What is honey processing?
Honey processing removes the coffee cherry's outer skin and some fruit while leaving some mucilage on the seed during drying. No honey is added.
How it works
After harvesting and sorting, cherries are depulped. The seed, still covered with some mucilage, is then dried. Once dry, the parchment is removed and the green coffee is prepared for grading.
White, yellow, red and black honey
These terms are used by parts of the coffee industry to describe differing amounts of mucilage and/or drying conditions. The terminology is not a globally standardised scientific scale, so descriptions should be interpreted in the context of the producer or mill.
Flavour
Honey-processed coffees can show characteristics associated with both washed and natural coffees, but the result depends on the exact process, drying environment and coffee itself.