Discover Coffee

In our last issue, we covered two types of production processing: “natural” and “washed.” This time, we’ll take a look at a method that draws on the best of both worlds.

Pulped natural (semi-washed)
The “pulped natural” process involves first peeling the coffee cherries and removing the fruit with a machine and then drying the coffee with mucilage still on the surface—either in its full amount or partially removed. In the end, the coffee strikes a delicious balance between the sweetness of the natural process and the acidity of the washed process.

The mucilage—sticky and sweet—is often called “honey,” which is why the pulped natural process also goes by the “honey process” name.
The “black honey” process leaves more mucilage on the surface; the “red honey” process takes more off; and the “yellow honey” process removes even more.

Recent years have seen another process grow in popularity: “yeast fermentation.”
The method uses manual fermentation (rather than traditional natural fermentation) to
“design” the flavors of the beans.
While the method is still developing, Maruyama Coffee might eventually start importing yeast-fermented beans once the techniques have reached a level capable of producing the kinds of coffee we pride ourselves on.