Removes the skin but dries the beans with some or all of the mucilage left on. Often sweeter, mellow cups, with Costa Rica a pioneer.
Honey processing removes the skin by pulping but leaves some or all of the mucilage on the parchment, so the beans ferment and dry with it and the washing step is omitted. Grades run from white, closest to washed, to black, closest to natural, with drying ranging from about 8 to 10 days for yellow to around 30 for black. Costa Rica pioneered it, partly to save water after a 2008 earthquake, but the grade names are producer-assigned and not standardized. Cups are described as tending toward more sweetness and body.
How it worksThe skin is removed and the mucilage is left on the parchment. The beans are fermented and dried with it in place, and the washing step is omitted. How much mucilage stays on sets the grade (white, yellow, red, black).
Step by step
- 01
Cherry is pulped to remove the skin.
- 02
Some or all of the mucilage is left on the parchment.
- 03
The beans are dried with the mucilage in place, with no washing step.
Timing · Drying takes about 8 to 10 days for yellow honey, 12 to 15 days for red and around 30 days for black
History
Costa Rica pioneered honey processing, motivated by a wish to differentiate the cup and to save water. A 2008 earthquake caused severe water shortages and conservation mandates, and early cuppers dismissed the coffees as unclean and wild before buyers came to value them. Other origins later experimented with it, which diluted Costa Rica's niche. In Brazil the same idea is called pulped natural.
Field notes
- i
A honey-processed Valle Occidental coffee won a 2013 Cup of Excellence award with 90.75 points.
- ii
In 2017 a honey-processed Geisha reached $80.60 per pound.
Our notes on Honey are still being checked against their sources, so for now this page shows only the facts we can stand behind.
What can go wrong
- No standardization exists: producers self-designate categories without external verification of mucilage levels or drying protocols.
In the cup, according to guides
- SweetnessMoreHoney-processed coffees are described as tending toward more sweetness and body, and as mellow and sweet with mild acidity.
- BodyMoreDescribed as tending toward more body.
Common in
At the same stage
Sources · 2 Every sentence here was checked against a source we read. Taste notes are what guides describe, not promises about your bag. Last revised 2026-09-30.
- Coffee processing · Wikimedia Foundation
- Honey processing: Did the world steal Costa Rica's coffee niche? · Intelligence.coffee