# Natural Process beans?



## Drusy (Sep 8, 2015)

I ordered Colombia San Pascual Natural Process coffee from RAVE. It smells bitter and tastes horrible to me. (RAVE were very nice when I complained)

But does Natural Process always taste so different? And what is the difference in how it is treated? If I don't like this one, should I avoid any natural process beans?

Thanks for any advice


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## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

Following because I loved them and would like the same questions answered! Funny how tastes differ


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Loads of info on the net about this and older threads, here's a good link though:

http://www.cafeimports.com/coffee-processes

Not all Natural process is outrageous, some Ethiopians are very pronounced and funky but some are a lot more balanced. I know people who cant stand them and think they taste awful, personally I love them.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

What parameters and water are you using by the way? Are the beans properly rested?

You might enjoy it more as a brewed coffee, would suggest giving that a go before writing them off.


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## Drusy (Sep 8, 2015)

OK, I'll give the a week and try again... maybe if I mix with coffee I like. Brew ratio about 3, but I'll weigh it out next time and see exactly. My son has one of those bean to drip coffee makers, I suspect he will get them. Bummer I bought 1kg.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Drusy said:


> But does Natural Process always taste so different? And what is the difference in how it is treated? If I don't like this one, should I avoid any natural process beans?
> 
> [/font]


Washed processed involves removing all the sticky gunge (mucilage) around the bean through soaking. Said to produce a more balanced coffee flavour-wise. In the natural process, the beans are picked and allowed to dry in the sun for however long it takes before the bean is extracted from the dried up cherry. During the drying process, the sugars in the pulp surrounding the bean ferments somewhat and imparts a tell-tale characteristic to the bean that some regard as taint and others love. In the cup, it is often described as sherry notes. Natural processed beans can be big and bold, flavour-wise which some find not to their taste. The process doesn't make them automatically bitter - far from it, it accentuates fruit notes in the bean.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Drusy said:


> OK, I'll give the a week and try again... maybe if I mix with coffee I like. Brew ratio about 3, but I'll weigh it out next time and see exactly. My son has one of those bean to drip coffee makers, I suspect he will get them. Bummer I bought 1kg.


Try just a standard 1:2 so 18g -> 36g in ~30 secs.


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## YerbaMate170 (Jun 15, 2015)

I think there's an element of subjectivity to it, to be honest; either that or it varies massively by producer etc. I reckon I have "fairly" good taste for coffee and yet I'd struggle to tell if a coffee were natural or not; I often find myself enjoying a bean, then checking the label and seeing it's natural or otherwise.

Point is, if you really dislike a bean then it may be the processing... But it may also not be. Useful post, this.


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

I've sometimes wondered about this.....natural processes green beans always have loads more defects than washed beans. I'm assuming that this is because defects would be so much more difficult to spot at the processing stage given that they'll still have the mucilage all the way up to dry milling and that there aren't the usual opportunities to spot defects floating in water tanks etc. I find that I spend a lot of time removing defects which only become apparent after roasting. This takes a lot of time and I can only imagine that it would be pretty much impossible to do with a roaster bigger than ours (5kg).


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

I rested mine at least a week & am Aeropressing them with staggering results. The San Pascual is one of my favourite coffees. My wife got a whiff, mid brew, yesterday & piped up "I can smell Tia Maria"! A really exciting coffee.

But then we all like different things!


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

Drusy said:


> OK, I'll give the a week and try again... maybe if I mix with coffee I like. Brew ratio about 3, but I'll weigh it out next time and see exactly. My son has one of those bean to drip coffee makers, I suspect he will get them. Bummer I bought 1kg.


If you really can't get along with them I (or, I'm sure, another member) would buy your remaining beans. Sound interesting to me!


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## Nod (Sep 7, 2013)

> Try just a standard 1:2 so 18g -> 36g in ~30 secs.


I agree or go 1:1.6 for even more traditional. I dose 18gr and aim for 28gr out. I have tried bigger ratios and in the end go back to this. 1:3 seems massive - especially if you do not have an ek43 grinder


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## SmithStCoffeeRoasters (Feb 23, 2016)

Is it possible that it's got tainted with something 'smelling bitter' sounds an unusual description of coffee odour to me


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

Its more than likely your ratio that's bringing out the bitterness.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Scotford said:


> Its more than likely your ratio that's bringing out the bitterness.


This


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## SmithStCoffeeRoasters (Feb 23, 2016)

brew ratio's going to effect taste, but odour ? Maybe a little when wet ,what about dry odour. found it interesting that the bitterness was a odour not a taste or maybe I'm reading to much into it


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Was this the lsol bean ?


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## NickdeBug (Jan 18, 2015)

Yup


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## coyote (May 23, 2014)

@Drusy I get this last week, and as espresso it was awesome...totally different..


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## Flibster (Aug 15, 2010)

Natural coffee - good coffee, but just left to rot.


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## Drusy (Sep 8, 2015)

OK, I'm inspired to try again tomorrow am with the scales and keep the brew ratio really low. I'll let you know how I get on, and if it is my barista skill or unsophisticated palate that is letting me down with the Natural Process beans.


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## Drusy (Sep 8, 2015)

Maybe bitter is not the right word. I look forward to opening a new bag of coffee to breathe it in and sigh... aah. But this one just had an acrid, just some how "wrong" smell which carried over into the latte too. I'll tinker with the brew ratio, but I don't have high hopes that will fix it for me.


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## Drusy (Sep 8, 2015)

Jon said:


> If you really can't get along with them I (or, I'm sure, another member) would buy your remaining beans. Sound interesting to me!


 @Jon Many thanks but I already offered them to my son who usually buys his beans at the supermarket, so surely an improvement for him ;-)


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Naturals do have a marmite following , you either love or hate them from the ground aroma to to funk in the cup ...

Me love em .....


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## coyote (May 23, 2014)

I gave this to test to few my friends from local roaster here in Belgrade.. They are thrilled..the smell is unusually ,as taste also. But one of them recognize "turkish delight"..I didnt tell them what to expect (didnt show them bag of coffee with taste notes).. But try as the Rave coffee advice:

Our espresso recipe using 20g vst

20.5g in 42g out in 27 to 35 seconds, grind finer than usual


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

Drusy said:


> Maybe bitter is not the right word. I look forward to opening a new bag of coffee to breathe it in and sigh... aah. But this one just had an acrid, just some how "wrong" smell which carried over into the latte too. I'll tinker with the brew ratio, but I don't have high hopes that will fix it for me.


I've been drinking San Pascual (most likely roasted quite a lot lighter than it would be from Rave) through an EK recently and I'm dosing 18g into 42 which is 1:2.3. Its about as much as I've been able to squeeze out of it too.

I get a slightly musty smell straight from the bag, then a sweet but pungent smell from the shot. Then the shot is one of those that's been rocking my world of late.

Maybe it's just not to your tastes.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Scotford said:


> I've been drinking San Pascual (most likely roasted quite a lot lighter than it would be from Rave) through an EK recently and I'm dosing 18g into 42 which is 1:2.3. Its about as much as I've been able to squeeze out of it too.
> 
> I get a slightly musty smell straight from the bag, then a sweet but pungent smell from the shot. Then the shot is one of those that's been rocking my world of late.
> 
> Maybe it's just not to your tastes.


Is it an exclusive roast or available to the public?


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

Unfortunately it was a test batch. I'll see if I can get them to roast some more that way but I wouldn't hold my breath...


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## Drusy (Sep 8, 2015)

aaronb said:


> Try just a standard 1:2 so 18g -> 36g in ~30 secs.


I tried it again with 20g ->41g in 30 sec.... nope, still tastes funky to me. Oh well


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Drusy said:


> still tastes funky to me.


It's a natural process bean


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## mrbagel (Mar 1, 2016)

My theory is that the natural process has more variables at play so the results tend to polarise more than with the other processes. It could be a weird roast batch too so might be worth, for "scientific" purposes, to switch with someone else with the same beans or try a tested natural from someone else to see if you love/hate it still.


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## foundrycoffeeroasters.com (Jun 19, 2014)

mrbagel said:


> My theory is that the natural process has more variables at play


I'd definitely say that was a factor with natural Ethiopians but I guess it depends on the crop and the approach taken by the farm. I've tried a few natural coffees from Costa Rica that are really clean and yet funky at the same time.


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

I'm a lover of naturals. I can't put my finger on what it is or even why I like it! Maybe because it's big and bold and 'in yer face', something a bit different without being dark. I wouldn't say "bitter", more like "farmyard" in terms of aroma but strawberry and flowery taste.

First had Foundry's Rocko Mountain which turned me on to them. Had some from Avenue a little while ago. I've just ordered a kilo of this year's Rocko from @Jollybean tonight as it happens.


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## fluffles (Sep 4, 2012)

When I first tasted a proper funky natural (Hasbean I think) I was blown away and couldn't get enough of it. Once the novelty wore off I've found myself shying away from them a bit. I don't hate them, but I always feel like I'm tasting the processing method rather than the bean (they all share a similar funky taste). I had a really funky V60 in a cafe yesterday... whilst I can appreciate the fruit, it isn't balanced by any acidity for me and can be a bit sickly sweet. And the aftertaste of farmyard funk was with me all afternoon!

At the "cleaner" end of the spectrum (e.g. Brazil) I'm much more comfortable with them. I've just ordered some of the Rave San Pascal as it got such a lot of good comments and is supposedly not "too" funky. Fingers crossed


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