What is honey process coffee? Yellow, red and black honey

How is honey process coffee made?

The cherries go through a depulper, which removes the skin and some of the mucilage. The beans are then dried with the rest of the mucilage still on.

Perfect Daily Grind says the amount of mucilage left after depulping decides the grade, from white through to black honey. Wikipedia describes the beans being fermented and dried with the mucilage in place.

After drying, the beans are hulled to remove the dried mucilage and parchment. What is left is green coffee, ready to ship and roast.

The method is riskier than washing. Barista Magazine says coffee with any fruit left on is prone to mold and over-fermentation. Perfect Daily Grind warns that a badly controlled honey can taste rotten or even vinegary.

What do yellow, red and black honey mean?

They describe how much mucilage stays on and how slowly the coffee dries. More mucilage and slower drying give a darker color and, usually, more sweetness and body.

Producers do not all define the colors the same way. Barista Magazine describes yellow as most fruit removed, red as about half, and black as all of it left on. It also profiles Costa Rica's Las Lajas, which leaves all the mucilage on and controls the color through drying instead.

The flavor notes follow Barista Magazine. Perfect Daily Grind's 2017 guide says red honey is dried under more shade to slow it down, and black under even more.

Does honey process coffee taste like honey?

Not necessarily. The name refers to the sticky mucilage, not the flavor, though the extra sugar often makes the cup sweeter.

Perfect Daily Grind says black honey coffees can work well as espresso, where it almost tastes as if someone added a drop of honey. White and yellow honeys tend to taste cleaner as filter coffee.

Barista Magazine's tasting notes give a sense of the range. Yellow honeys can taste close to washed coffees, red honeys pulpy and sweet with red fruit, and black honeys raisiny with dark chocolate.

Where does honey process come from?

It is most closely tied to Costa Rica. Perfect Daily Grind's 2017 guide features producers there and in El Salvador.

Barista Magazine tells one origin story from Costa Rica. In 2008, an earthquake cut off Las Lajas's water for weeks during the harvest. Without water to wash its coffee, the farm turned to dry methods inspired by Brazil and Ethiopia.

Brazil has its own close relative, pulped natural. Perfect Daily Grind says most Brazilian pulped naturals resemble a yellow honey.

Does honey process change how you grind?

Not in any well-documented way. The grind setting depends mainly on your brew method and the roast level, not on how the coffee was processed.

Start from a grind size chart for your method, then adjust by taste.

Roast level matters more than process here. Counter Culture says lighter roasts are denser and need a finer grind than darker ones. So a light-roasted honey will likely want a finer setting than a dark roast.