Long before coffee is roasted or brewed, another important decision has already shaped its flavour.

Once coffee cherries are picked, farmers must carefully remove the fruit surrounding the beans. This stage is known as coffee processing, and it's one of the biggest influences on how your coffee will taste.

The method a producer chooses depends on many factors, including climate, available water, local infrastructure and, ultimately, the flavour they want to create.

Here are the three most common ways coffee is processed.

Natural processing is the oldest method of preparing coffee.

After harvesting, whole coffee cherries are spread out on patios or raised drying beds and left to dry naturally in the sun for several weeks. During this time, they're regularly turned to ensure they dry evenly and don't over-ferment.

Once the cherries reach the right moisture level, the dried fruit and parchment are removed, leaving behind the green coffee bean ready for roasting.

Because the fruit remains around the bean throughout the drying process, more of its natural sugars are absorbed, creating coffees with greater sweetness, a fuller body and vibrant fruit flavours.

Natural processing relies heavily on good weather and careful attention. Rain or uneven drying can affect the quality of an entire harvest, making it one of the most rewarding - but also one of the riskiest - processing methods.

Typically tastes like:

• Rich and full-bodied
• Sweet, ripe fruit flavours
• Lower acidity

Washed processing focuses on clarity.

Soon after harvesting, the outer skin and fruit are removed using a pulping machine. The beans are then placed in fermentation tanks, where naturally occurring enzymes gently remove the sticky layer of fruit that remains around the bean.

After fermentation, the beans are washed with clean water before being carefully dried.

This method requires significant investment in equipment and access to water, so many washing stations are shared by entire farming communities.

The result is a coffee with exceptional clarity, allowing the unique characteristics of its origin to shine through.

Typically tastes like:

• Clean and crisp
• Bright acidity
• Clearly defined flavours

Despite its name, honey processing doesn't involve honey.

Instead, it refers to the sticky, honey-like layer of fruit that's deliberately left on the coffee bean during drying.

After the outer skin is removed, the beans are dried with some of this natural fruit still attached. This allows more sweetness to develop than in a washed coffee, while maintaining much of the clarity and balance that washed coffees are known for.

The amount of fruit left on the bean can vary, giving producers greater control over the final flavour profile.

Honey processing has become increasingly popular because it offers producers flexibility while using less water than fully washed processing.

Typically tastes like:

• Smooth and sweet
• Fruity with balanced acidity
• Rounded body

Processing is just one part of coffee's journey, but it's one of the most important.

Alongside variety, altitude, climate and roasting, the way coffee is processed helps create the flavours you experience in every cup.

At Cafédirect, we're proud to work with experienced producer partners who use their knowledge, skill and local expertise to choose the processing methods that best suit their coffee, their environment and the flavours they want to share with the world.

Because great coffee doesn't happen by chance. It's shaped by the people who grow it.