Carl Mertens Wittwe

From unripe to natural processed

The cross section reveals what you normally never see:
Inside a coffee cherry there are usually two beans but sometimes three can develop.

Unripe coffee cherry are still green, the beans are soft and not fully developed.

Ripe coffee cherry sweet and ready to be harvested.

Natural process
The whole cherry dries around the beans, allowing sugars and fruit flavors to move into the coffee.

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The Natural Process

Right after harvest, the whole cherries are laid out in the sun on patios or raised beds. No depulping. No washing. The bean remains surrounded by its fruit pulp, sugars, and mucilage throughout the entire drying phase.

Over several weeks, the cherries slowly lose moisture. During this time, natural fermentation begins: the sugars in the fruit start to work, flavors develop, and the bean absorbs the sweetness and intense fruit characteristics from the pulp.

Only when the ideal moisture level is reached is the dried husk removed — revealing the green bean inside, shaped by time and sun.

Typical for natural coffees:
pronounced fruit sweetness
berry or tropical notes
full body
smooth

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Ripe coffee cherry - the moment when sweetness, acidity, and aroma reach their peak.
Inside this fruit begin the flavors that later end up in your cup. ☕️🍒♥️

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This is what a perfectly ripe coffee cherry looks like on the inside.
Deep red skin on the outside and two pale beans wrapped in their sweet sticky mucilage

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Freshly pressed coffee cherry with natural sweetness at the heart of the honey process

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This is a honey processed coffee bean. After depulping, part of the sticky fruit layer (mucilage) is intentionally left on the seed. As the coffee dries, this layer adds natural sweetness, a rounder body, and fruity complexity to the cup.
Honey processing also uses less water than traditional washed methods, making it both flavourful and sustainable.

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Here you can see all stages of the coffee cherry at once: very young baby cherries, an unripe green one and a fully ripe red fruit. This variety on a single branch shows why harvesting is so selective and labor intensive. Each cherry ripens in its own time.

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Here you can see all stages of the coffee cherry at once: very young baby cherries, an unripe green one and a fully ripe red fruit. This variety on a single branch shows why harvesting is so selective and labor intensive. Each cherry ripens in its own time.

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Ripe vs. Overripe Coffee Cherry
A ripe coffee cherry has a vibrant red color and a firm texture perfect for harvesting.
An overripe cherry turns dark, soft, and starts to ferment, which can affect the flavor of the coffee

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Each stage matters from the first growth to the perfectly ripe coffee fruit, ready to be picked.

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Freshly harvested coffee cherries inside, the beans are still wrapped in their sweet, sticky mucilage. This marks the very beginning of their journey a stage that will deeply influence the flavor, aroma and quality of every cup.

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A dried natural coffee bean

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