing method makes a difference to flavor and aroma because the sugars in the pulp left on natural…processed beans undergo metabolic changes that significantly alter the chemical composition of the green beans.”
By leaving the cherry skins on the coffee beans, the end result is a coffee with complex qualities that are unique to this method of processing. Cafe Imports identifies natural coffee as having these attributes: “Noticeably fruity or ‘pulpy’ flavors, often described as ‘boozy’ or ‘winey’; can also have strong nutty and/or chocolate characteristics, and typically has a heavier or syrupy body.” With more time to develop its flavor profile from the surrounding fruit, it’s no wonder that natural coffee has these rich, distinctive elements.
That being said, we are excited to announce our new Oso Andino natural-process coffee: a one-of-a-kind nanolot too good to pass up! The first natural-process coffee we're offering in our shop, this is an exclusive small batch that you won't want to miss. As is often found with our naturals, this coffee has a delicious and undeniably fruity quality: notes of sweet mango jam and tangy orange zest elevate the crisp and clean cup that is characteristic of our lighter roasts. Coffee aficionados will want to get this fruit-forward limited-time coffee while they can!
Click here to try Oso Andino for yourself!
To purchase our specialty coffee, check out our shop. To learn more about our farm, follow us on Instagram.
Here, a batch of natural-process coffee cherries dry on one of our drying beds at our farm in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador.