From our partners at Primavera Green Coffee:

Producer Info

Mikiyas Bogale inherited a washing station from his father in 2020, and works with producers in the Gerse area. The area produces about 300 bags of coffee per year.

Lot Info

The first step post-harvesting for our White Honey coffee involves a quick hand sorting to ensure consistency in coloration. The cherries are then dumped into float tanks, allowing lower-density cherries to surface and be skimmed off for lower grade coffees or local consumption. The higher density cherries, displaying their quality by their weight, sink to the bottom and are selected for further processing. Another hand sorting follows for the higher density cherries to ensure good uniformity for pulping.

For honey processed coffees, the disc pulper is calibrated to allow for greater control and speed of pulping, which is done slowly to minimize parchment and seed damage while maximizing mucilage content intact before drying. Following pulping, the parchment slated for honey processing undergoes a short period of fermentation. The mucilage-heavy beans are then moved to shaded drying beds, where they are slowly dried under a shade canopy with excellent air flow. This shade drying process adds 4 to 5 days overall drying time, ensuring stable distribution of moisture content throughout the cellular structure and achieving a dialed-in water activity. While shade drying provides more control than full sun-drying, it requires careful timing to cover the parchment at the right times. Achieving strong uniformity in the drying process is critical for producing high-quality honey processed coffees.

The color names such as Black, Red, and White honey refer to the color of the parchment. Black honey coffees exhibit characteristic black splotches due to the heavy mucilage load, while Red honeys have fewer splotches, which are more red than black. White honey coffees have the least mucilage and appear more yellow/white in hue overall.