A coffee bean is the seed of a cherry. Before it can be roasted, the fruit has to come off and the seed has to dry, down to about 11% moisture. How a farm does that is called processing, and it changes the cup as much as the variety or the roast does. It’s why two coffees from the same farm can taste like different drinks.
Washed
In the washed process, the skin and most of the fruit are stripped off right after picking. The seeds, still coated in a sticky layer called mucilage, sit in tanks to ferment, usually for 18 to 24 hours, which loosens the coating so it can be washed away. Then they’re dried. Washed coffees taste clean and bright, with clear acidity and a lighter body. It’s the standard in Colombia, Central America and Kenya, where almost everything is washed.
The downside is water. Conventional washing uses around 40 liters for every kilo of dried coffee, and the wastewater can carry 30 to 40 times the pollution load of city sewage. Newer equipment that strips the mucilage mechanically can cut water use to under a liter per kilo.
Natural
The natural, or dry, process is the oldest and simplest. The whole cherry is dried in the sun, fruit and all, for two weeks or more, and the dried husk comes off at the end. The fruit ferments slowly around the seed, and the cup shows it: naturals have fuller body, lower acidity and a sweet, often winey or berry-like taste. They also use far less water. Ethiopia dries most of its coffee this way, with only about 29% washed, as do Yemen and much of Brazil. Most of the world’s robusta is natural too.
Honey
Honey process sits in between. The skin comes off, but the sticky mucilage stays on while the seed dries. The name refers to the stickiness; there’s no honey involved. Farms label the result yellow, red or black honey. Some go by how much mucilage is left, others by how slowly and in how much shade the coffee dries, and there’s no single standard. The style spread in Costa Rica, helped along by water shortages after the 2008 earthquake, and it’s common in El Salvador too. Expect more sweetness and a rounder body than a washed coffee, with some of its clarity.
Pulped Natural and Wet-Hulled
Brazil has its own version of honey, the pulped natural (cereja descascada), which gives much of a natural’s body with some of a washed coffee’s sweetness and clarity. Brazilian naturals and pulped naturals are the base of a great many espresso blends.
Indonesia’s wet-hulled process, giling basah, is the odd one out. Farmers strip the parchment while the seed is still wet, at 20 to 24% moisture instead of about 11%, then finish drying the bare bean. In the humid climate of Sumatra and Sulawesi that gets coffee to market faster, and paid for sooner. The result is heavy and syrupy, with low acidity and an earthy edge that people either love or don’t.
Which to Pick for Milk Drinks
| Process | Body | Acidity | In a cortado |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washed | Lighter | Bright | Lively, though milk can mute it |
| Natural | Full | Low | Sweet and fruity, holds up to milk |
| Honey | Medium to full | Medium | A good middle ground |
| Wet-hulled | Heavy | Low | Bold and earthy, love it or leave it |
For a cortado, where milk rounds off acidity and flattens delicate aromas, naturals and honeys usually carry through better. Washed coffees shine as straight espresso or pour-over. The record-breaking 2025 Panama Geisha was a washed coffee, and it’s best tasted without milk at all. For Ethiopia’s naturals in their home setting, see our guide to the Ethiopian coffee ceremony.