From the perspective of today’s specialty coffee, we can use flavor to distinguish washed and sun-dried coffee beans. Under normal circumstances, washed coffee will be cleaner and more sour. The fermented sweetness of sun-processed coffee is more obvious, and the taste will be richer.
In this regard, today we can choose coffee beans that suit us according to our favorite taste. Why do different processing methods produce different coffee flavors?
It turns out that this is related to the fermentation substances involved in coffee. As shared in Front Street’s previous popular science article on processing methods, the structure of a coffee cherry can be divided into peel, pulp, pectin, sheepskin, silverskin, and seeds (coffee beans).
Solar processing is to directly dry the fresh coffee cherries until they are dry. During this drying process that lasts for 3-4 weeks, the entire coffee cherry participates in fermentation, so the coffee beans absorb the sugar from the pectin layer and pulp, making the coffee flavor sweeter.
As the oldest processing method, there are many representatives of sun-dried coffee beans. The first choice is the floral-flavored Front Street Sun-dried Oiran, the citrus-sour Front Street Sun-dried Red Cherry, the creamy and nutty Front Street Sun-dried Queen’s Manor, and the Front Street Jade Red Label Geisha that is like scented tea.
The water washing process is to peel the fresh coffee fruits, then stir and soak them in a fermentation tank for 36 hours to separate the pectin layer, then rinse the coffee beans with clean water and dry them in the sun. Most of the drying time is just the coffee beans themselves participating in the fermentation. With less fermented substances, it appears to be cleaner and has a more sour taste (light roasting).
Because they have gone through more rounds of screening, washed coffee beans can be said to be a symbol of quality. Representative specialty coffee beans include Front Street Fruit Ding Ding with jasmine flavor, Front Street Emerald Green Label Geisha with cantaloupe flavor, and Front Street Kenya Cherry Tomato with berry aroma.
We can also clearly distinguish washed beans and sun-dried beans in appearance. The color of raw beans will be light green, and the color of sun-dried beans will be light yellow. On cooked beans, washed beans will show a "white center line", while sun-dried beans do not.
But in fact, when these processing methods were born, flavor was not the purpose at all. The oldest coffee processing method used by mankind is the traditional sun-drying process. Simply put, fresh coffee beans are directly exposed in the yard or on the roof. This method costs nothing and everyone can do it.
But the problem has also been exposed, that is, "depending on the weather". In some areas with unstable weather, mold is easy to occur, and the pulp with high sugar content is extremely easy to attract insects, so the quality of sun-dried coffee cannot be guaranteed. Before the reform of the Ethiopian coffee system, the highest grade of sun-dried coffee beans could only be G3.
Water washing treatment is a product of industrial standard production. The quality of face sun treatments is low and uneven. Standardized production can achieve greater benefits. In 1740, the Dutch, who controlled colonial coffee cultivation and world coffee trade, began to use the washing method to process coffee beans. It was first discovered in the West Indies that peeling coffee beans and soaking them in water can remove the sticky pectin layer, which can reduce the drying time of coffee beans and effectively prevent the infection of coffee beans by diseases, insect pests and molds. Therefore, at that time, washed beans were a symbol of high quality.
Later, the invention of the coffee peeling machine in 1844 also made the washing operation more efficient. The cost of washing is also very high and requires a large amount of water. On average, 200 kilograms of green coffee beans consume 10-20 tons of water. Therefore, treatment plants can only be built close to water sources. It can be said that the flavor and taste only account for a small part of the reason for the emergence of water washing treatment. The larger reasons come from considerations of yield, output, and product standardization.
However, washing processing is not a panacea. In some countries with underdeveloped water resources, such as the high mountain areas of Costa Rica and the plateau areas of Brazil, honey processing methods and semi-sun processing methods adapted to local conditions will be derived. Representative coffee beans include Front Street Blackberry and Front Street Brazilian Cerato. In the humid areas of Indonesia, the wet planing method was derived, and the representative coffee beans are the famous Front Street Mandheling.
These methods are all designed to invent methods with high yield and high yield based on actual conditions. But it does contain a unique flavor brought about by the way it is processed.
From the introduction of the concept of specialty coffee in the 1970s to the present, processing methods have been focused on flavor. For example, the famous Palm Tree and Toucan Manor, Paradise Manor, and 90+ Manor are committed to researching new processing techniques to explore the different flavors of coffee beans.
Solarization treatments are also constantly improving, such as the use of African raised bed solarization to avoid pests and ground contamination. Use shade cloth to control sun exposure. Strengthen personnel management, tumble coffee cherries, pick out abnormal coffee cherries, etc.
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
