The variety sets the potential; the process decides how much of it reaches your cup and in which direction. Here we explain, without the hype, what each process is and what it tastes like — with the real lots we roast in Manizales.
Processing is what's done to the coffee cherry after harvest: how the pulp is removed and how the bean is dried. It decides as much as the variety what ends up in the cup. The same coffee, from the same farm, tastes different depending on whether it's processed washed, natural or honey — that's why at Dif≠erente we always name the farm, producer and process.
In the washed process the pulp and mucilage are removed from the bean with water and a short fermentation, before drying. The result is a clean cup, with bright acidity, where the variety speaks without makeup. It's the classic process of competition coffees chasing clarity. In the house, our GEISHA Experimental Washed and OMBLIGÓN Experimental Washed follow that path.
In the natural process the whole cherry is dried, pulp and all, before milling. That fruit in contact with the bean adds more body, more sweetness and notes of ripe, sometimes wine-like fruit. It's riskier (if dried poorly, defects appear), but done well it gives intense, luscious cups. Our SL28 Experimental Natural is a good example.
Honey is the middle ground: the skin is removed but part of the mucilage is left on the bean as it dries. It gives the sweetness and body of a natural, but with more clarity and a juicier acidity. "Hydrohoney" is a variant with water control and precision fermentation. Our SIDRA HydroHoney by Jhoan Vergara — the coffee behind the 2024 national title — is exactly that.
They're controlled fermentations, often without oxygen (in sealed tanks) and sometimes with specific yeasts, to achieve intense, reproducible profiles. They take the cup toward cherry, blackberry and wine, and have won world championships. They're not "better" or "worse": they're the producer's decisions. Most of our Super Premiums are experimental processes of this kind.
It depends on your taste, and we'll say it honestly: if you're coming from traditional coffee, start with a washed to understand the variety; move to a natural when you want more fruit and body; and try a honey or an experimental when you want the best of both worlds. No process is superior; each tells a different part of the same coffee. To see how process crosses with each variety, check our varieties hub.
See the full collection See the variety guides →
perfectdailygrind.com · varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org
Published by Dif≠erente · Manizales · 2026-10-27