'Natural' and 'Washed' Coffee

Kafe Lespwa growers have traditionally processed their crop using the "natural" or "dry-processing" method. In 2009, drawing upon the revolving loan fund established from donations by our supporters, the farmers built the first two of four planned sites where they could use the "washed" or "wet-processing" method. Nearly all commercial coffee is wet-processed. The farmers first began using the new sites to produce washed coffee in fall 2010, and we began selling it in January 2011.

In natural or dry processing, whole coffee cherries are thoroughly sun dried before the cherry's outer pulp is removed.

By contrast, 'washed' coffee is processed using special machines called depulpers. The depulper removes and washes away the cherry pulp before the beans are dried. The farmers use small, hand-crank depulpers very roughly similar to a grain grinder.

Most Arabica coffee is washed coffee. Because this method is believed to improve quality, the beans may be more valuable to the growers and may command a higher price in the marketplace. Some chemical analyses suggest a reason: natural flavor compounds are affected differently by the two processing methods.

Much of the crop is still processed by the natural method. That's because the processing sites are too far away for many growers to carry the fresh harvested cherries. At least two more processing sites are planned, once the growers master the washed-coffee technique. At Just Haiti, we think the taste of both natural and washed Kafe Lespwa is different but delicious!

For a detailed discussion of the diffferences between natural and washed coffee processing, see this web page of the International Coffee Association.