Washed vs. Natural Coffee: Understanding Coffee Fermentation and Processing

We love this topic because it helps explain one of coffee’s greatest magic tricks.

How can two coffees from the same country taste completely different? Part of the answer is roasting. Part of it is the variety of coffee plant. But a surprisingly large part of the answer is what happens after the coffee cherry is picked.

That’s where processing comes in.

Washed coffee, natural coffee, honey processing, fermentation, anaerobic processing — these terms get thrown around a lot, and they can make coffee labels feel more complicated than they need to be.

As I’ve learned more about coffee, I’ve learned that my sweet tooth really appreciates “dry-process” or “natural process” coffees. These are generally contrasted with “wet-process” or “washed process” coffee.

So let’s demystify the whole thing.

	Washed coffee	Natural coffee
Fruit removed	Before drying	After drying
Drying method	Bean only	Whole cherry
Flavor	Clean, bright	Fruity, sweet
Body	Lighter	Fuller
Acidity	Higher	Lower
Common flavor notes	Chocolate, caramel, nuts	Berry, tropical fruit, blueberry
Processing difficulty	More equipment	More weather-dependent
Best for	Traditional coffee drinkers	People who enjoy fruit-forward coffee

What Is coffee fermentation?

Coffee fermentation doesn’t mean the beans are bubbling away into some kombucha-like brew. It’s a natural, biological step that happens when the fruit (the coffee cherry) starts breaking down after harvest.

During processing, especially in washed and honey coffees (more on processing methods later), the sticky fruit layer around the bean is full of sugars. When those sugars meet naturally occurring yeasts and bacteria, fermentation kicks in. This microbial activity is gentle and helps loosen the fruit from the bean so it can be washed off more easily.

It also shapes the final flavor of your coffee.

Depending on how long and how carefully it’s managed, fermentation can add complexity. Too much time, or poor control, and you’ll get funky or even spoiled flavors.

Natural-process coffees ferment too, just in a drier environment. Because the fruit stays on the seed while it dries, the fermentation is slower and tends to push those big berry or tropical fruit notes into the bean. (Spoiler: Our fave).

How coffee processing affects flavor

To be effective, I’ll vastly oversimplify the work thousands of that people do regularly with expert skill. Coffee making is a process humans have spent hundreds of years improving, too. No matter.

The production process for coffee in comically short form goes through approximately the following five steps…

1. A coffea “tree” is planted, and nourished. Eventually it grows to a size where it can bear fruit.
2. Once it has born and ripened “cherries”, the berries of the plant are harvested.
3. The “coffee bean” we want, the cherry pit, in effect, must be separated from the fruit. When and how this is done is the difference of dry versus wet (versus honey) coffee processes.
4. Coffee is roasted to perfection.
5. You brew your (more lightly) roasted coffee beans, and you discover the difference that dry versus wet coffee process makes in the final coffee drink.

Coffee is Grown; We’re drinking the “cherry pit”

I just want to reemphasize the point in parts 1 & 2 above: whether from wet or dry processes, coffee “bean” are not botanically beans at all. (It’s very like how “peanut” are botanically not nuts, and tomatoes are botanically fruits.)

The other thing that’s relevant but I know a lot less about is that in this stage of coffee production, you have different types of coffee plants. “Arabica” coffee and “Robusta” coffee are actually just varieties of coffee plants. In general, robusta is more mass-produced, and grow at lower elevations, where Arabica grows higher and is generally preferred by snobs like us.

Even more, I’ve heard a lot about “bourbon” (pronounced as if French “bore bone”, not like the corn-whiskey made here in the USA “bur bun”) coffee. Bourbon coffee originated in Yemen, and is simply a variety (“cultivar”) of the Arabica variety. Similarly, Gesha or Geisha coffee is a plant variety. But I’m very off topic, let’s get to what happens after the coffee plant (of whatever type) is harvested: the processing.

Washed vs. natural vs. honey coffee processing methods

What are the three coffee processing methods? Onward to coffee fermentation process 101.

1. Washed Process Coffee

After Harvest, Wash That Fruit Away

Wet process coffee beans seem to be by far the most common. If you think of “traditional” coffee, there’s a high probability that you’re thinking of washed-process coffee. Further, because this method basically gives you the flavor of the bean-only, and you get no input from the drying method, you’ll often get a clearer sense of bean itself, and the “terroir” of its growth.

Conditions for drying will impact whether producers end up washing the fruit away quickly, or letting it sit on the bean. A producer trying to dry process can harm the integrity of the beans inside (they’ll split, and thus make consistent roasting much more difficult) if the conditions are too humid. So, high humidity or rains when the coffee would dry mean they must follow the coffee processing steps to wash/wet process their bean and separate the fruit off ASAP. 

The wash-process, as the name suggests, is where you pull the ripe fruit off the bean as soon as you can, and get the beans wet. That’s why it’s often called either “wet” or “washed” process. You’re generally pulling off the fruit in a water-y system, and often get the beans a little “wet” as a result. I saw someone explain this separation process of pit-from-fruit as a squeeze of the fruit so it “spits out” the bean.

Again, I’m sure that’s a vast oversimplification of complex machinery people have worked on for years. In any case, once extracted we wash the bean to get rid of the spit, or the sticky residue of the fruit. Whether or not this “spitting” analogy is accurate, it sure sticks with me.

2. Natural Dry Processed Coffee

After Harvest, Dry Fruit upon the Pit

In short (I’m sure experts can add nuance to this), dry process is where the fruit is left in tact while the bean dries out in the sun. Only after this “aging” has happened to the coffee for a few days or weeks will the bean be removed. So, for longer after ripening for harvest, the bean and fruit co-mingle their molecules.

This gives, as you might expect, a greater transfer of flavor from the fruit of the cherry to the “coffee bean” pit inside. Because this sitting-together can help with the removal of the berry, this is also the oldest method of processing coffee. Dry-process requires less industrial equipment and clever gadgets than “washed process” coffee does, but it also works in a less diverse array of conditions. Primarily, the surrounding air must be at a good humidity level (a wet season can make this go wrong). And chronically-wet areas means its just plain impossible to dry-process coffee in certain countries.

We’ll go into more tasting details later on. But suffice it to say that while beans vary hugely between origin and producer, you’ll notice similar trends in flavor notes of all dry process coffee versus other methods. And they’ll generally be fruitier: citrus, blueberry, and more. Again, because of the longer sit-together of fruit-and-bean, this makes perfect sense.

If you’ve ever wondered why some coffees taste like blueberries while others taste like chocolate, our guide to how to make black coffee taste good explains how these flavor notes actually work.

3. Honey Process Coffee

After Harvest, Pulp the Coffee Beans & Let Them Sit

So far I’ve mostly talked about washed versus natural coffee process. But there is actual a common third coffee processing methods. Wait?! Three? I actually just recently discovered this fact in a marketing email from Blue Bottle, a large artisanal American coffee chain now owned by Nestle, about “honey process coffee.”

Thinking mostly in terms of the dry-versus-wet dichotomy I understood, I was intrigued. They claim that is it indeed a third process, and I believe them. The core idea of honey process coffee is that it’s a mid-point between wet and dry process. Neither is the whole fruit-layer left on, nor is it expertly removed fully in a water bath.

Instead some fruit-residue intentionally remains (often, unappetizingly called the “mucilage” in English), which can then dry into the beans to give them a honey-like look.

Then, rather sun-drying the remaining “pulped” coffee bean, the processor will also make sure to safeguard the coffee from the sun, at least a little. This is in contrast to the sun-soaked methods most common for natural process coffees. I found this video from Amber at Seattle Coffee Gear very well-done and super informative on the matter of “honey process” coffees:

*Ahem*—Sundried Coffee Beans?

While researching this article I was a little like “oh, what’s sun-dried coffee?” It turns out it’s not really a different processing system (like honey process), but just one more on the list of names for “natural” and dry process coffee. In this article from Counter Culture, they state it pretty plainly:

Natural process, dry process, unwashed, or natural sundried all refer to the same method of processing that usually involves drying coffee cherries either patios or raised beds in the sun.

They go on to point out the value of raking and turning the beans strategically during the coffee fermentation process, in addition to dry weather, that is necessary for the natural-process method of coffee processing to work.

Again, making this a simple dichotomy is both useful but hiding complexity and expertise.

Flavor differences in natural vs. washed coffee

By now (if you’ve read thoroughly) you’ve picked up on my theme that “sun-dried natural process” coffees are “fruitier” in flavor than wet or washed process ones. In my very limited experience, I’d say that honey-process coffees are a little closer to the fruity end than most “washed process” ones.

When it comes to washed versus unwashed coffee beans, I’d generally expect “nutty” flavors from washed process coffee. You’ll also pick up things more like “maple,” “caramel,” “chocolate,” or “spice.” But if you have a cup of coffee and think, “is this blueberry tea?”, you should put your money on it being a natural-process coffee with the fruit dried onto that bean.

Because of how different coffees are (and my relatively lack of experience on the matter of what makes some coffee taste better to me than others), I won’t belabor the point about coffee bean processing methods and taste preferences much more. I’ll cite instead (from the Counter Culture article mentioned above) the claim that sun-dried dry-process coffees are also “more fruity and fuller-bodied.

The natural sugars in and around the seed are infused into it during this process and result in a higher sugar content than washed coffees.” This certainly matches my experience, and explains why I like them so much. So for me, in the case of washed versus natural coffee, natural almost always wins.

» Learn more: How to make black coffee taste good

How to identify coffee processing on a coffee bag” section

Most specialty roasters list the processing method directly on the bag.

Look for terms like:

• Washed
• Wet process
• Natural
• Dry process
• Honey process
• Anaerobic
• Sun-dried

If you don’t see it on the label, check the roaster’s product page. Processing information is almost always listed alongside origin, elevation, and tasting notes.

How to brew great coffee at home

Washed, dried, or anything in between, here are our go-to tools for getting the most out of your daily coffee routine. And if you’re still figuring out which brewing method fits your style, start with our guide to the different coffee brewing methods and how they compare.

Excellent whole bean coffee. See above ^^.

A precise scale, like the Hario Pour-Over Scale. This measures the weight of the beans before you grind and later helps you track the amount of water poured into your brew system.

A burr grinder. These vary significantly in quality. For us, it mattered to have more precision grinding so that we could use the same grinder for, say, French Press (coarser grind size) to AeroPress (finer grind size). That’s why we opted for the Baratza Encore. Here’s our full review.

A trusty kettle. We upgraded our Bonavita Gooseneck Electric Kettle recently to the Fellow Stagg Kettle. After 5 years of near-daily use, it died on us. We jumped on the opportunity to try a new brand, but we were honestly really happy with the Bonavita (here’s in-depth review of the Fellow Stagg Kettle). Oh, and a quick TL;DR on kettle selection — an electric gooseneck kettle is preferred to other types of kettles, as the electric allows you to control temps. And why gooseneck? The design allows you to better control water flow rates.

A coffee maker. We make pour over with a Kalita Wave everyday (it is easier than it sounds). You can choose a Chemex, a French Press, a different pour over system, heck — even a traditional coffee maker (we love our Bonavita 8C for when we have company, though it might not make sense for the volume of coffee provided with the coffee advent calendar).

FAQs on coffee processing

Is natural coffee stronger than washed coffee?

No. Processing affects flavor, not caffeine content. Natural coffees often taste more intense because they emphasize fruity and fermented notes, but they don’t necessarily contain more caffeine.

Why is natural coffee more expensive?

Natural coffees are often more labor-intensive and carry a higher risk of spoilage during drying. They’re also produced in smaller quantities, and are often viewed as more distinctive. This altogether means they often sell for a premium. 💸

Which coffee process is fruitiest?

Natural coffee is usually the fruitiest. Leaving the cherry on the bean during drying encourages berry, tropical fruit, and wine-like flavors to develop.

Which coffee processing methods should you pick?

Both! Or even all three! I don’t think there’s a “right” answer between washed-process coffees and dry-process ones. Two of my favorite coffees right now are from local Colorado roasters. One is a straight-forward delicious Guatemala from Harbinger. (I need to buy this again soon!) That’s the best of what I think of as “classic” coffee flavors.

My other favorite is a natural process from Sweet Bloom (currently gone from stock and not shown on the web), for which the available Nyamasheke from Harbinger comes the closest of what I know you’ll be able to get. Both are very good.

Thanks for going on this journey with me to better understand washed versus natural coffee. Cheers! :)