Huky Forum

OTHER STUFF => Beans => Topic started by: hcm45 on May 04, 2017, 09:29:14 AM

Title: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: hcm45 on May 04, 2017, 09:29:14 AM
Hey guys, this is my first post. While at the SCAA Expo this year I tried a variety of coffees, most were not terribly memorable (I told one roaster his roast was "underdeveloped" which was not taken too well😆). One coffee that did stand out was a "honey processed" coffee.  It was apparently an espresso blend and was brewed via pour over. I was not told whether the entire blend was honey processed or wether there was only one honey processed coffee. The taste was... amazing! The depth and complexity, the strong undertone of sweetness, I've never been one for coffee tasting terminology, but this coffee deserved no less. Has anyone had experience with buying/roasting "honey processed" coffee?
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: Turboner on May 04, 2017, 12:01:44 PM
Funny you mentioned the coffee at the SCAA. On Rao's latest blog, he talked about the irony of having difficulty finding good coffee during the event. His observations are similar to yours, with lots of underdeveloped, burnt, or baked coffee.

Id be interested as well in honey processed as I have zero experience in this area.

Thank you for bringing this up.
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: SusanJoM on May 04, 2017, 04:23:23 PM
What IS Honey Processed Coffee????
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: Turboner on May 04, 2017, 05:11:28 PM
Its been a while since I read up on it, but I think it essentially is dry processed coffee. I think there are three types: Black Honey, Red Honey, and Yellow Honey. The darker the honey color the longer the fruit was left out to dry.

Yellow - 1 week
Red - 2-4weeks
Black - >4 weeks
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: kctremel on May 04, 2017, 08:38:35 PM
if you guys wanna try some mascafe.co has some for 5 bucks with free shipping on more than 2 lbs.
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: hcm45 on May 04, 2017, 11:29:25 PM
Funny you mentioned the coffee at the SCAA. On Rao's latest blog, he talked about the irony of having difficulty finding good coffee during the event. His observations are similar to yours, with lots of underdeveloped, burnt, or baked coffee.

Id be interested as well in honey processed as I have zero experience in this area.

Thank you for bringing this up.

Just read Roa's blog post about SCAA EXPO. Glad I'm not the only one, for being a major event, I kinda of expected better. It was a great display for manufacturers of various coffee devices though. Even some more obscure roaster manufacturers(Kuban from Turkey) were there. The beer coffee was awesome :D

if you guys wanna try some mascafe.co has some for 5 bucks with free shipping on more than 2 lbs.

Holy Cow, these prices are awesome. Thanks for the reference kctremel!
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: kctremel on May 05, 2017, 05:55:08 AM
No problem, ive been ordering through them for a couple months now and have had no problems, Marcela, the owner/head barista keeps in contact with me via email so that's a bonus, and its their family coffee so I believe that's why its so much cheaper than other places.
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: Turboner on May 05, 2017, 08:51:43 AM
No problem, ive been ordering through them for a couple months now and have had no problems, Marcela, the owner/head barista keeps in contact with me via email so that's a bonus, and its their family coffee so I believe that's why its so much cheaper than other places.

Is there a promo code for the free shipping? I am getting $2.50 shipping for a bag or $4.50 for 2 or more.
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: kctremel on May 05, 2017, 11:38:28 AM
I am sorry, the free shipping must have ended recently as I just did it the other day. My bad.  I am looking at the cart and get 2.50 shipping for 20#, maybe its your location?
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: hcm45 on May 05, 2017, 11:53:01 AM
I am sorry, the free shipping must have ended recently as I just did it the other day. My bad.  I am looking at the cart and get 2.50 shipping for 20#, maybe its your location?

I bought some, no worries! I bought 5lbs of honey and 5lbs of their other on sale coffee. $40 total with shipping. A flat $2.50 for shipping is pretty good deal even if your buying 1 lb and especially good for 10lbs   ;D .
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: Brent on May 10, 2017, 04:03:28 PM
As far as I understand it, honey coffee is basically pulped natural coffee. The difference being that there are varying degrees of pulp left on the bean during drying.  There is  black, red, yellow, and white honey. The color corresponds to how much pulp is left on the bean during drying with black having the most. That's how it was explained to me.

A shop in town has been getting in a couple Costa Rican honey coffees each year for the last 6 yrs or so, that are quite nice. Genesis and Sin Limites. As far as roasting, I basically follow the tips from the roaster at the shop I get them from. I guess the processing affects how they roast to an extent.

I am able to get my hands on some very nice coffees through a local roastery, but I  have to say, I'm tiny bit envious as to the selection and prices you guys have down in the US for home roasters.  With the exchange rate and shipping it's pretty well double the price to ship coffee to Canada. 
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: kctremel on May 10, 2017, 05:47:02 PM
Have you checked out the sidebar for reddit of the Canadian coffees?  heres the link incase theres some places you find useful. https://www.reddit.com/r/roasting/comments/141603/canada_green_coffee_sources_online/
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: Brent on May 11, 2017, 09:58:08 PM
Thanks KC.  I recall seeing that list at some point, but it's been a while. Thanks for the reminder. There are a few places that look interesting in that list that I should look at closer. I usually get my coffee from Transcend which is on the list. It's in town, so it's handy and their quality is quite good, even though the selection isn't that large. They provide some cupping notes though and detailed info on where the coffee is from, whether it's a single lot, blended lot, micro lot etc.

 I find many green coffee places in Canada have very generic descriptions as far as where the coffee is from, whether it's a blended lot, a lot from a single farm, region etc.  A Fair Trade Guatemala, or Sulawesi Kalossi doesn't tell us buyers much. I like to know regional info right down to the farm if possible, as well as at least some cupping notes.

Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: Turboner on May 12, 2017, 08:34:57 AM
I am sorry, the free shipping must have ended recently as I just did it the other day. My bad.  I am looking at the cart and get 2.50 shipping for 20#, maybe its your location?

I bought some, no worries! I bought 5lbs of honey and 5lbs of their other on sale coffee. $40 total with shipping. A flat $2.50 for shipping is pretty good deal even if your buying 1 lb and especially good for 10lbs   ;D .

I just tried their coffee on sale and it was delicious, surprisingly not very acidic considering its elevation.
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: Turboner on May 12, 2017, 08:40:12 AM
Oops! I roasted the antioquia not the bean on sale.
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: kctremel on May 14, 2017, 06:34:20 AM
Awesome, at least I know what to expect out of that bean then :)
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: easygene on May 17, 2017, 07:17:48 AM
Would really appreciate it if someone would report on how this bean tastes in the cup.  Either roasted for espresso or lighter for pourover.
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: hcm45 on May 20, 2017, 08:29:14 PM
Would really appreciate it if someone would report on how this bean tastes in the cup.  Either roasted for espresso or lighter for pourover.

Tasted not so good to me honestly. Was extremely pungent and fermented. Will not buy again. Tried various brew methods including espresso, drip, french, and standard cupping. I tried light roast(425 F) and darker roastt(450) and it was still intolerable. I tried blending too to mute the fermented taste and even with only 20% of this coffee the taste would not balance out and was unpleasant. I may try charring (French Roast) to see if I can make the cup balance.
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: easygene on May 23, 2017, 06:40:03 AM
Ordered ten pounds, got it in and have roasted several roasts.

Similar results.  Still trying to hit the sweet spot.  So far haven't been able to balance, neither from very light for pour-over to very dark for espresso.

The folks I got this one from are exceptionally nice.  Here in a few weeks I intend letting them know results.  Could be they may have some constructive suggestions.
Then again my friends are enjoying these experiments.  They will be in coffee the rest of the summer 

Will not be so impulsive next time and will wait for cupping. hcm45 let us know how it goes
Title: Re: Honey Processed Coffee
Post by: kctremel on May 23, 2017, 10:58:38 AM
Just saw Sweetmarias.com has a new Colombian honey from different source. Maybe compare the two?