The Natural Process: Depth, Sweetness, and Fruit
If the washed process is about clarity, the natural process is about depth.
Natural processing is one of the oldest methods in coffee production, and it creates some of the most distinctive and memorable cups in specialty coffee. While washed coffees often highlight the bean's clean, inherent character, natural coffees are shaped by a longer relationship between the seed and the fruit surrounding it.
The result can be a cup with deeper sweetness, fuller body, and expressive fruit flavors.
What Is the Natural Process?
In natural processing, the coffee cherry is dried whole — fruit and all — before the seed is removed.
After harvesting, ripe coffee cherries are spread out on raised beds, drying tables, or patios and dried slowly in the sun. This process can take several weeks, depending on climate, humidity, and drying conditions. During that time, the fruit remains in contact with the seed, influencing the coffee's sweetness, body, aroma, and flavor.
Once the cherries are fully dried, the outer fruit and dried husk are removed, leaving the green coffee bean ready for sorting, exporting, and eventually roasting.
Compared to washed coffees, naturals often have a noticeably different character: more fruit, more sweetness, and more body.
Where Natural Coffees Are Common
Natural processing has deep roots in Ethiopia and Yemen, where dry climates made water-intensive processing methods less practical.
Today, natural coffees are produced in many parts of the world, including Ethiopia, Brazil, and Central America. In recent years, more producers have embraced natural processing as a way to create expressive, fruit-forward coffees with a unique sense of place.
Ethiopian naturals, especially from regions such as Yirgacheffe, Sidama, and Guji, are some of the most celebrated in specialty coffee. They are often known for flavors that can remind people of blueberry, strawberry, jasmine, tropical fruit, or wine-like sweetness.
How It Affects Flavor
Natural coffees are often known for:
- Bold, fruit-forward flavors
- Berry, tropical fruit, or dried fruit notes
- Wine-like sweetness
- Fuller, syrupy body
- Lower perceived acidity
- A complex, lingering finish
The natural process requires careful drying and close attention. Because the fruit remains on the coffee for an extended period of time, the cherries must be turned regularly and monitored closely to prevent uneven drying, mold, or over-fermentation.
Done well, natural coffees can be extraordinary. Done poorly, they can taste overly fermented, heavy, or inconsistent.
Why We Use It
At Bluestem, we source natural-processed coffees selectively. We look for lots where the fruit character is clean, intentional, and well-controlled.
A great natural coffee should not taste like an accident. It should taste like a decision.
When we offer a natural-processed coffee, it is because the producer has done the careful work to make the fruit an asset, not a distraction. These coffees can be vibrant, sweet, and expressive, offering a very different experience from the clean structure of a washed coffee.
For drinkers who enjoy berry notes, deeper sweetness, and a fuller body, natural coffees can be a beautiful place to explore.
Next in the Series
Between the clarity of washed coffees and the bold sweetness of naturals lies the honey process.
In honey processing, some of the coffee fruit's sticky mucilage is left on the bean during drying. This creates a cup that often sits somewhere in between: more sweetness and body than a washed coffee, but more structure and clarity than many naturals.