Processing on Coffee & Me

Processing on Coffee & Mehttps://coffee-11t.pages.dev/tags/processing/Recent content in Processing on Coffee & MeHugoenSat, 17 Oct 2026 16:00:00 -0700Decaf Coffee: How It's Made and How to Buy a Good Baghttps://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-production/decaf/Sat, 17 Oct 2026 16:00:00 -0700https://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-production/decaf/<h2 id="why-decaf-deserves-a-second-look">Why Decaf Deserves a Second Look</h2> <p>Decaf has a bad reputation: stale, flat, a little papery. A lot of that reputation was earned by old, cheap beans, not by decaffeination itself. Today many specialty roasters sell single-origin decaf with a roast date and real tasting notes, and it can be good enough that you would not guess it in a blind cup.</p> <p>The trick is knowing what the decaf line on the bag means. Caffeine is always removed from <strong>green</strong> (unroasted) coffee, before roasting, and the method used changes both the taste and the price.</p>Brazil: The Chocolate-and-Nuts Backbone of Coffeehttps://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/brazil/Sat, 17 Oct 2026 15:37:00 -0700https://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/brazil/<h2 id="why-brazil-matters">Why Brazil Matters</h2> <p>Brazil is the largest coffee producer in the world by a wide margin. In USDA estimates for 2024/25 it grew about 64.7 million 60 kg bags, more than twice the output of Vietnam in second place and roughly a third or more of all the world’s coffee. If you have drunk an espresso blend, there is a good chance Brazil was in it.</p> <p>Brazilian coffee is often described as “comfortable”: nutty, chocolatey, low in acidity, with a smooth, round body. That makes it a great starting point if you find many specialty coffees too sour. And at the top end, Brazilian farms produce sweet, complex lots that win international competitions.</p>Central America: Six Countries, One Mountain Spinehttps://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/central-america/Sat, 17 Oct 2026 15:37:00 -0700https://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/central-america/<h2 id="why-central-america-is-a-great-place-to-explore">Why Central America Is a Great Place to Explore</h2> <p>From Guatemala to Panama, coffee grows along a chain of volcanoes and mountains that runs the length of Central America. The countries share a lot: high farms, rich volcanic soil, mostly Arabica, and a tradition of clean, <strong>washed</strong> coffee. The classic cup is sweet and balanced, with caramel, chocolate, citrus or stone fruit and a gentle brightness.</p> <p>That makes Central America a perfect middle ground. It is brighter than most Brazils, softer than most Kenyas, and close enough to the US that it is easy to find fresh. Each country still has its own character, and this guide walks through all six.</p>Colombia: Balanced, Sweet and Harvested Almost Year-Roundhttps://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/colombia/Sat, 17 Oct 2026 15:37:00 -0700https://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/colombia/<h2 id="why-colombia-belongs-in-your-rotation">Why Colombia Belongs in Your Rotation</h2> <p>Colombia is one of the world’s largest coffee producers; in USDA estimates for 2024/25 it ranked third, behind Brazil and Vietnam. Nearly all of it is Arabica, and most of it is washed. For a home brewer that adds up to a dependable cup: caramel sweetness, red fruit or citrus, medium body, and a clean finish.</p> <p>Colombia also has range. A chocolatey supermarket blend and a floral microlot from the southern mountains can both say “Colombia” on the bag. This guide helps you tell them apart.</p>Indonesia: Earthy, Full-Bodied and Wet-Hulledhttps://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/indonesia/Sat, 17 Oct 2026 15:37:00 -0700https://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/indonesia/<h2 id="why-indonesia-tastes-different">Why Indonesia Tastes Different</h2> <p>Indonesia is one of the world’s top coffee producers; in USDA estimates for 2024/25 it ranked fourth. Its best-known Arabicas, especially from Sumatra, taste unlike coffee from Africa or the Americas: heavy and syrupy in body, low in acidity, with earthy, herbal, cedar, dark chocolate and sometimes spicy notes.</p> <p>Much of that comes from a processing method used almost nowhere else, called <strong>wet-hulling</strong>. If you like a big, low-acid cup that stands up to milk, Indonesia is worth knowing.</p>Kenya: Bright, Juicy and Carefully Gradedhttps://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/kenya/Sat, 17 Oct 2026 15:37:00 -0700https://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/kenya/<h2 id="why-kenya-is-worth-your-attention">Why Kenya Is Worth Your Attention</h2> <p>Kenya is not one of the world’s biggest coffee producers, but it has one of the strongest reputations among specialty roasters. A good Kenyan coffee is bold and juicy: blackcurrant, grapefruit, tomato-like savory sweetness, and an acidity that makes your mouth water. If <a href="https://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/ethiopia/">Ethiopia</a> is floral and tea-like, Kenya is the glass of fruit juice.</p> <p>Kenyan bags also carry more information than most. Once you know what “AA”, “Nyeri” and “SL28” mean, you can read a label and know roughly what you are getting.</p>Anaerobic and Experimental Coffees: What the Labels Meanhttps://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-production/experimental-processing/Sat, 17 Oct 2026 15:19:00 -0700https://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-production/experimental-processing/<h2 id="why-coffee-got-experimental">Why Coffee Got Experimental</h2> <p>For most of coffee’s history, there were three ways to process it: <a href="https://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-production/processing/">washed, natural or honey</a> . In the last decade, producers have borrowed ideas from winemaking and brewing to control <strong>fermentation</strong>, the work yeast and bacteria do on the coffee fruit’s sugars. The results can taste nothing like “coffee flavor”: tropical fruit, cinnamon, rum, bubblegum.</p> <p>These lots are often expensive and always divisive. This guide explains the terms so you know what you are buying.</p>Coffee Processing Explained: Washed, Natural, Honey and Wet-Hulledhttps://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-production/processing/Sat, 17 Oct 2026 15:19:00 -0700https://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-production/processing/<h2 id="from-cherry-to-bean">From Cherry to Bean</h2> <p>A coffee bean is the seed of a red fruit, the <strong>coffee cherry</strong>. Before it can be roasted, the farm or mill has to remove the fruit around it and dry the seed down to about <strong>10–12% moisture</strong>, dry enough to ship and store without spoiling. How they do that is called <strong>processing</strong>, and it changes the flavor of your cup about as much as the origin does.</p>How to Read a Coffee Baghttps://coffee-11t.pages.dev/roasters/buying-guide/Sat, 17 Oct 2026 15:16:00 -0700https://coffee-11t.pages.dev/roasters/buying-guide/<h2 id="why-the-label-matters">Why the Label Matters</h2> <p>A good specialty coffee bag tells you almost everything you need to know before you open it: where the coffee grew, how it was processed, how dark it is roasted, and when. Once you can read those lines, you can predict roughly how a coffee will taste and avoid paying specialty prices for stale beans.</p> <p>This guide goes through a typical label line by line, then gives you a quick checklist for the store or the roaster’s website.</p>Ethiopia: Where Coffee Beganhttps://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/ethiopia/Sat, 17 Oct 2026 15:00:00 -0700https://coffee-11t.pages.dev/coffee-origins/ethiopia/<h2 id="why-start-with-ethiopia">Why Start With Ethiopia</h2> <p>Every Arabica coffee you have ever tasted has roots in Ethiopia. The species grew wild in the forests of the southwest long before anyone farmed it, and Ethiopia still holds more of its genetic variety than the rest of the world combined. That is why Ethiopian coffees taste unlike anything else: floral, citrusy, sometimes like blueberries or black tea.</p> <p>If you are new to specialty coffee, an Ethiopian bag is one of the best first purchases you can make. This guide walks through the regions you will see on labels, what each tends to taste like, and how to pick and brew your first bag.</p>