After Brazil's pulped natural method spread to Central American countries such as Costa Rica and El Salvador, it was improved and came to be called honey processing. Honey processing is the process of making green coffee beans by drying them in the sun with the mucilage still attached. After the coffee beans have their outer pulp removed, a sticky, gelatinous layer remains. In the traditional washed processing method, this is rinsed away with clean water, but because some high-altitude origins face limited water resources, this method of drying the beans directly with the pectin still on them was born.

Origin of the Honey Process in Costa Rican Coffee
 
The honey process was developed by coffee farmers in Costa Rica's coffee regions. The background to its development is that most of Costa Rica's coffee regions are on steep mountains, where transportation is inconvenient, so when the coffee cherries from their own farms were delivered to the washing stations down the mountain, many of the cherries were found to have been damaged; this also reduced coffee bean yields, and thus reduced income, so the honey process was developed in this way.
 

Secondly, according to FrontStreet Coffee, it is because few green bean buyers go up into the Costa Rican mountains to purchase high-quality coffee cherries, leaving a lack of sales channels. These buyers purchased at extremely low, exploitative prices, so the coffee farmers up in the mountains also did not trust these buyers. This is why the honey process was invented, selling coffee beans in a self-produced, self-sold manner to earn more income and sustain their livelihoods.

At present, because the honey process performs well in flavor, it is widely used in Central American coffee regions, and many special honey processes have also been developed locally in Costa Rica. For example, the Bach coffee beans and Mozart coffee beans in FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Musician series are made by the raisin honey process and the anaerobic honey process respectively.
 
What Is the Honey Process?
 
The honey process, called Honey Process or Miel Process, is a method of drying the fruit after the pulp has been stripped off, with the parchment still attached.
 

As mentioned above by FrontStreet Coffee, coffee bean processing methods mainly include the washed process and the natural process. The natural process, as its name suggests, is a method of naturally drying the coffee beans after harvest; the washed process is a method of stripping off the pulp and then removing the surface gelatinous substance through fermentation; the honey process is a compromise between these two methods. After hearing the name honey process, many people think it is a process using honey, or that the coffee will carry a honey flavor after processing, but this is not the case. Because during the drying process, the water in the gelatinous substance on the surface of the bean core evaporates, making it as sticky as honey, hence the name.
 
The Honey Process Workflow
 
1. As with the first step of the washed process, first put all the coffee cherries into water to pick out floating beans and defective beans, keeping the good coffee cherries.
 
2. Take the selected coffee cherries directly to raised beds and dry them in the sun for at least three days, reducing the moisture content of the coffee cherries to 20%.
 

3. Then put the dried coffee beans into a depulper to remove the skin and pulp, leaving the pectin. This is also why honey-processed coffee beans are sweet, because pectin is the part of the coffee cherry with the highest sugar content.
 
4. Then dry the coffee beans that still retain the pectin, reducing the coffee's moisture content to 11%, after which they can be stored in the warehouse.
 
Furthermore, according to FrontStreet, honey processing is also classified according to how much pectin is retained. For example, coffee beans with generally 40% of the pectin removed are called yellow honey; honey-processed coffee beans with 25% of the pectin removed are classified as red honey; and there is another type, honey-processed green coffee beans that retain 100% of the pectin, classified as black honey.
 
The honey-processed green coffee beans also require great care during the drying process. Because honey-processed coffee beans retain pectin, there is a lot of mucilage, and during drying they must be turned constantly to prevent mold and over-fermentation.
 

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Honey Process
 
Advantages: Because the honey process is an improved version of the natural process and removes the pulp right at the start, there is no problem with mold developing. It also does not require large amounts of clean water, so costs are lower.
 
Disadvantages: The processing steps can be said to be the most complex and the most labor-intensive of all methods.
 
Honey Process Flavor
 
As FrontStreet mentioned above, the honey process can increase the sweetness of the coffee and relatively reduce its acidity, and its aroma will also be more delicate. Of course, this is when the honey process is well executed; if it is poorly executed, it will taste of an unpleasant acetic acidity, like the pungent aroma of onion or garlic. Even when it is executed quite well, it will still carry a bit of an earthy flavor, its aftertaste will be less clean, and off-flavors will be heavier than with the general washed process. So overall, using the honey process carries much higher risk than the general wet process.
 
Secondly, the honey process is further divided by color into three types: yellow honey, red honey, and black honey. So what is the difference between them? FrontStreet Coffee will now explain this to coffee-loving friends.
 
What Is the Difference Between Yellow Honey, Red Honey, and Black Honey?
 

Black Honey: The pectin is almost entirely retained, so drying takes the longest, requiring more than 14 days. During the process, to prevent it from drying too quickly, coverings are used to block overly strong sunlight, so that the sugar conversion is more complete.
 

Red Honey: 25% of the pectin is removed (specific practices vary by estate), sun drying lasts about 12 days, and shade canopies may also be used during the process. The coffee is turned several times a day, though not as frequently as with yellow honey.
 

Yellow Honey: 40% of the mucilage is removed, the beans receive maximum sunlight for drying, lasting about 8 days, and the coffee is placed on raised beds and turned once every hour.
 
Therefore, from Yellow Honey to Black Honey, the drying time required is longer and the management demands are stricter. If one must pick the best among the three, FrontStreet Coffee believes that Black Honey has the best flavor, because it retains the most mucilage, giving it the richest and most intense mouthfeel.
 
Yellow Honey and Red Honey are produced because coffee farmers also need to consider things from a commercial perspective; taking cost and price into account, offering consumers a variety of choices is also viable.
 
Why are honey-processed coffee beans so popular?
 
As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, coffee beans processed with the honey method all show excellent sweetness in their flavor profile, and this sweetness washes away coffee lovers' previous notion that coffee is bitter. That is why it is so loved by coffee enthusiasts who are just getting into coffee beans. Secondly, there are also many enzyme-processed coffee beans inspired by the honey method, and their flavor sweetness is even higher.
 

In addition, FrontStreet Coffee also mentioned above that there are three types of honey processing in total, among which Black Honey processed coffee beans have the highest sweetness and the best flavor, corresponding to relatively strict processing conditions. This also means that the coffee beans can have a stable quality guarantee, and naturally there are coffee lovers willing to pay for deliciousness, so this is also why honey-processed coffee beans are popular.
 
Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share the relatively popular Costa Rican honey-processed coffee beans with everyone!

FrontStreet Coffee: Costa Rica Musician Series Mozart Coffee Beans

Country: Costa Rica
Region: Tarrazu
Altitude: 1800m
Variety: H1
Processing Method: Raisin Honey Processing
Flavor: Raisin acidity, berries, floral, fermented wine aroma

 
Mozart is named after the child prodigy Mozart, who is regarded as the culmination of classical music, and is famous for his magnificent classical music. So the magnificent aroma of this Mozart coffee bean refers to the elegant floral fragrance Mozart gives off, similar to the white floral aroma of orange blossom, which FrontStreet can also sense when brewing. And the magnificent mouthfeel refers to Mozart coffee having more dark berry, raisin and a slight amount of red berry flavors, and in the middle and back sections one can also feel a slight plum acidity and a gummy bear-like sweetness; after it cools down, it still retains the floral aroma and sweetness. The flavor is very unique, and one can indeed feel the magnificent mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee: Costa Rica Musician Series Bach Coffee Beans

Country: Costa Rica
Region: Tarrazu
Altitude: 1950m
Variety: H1
Processing Method: Raisin Honey Processing
Flavor: Fermented wine aroma, berries, fruit tea note

Bach's music is refined, richly layered, and at the same time clear and well-organized. The dry aroma of this coffee bean carries fruity aromas such as strawberry, blackberry and raisin, and waves of fruity fragrance also drift out during brewing. When FrontStreet had just finished brewing, obvious floral and fruity aromas drifted out, and after entering the mouth one can also feel rich fruity aroma and a sweet-and-sour sensation, with a slight wine aroma in the middle and back sections, like red wine. After it cools down, it carries a honeyed preserved-fruit sweetness, and the wine aroma becomes even more obvious, and one can even feel a plum wine flavor. Such a refined taste sensation is indeed like Bach's music, and every sip seems to place one within the magnificence and rigor of Baroque aesthetics.