All coffee cherries go through a process to remove the outer cherry and expose the magic bean, well technically the seed, inside.

Here we will go over the honey process, something that we at Terrone & Co are very interested in because of its ability to offer a range of different flavours that we don’t get from other processes.

The honey process originated in Costa Rica but has spread to all corners of the coffee producing world.

The picked cherries are put into a floatation tank where the unripe cherries float and are removed.
Once the unripe cherries are removed the remaining cherries are put through a machine where the skin and pulp are removed.
After the skins have been removed the beans are left out to dry.
Depending on how long the beans are left out to dry further defines the honey process. If left out for around a week the beans developed a yellow hue, if left for around 2 weeks they develop a red hue and 3 weeks or longer is called black honey.
Dried beans are then dehulled to remove the final layer known as ‘parchment’.

We managed to get our hands on a lovely Colombian coffee that has gone through the honey process, expertly roasted on our Giesen W15, when cupping we got notes of apple, almond and caramel. As with all of our single origins we recommend to drink it as a filter coffee to get the most from it, use a ratio of 1g of coarsely ground coffee to 16ml of water brewed between 2.5-3 minutes.

Informative: The Honey Process