Honey Process — a dial for how much mucilage to leave on

The name Honey Process does not mean honey is used. It comes from the way the bean's surface becomes sticky and looks as if coated in honey when it is dried with the mucilage left on. Its steps closely resemble Pulped Natural, developed in Brazil, and the two are often treated as the same thing.

Between Washed and Natural

The steps are the same as Washed up to a point. A pulper removes the fruit. But instead of going into a fermentation tank, the beans move on to drying with the mucilage still on.

It therefore sits between Natural's "dry it with the fruit on" and Washed's "remove the mucilage, then dry". It takes in some of the fruit's sweetness without taking on as much fermentation risk as Natural. As a design philosophy it is a compromise, but this compromise proved very effective.

White, Yellow, Red, Black

Honey has grades named by color. There is no strict international standard, but they are generally understood as follows.

White Honey has almost all of the mucilage removed and is dried quickly, giving a clean finish close to Washed. Yellow Honey leaves about half the mucilage and dries relatively quickly in the sun.

Red Honey leaves much of the mucilage and dries slowly, using shade. Black Honey leaves almost all of it and dries the longest, under cover. The darker the color, the more fruit and sweetness, and the harder it is to manage.

The definitions of the colors, however, differ by producer, depending on drying method, sun exposure and how the mucilage is left. You cannot pin down a taste from the color name alone.

Spread by Costa Rica

It was Costa Rican producers who systematized this technique and spread it to the world. In the 2000s, in response to low coffee prices, a movement spread among small producers to run their own small processing mills (micro mills) and set themselves apart. The Honey Process became one of their main tools.

It is also valued from an environmental point of view because it uses less water.

Its value as a dial

The essence of the Honey Process is that producers can "design" the flavor. From the same beans, several different lots can be made just by changing how much mucilage is left and how fast it dries.

With Robusta too, Honey is sometimes chosen as a way to draw out sweetness like cacao or brown sugar. Washed tends to bring out hardness, while Natural can bring out too much fermentation. The idea is to choose it as a landing point between the two.