Honey and PulpedNatural Coffees

摘要

"Honey" is a relatively new term describing coffee that has been dried with all or some of the sticky fruit pulp or "honey" (miel in Spanish) still adhering to the bean. Those familiar with coffee processing methods will, of course, recognize this practice as a kind of compromise between two more familiar processing methods: the dry or "natural" method, in which the beans are dried while entirely encased inside the fruit, and the wet or "washed" method, in which all of the soft fruit residue, both skin and pulp, are scrubbed off before the coffee is dried. Like all variations in processing method, honey processing profoundly impacts cup character, which is doubtless the main reason producers, particularly in Central America, have been experimentingwith it. All of the nineteen honey coffees we cupped for this article appear to have been specially prepared small-lot coffees intended to excite the high-end specialty market. Judging from our sampling, what can a coffee lover expect from these experiments?