LEARN: Honey Processing for Coffee

Ok, so lets clear things up…there is no honey used in the actual processing of this awesome coffee!

Honey process coffee is one of three methods of processing used to pre-prepare coffee for roasting and is a popular method in countries where water is scarce.

Once the berries are picked they are cleaned and sorted into ripe, unripe, over-ripe & damaged lots.  Only the perfectly ripe cherries are used for the best possible results.  Once the berries are clean the pulp (fruit) is removed using a wet-mill or a dry-mill.

What makes Honey process so different is at this stage in the process the mucilage is left on.  The mucilage is a thin gooey layer that surrounds the parchment, essentially acting as a protective layer to the bean.  It is also very sweet in flavour and this is what makes the defining characteristic of ‘honey’ process coffee.  Once dry the mucilage gives the coffee a heightened sweetness and more body in the cup.

We can also get varying degrees of honey process coffee. These are known as Yellow Honey, Orange Honey, Red Honey & Black Honey.  The more mucilage left on the darker the colour.

This month Black Market have an amazingly sweet honey process coffee from Guatemala, Plan Del Guayabo Estate.  It boasts tropical fruit & berry aromas, plum, spice flavours and has a delicious lychee sweetness.

At Black Market Roasters, we supply Sydney Cafe’s with fresh, exotic single origins including honey processed coffee. Jump over to our Wholesale Page, drop your details in and we will send you our latest offering! Being a wholesale coffee roaster supplying Sydney, freshly roast coffee beans and deliver them weekly using our specialised ordering App.