If you are a frequent drinker of Pour over(V60) coffee, Front Street believes that you will often see friends around you who can tell the difference between washed and sun-dried coffee with just a glance or a sip. Due to the fast identification speed, many friends are amazed by this and don't know how it is done. Yesterday, a friend said this to Front Street Street.In fact, this is not difficult, and it is even much simpler than everyone thinks. Front Street has shared several times on how to distinguish between sun-dried and washed. It does not require years of experience accumulation. As long as we are familiar with the difference in processing between the two, we can quickly distinguish the two through the characteristics of the bean phase and flavor! So today, Front Street will take you to review how to quickly distinguish between sun-dried and washed coffee.First, understand the processing process of washing and sun dryingCoffee processing can actually be understood as a process of drying coffee beans! The early processing methods, without exception, were all invented to better dry coffee beans. Because only dry coffee beans are easy to store and will not easily become moldy even if they are stored for a long time.Sun-drying is the earliest coffee processing method! For a long time, solar drying was the only processing technology used for coffee in the Arab world. The sun tanning method is called "Natural" in English, which translates to natural, which means a natural and technology-free processing method.And its processing steps are just as its name suggests, without any technological interference. Just lay the freshly harvested coffee fruits on any flat surface. After the fruits are dried to a certain extent, the shriveled fruits can be recovered, and then all the peel, pulp, pectin, parchment and other substances surrounding the coffee beans are removed. At this point, the processing can be declared complete.However, the solarization method has a very significant shortcoming, that is, it is highly dependent on the weather. Because the whole coffee cherries are put into the sun together, the drying speed is very slow. This is not friendly to some countries with humid climates and frequent rainfall, so many areas have developed other treatment methods based on local conditions. For example, in the West Indies, because it was difficult to process coffee beans by sunlight, they developed a water-washing process based on local conditions.
Washing treatment（Washed Process）As the name suggests, it is a processing method that uses water resources to process coffee. The more conventional water washing process will put the harvested coffee cherries into the pool for flotation to screen out the unripe fruits and rotten bad fruits; then remove the peel and pulp of the good fruits, and transfer the coffee beans with pectin and parchment skin into the water tank for soaking; after a period of time, this batch of beans It will be transferred to another clean water tank and specially stirred manually to remove the pectin remaining on the surface. When the process is completed, the coffee beans with only the sheepskin and silver skin will be sent to the sun to dry. After drying to a certain extent, the outer shell can be removed and the coffee beans can be taken out.
So the above is the whole process of the two processing methods. After you understand these two processing steps, you can start to master how to distinguish between sun-dried and washed coffee!The difference in green beans...On green beans, we can tell the difference between sun-dried and washed by their color. As mentioned before, because the whole coffee cherries are directly dried in the sun, the drying speed is very slow. This will cause a large amount of sugar in the pulp and pectin to penetrate into the bean surface during the drying process, and cause Maillard and caramelization reactions. In addition, the beans are wrapped in the pulp and peel and cannot be exposed to sunlight, so the color of the final processed beans will be a dazzling golden color.(picture right)。In the washing process, because the pulp, peel, and pectin are removed before sun drying, almost no sugar will penetrate and adhere to the surface of the beans during the drying process. In addition, the beans themselves can be directly exposed to air and sunlight, and the drying speed is very fast. The color of the beans themselves is also well preserved, so the color of washed green beans is generally clear green.(Picture left)。The difference in cooked beans...The characteristics of cooked beans are more obvious, and many coffee experts use this to quickly distinguish between sun-dried beans and washed beans. It's very simple, we just need to observe whether the center line of a coffee bean hasA lot, partialwhiteBy looking at the silver skin, you can tell whether it is sun-dried or washed coffee beans.Usually, washed cooked beans will have a large amount of white silver skin on the center line, while sun-dried beans will have less or even none. The reason is also due to the difference in processing steps.Sun-drying will cause the sugar to impregnate the coffee beans, and these sugars will also impregnate the silver skin. Therefore, during the roasting process, the silver skin of the sun-dried beans will become darker and less white due to the caramelization reaction of the sugar. Even if the roasting is slightly darker, the color of the silver skin will be consistent with the coffee beans. From a distance, it will look like there is no silver skin.(picture right)。The silver skin of washed beans is not impregnated with sugar. Unless the beans are roasted darker, the color of the silver skin of the beans will be whiter. And because the white is a contrasting color to the dark brown of the coffee beans, the silver skin will stand out. So this is the best way to distinguish sun-dried and washed beans based on their appearance.The difference in taste...Finally, there is the difference in taste. In the early years, coffee processing was developed for drying coffee beans. However, with the popularity of the concept of specialty coffee, people found that different processing methods will bring different taste changes to the coffee, so more and more special processing methods came into being. The biggest difference between sun-drying and washing is that they have different degrees of fermentation.During the processing of sun-dried coffee, more substances accompany the coffee beans for drying and fermentation, and the time is longer, so sun-dried coffee will have very rich levels and flavor expressions. At the same time, depending on the degree of fermentation, sun-dried coffee will also have different degrees of fermentation;In contrast, washed coffee will appear very clean. Because there are fewer substances involved in fermentation during the processing and the drying time is short, washing can allow the coffee to retain more of its original flavor. Although the layers are not as rich as sun-dried coffee, because the degree of fermentation is not that strong, washed coffee will have a very high degree of cleanliness.In the bean list on Front Street, there are two coffee beans that come from the same production area but are processed differently. They are Front Street Yirgacheffe·Sun-dried Red Cherry, and Front Street Yirgacheffe·Washed Fruit Ding Ding. Although they all have the basic flavor of the Yirgacheffe production area, due to different processing methods, the texture of the coffee is very different.The following is a flavor comparison of two coffees brewed by Front Street. You can refer to it. The extraction parameters are as follows: powder volume 15g, powder-to-water ratio 1:15, water temperature 92°C, fine sugar grinding, 75% sieving rate of No. 20 mesh, and time 2 minutes.Front Street Yirgacheffe·Sun-Dried Red Cherry:You can taste the sweet and sour fruits of citrus, berry, and yellow peach in the mouth, with a light jasmine aroma, and the finish has some aroma of preserved fruits and red wine.The overall taste is full, rich in layers, and has a long aftertaste.Front Street Yirgacheffe·Washed Fruit Ding Ding:What you taste in the mouth is the very fragrant jasmine fragrance, followed by the fresh and bright acidity of lemon, grapefruit, berry, etc., as well as the sweetness of honey, and the aftertaste of oolong tea. The overall taste is clean and clear, with a mild flavor.In addition to the difference in texture, we often hear the saying that "sun-dried coffee tastes sweeter, while washed coffee tastes sour." Such characteristics are also affected by the processing method, which leads to the roasting degree of sun-dried coffee to be darker. Relatively more sour substances are eliminated, so it tastes sweeter, while the opposite is true for washed coffee.The above are the differences between washed and sun-dried coffee. In fact, as long as everyone understands the processing steps and goes through an actual comparison experience, we can basically master the technique of quickly distinguishing between washing and sun drying. It is very simple~
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
