Coffee Processing: Wet Process Coffee and Characteristics

Good Morning Coffee Lovers,

If you were lucky enough to receive a coffee gift basket for Father's Day, Mother's Day or maybe a birthday, you probably enjoyed the fresh brewed coffee without giving a lot of thought to the process behind transforming those coffee beans into a great tasting beverage. Yet, the way that coffee beans are processed has a large impact on the taste of the coffee in your cup. Since we discussed the dry processing method in the last blog, today we will look at the wet processing method of coffee beans.

The Wet Processing of Coffee

The wet processing method is also referred to as the washed coffee bean method. When coffee is processed using the wet method a pulping machine is used to take off the skin and pulp of the coffee cherry. This works with a rotating drum that pushes the bean until the pulp comes out. The coffee seeds are kept in tanks for up to three days and then washed to remove traces of pulp.

The remaining pulp is removed either by a fermentation method or a machine processing method. The beans are then dried to remove the outer hull. Coffee beans may be sun dried or machine dried at this point in the process.

Characteristics of Wet Processed Coffee Beans

Wet processed coffee beans tend to be fruitier, brighter and cleaner than dry processed coffee beans. This is often the process used in coffee that has a desirable acidity. The Guatemalan Antigua coffee is wet processed as this method works well in that humid region.


Until our next cup,
Sandy Riggen