Washed Coffees Are Not Done Yet

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the best coffee in the world is most likely a washed coffee. It took me a while to get there, but after trying naturals, co-ferments, double ferments, and everything in between, I keep coming back to washed coffees. There's something about the way they challenge you, the way the flavors stay subtle and restrained at first, and then slowly open up as the cup cools. They don't give you everything up front. You have to work for it. And that's exactly why I love them.

In this episode, I talk about why washed coffees are still the most important process in coffee, what they've taught me about patience, brewing, and honestly, life itself. If you've been chasing fruit bombs and experimental processes without giving washed coffees a real chance, this episode will make you rethink what you're missing. Listen to understand why a coffee that makes you earn it is worth more than one that hits you over the head from the first sip.

Transcript

[00:00:00] The best coffee in the world is most likely a washed coffee.

[00:00:05] It took me a while to get there. I don't know why it did, but I've tried everything. And I'm sure that you've tried everything too. You tried naturals.

[00:00:18] You tried washed coffees.

[00:00:22] Tried all different gamuts of semi-washed.

[00:00:28] All that good stuff. You tried the co-ferments. Tried the double ferments. You've tried it all. I've tried it all.

[00:00:38] They have their own uniqueness, right?

[00:00:41] But something about a washed coffee I always come back to.

[00:00:50] To me, it doesn't necessarily smell like it tastes, which at first used to bother me.

[00:01:00] But now I look forward to that. Because I know that no matter what I smell, I may be on the journey of just trying to get the best out of the coffee.

[00:01:12] I think that's really what it does for you. It allows you to get to know the coffee.

[00:01:19] I used to call it stubbornness, with washed coffees specifically.

[00:01:26] But then when you brew it and try to understand it, and not get exactly what you think you're supposed to get, you keep going back to the well. You keep trying to push yourself.

[00:01:38] And when you do that, something just wakes you up. You're like, I'm going to get you. I'm going to figure you out. This is going to work out because I have no choice but to get to know who you are and what you're all about and what you're really trying to teach me. I know it sounds a little different. I just keep saying that.

[00:02:02] I'm learning from coffee. It teaches me about life.

[00:02:07] I try to take it with me in every way that I experience life.

[00:02:16] Sometimes I'm in a difficult situation, and I always think about coffee.

[00:02:20] And the one that has helped me out the most has been washed coffees.

[00:02:27] I thought washed coffees for the longest were done.

[00:02:33] That they lost their spark in this whole coffee world, with everything new. Co-ferments here, experimental processing coffees, and geishas too.

[00:02:51] But something about a washed coffee, something about how the flavors can be a little more subtle.

[00:02:59] How the flavors can really just kind of talk to you in a way where you don't know if that's exactly what you want. You're wondering if you push it too far, will the coffee just fall apart.

[00:03:14] But then when you keep going at it, trying to understand it for what it is, you start to wake up and understand. It's like, wow. This is really what coffee is all about.

[00:03:30] And I think that's the reason why I love washed coffees. You have to work for it. It's not going to be easy.

[00:03:40] It's going to be challenging most of the time.

[00:03:44] Sometimes the flavors are subtle.

[00:03:48] But as that coffee starts to cool, the character starts to come out even more.

[00:03:58] They start to talk to you a little bit more. They start changing.

[00:04:02] And you just sit there and wonder, wow. This is what coffee can taste like.

[00:04:09] These are the things that I'm experiencing with coffee.

[00:04:16] We stay there, think about it, and try to understand it for what it is.

[00:04:22] I think that's really what it brings us to. The love of coffee. How it makes us work.

[00:04:31] I was thinking about that the other day, how I'm not really special.

[00:04:40] You probably tell yourself that too. You just get up every day and you figure it out. You're determined.

[00:04:53] And that's what I feel like with most coffees, especially washed coffees.

[00:05:00] They make me work. I have to keep thinking about all the things that I'm doing with them.

[00:05:07] And the cool thing about it is that it allows me to bring out everything in my toolbox.

[00:05:17] It allows me to see the coffee for what it is, but also push my understanding of science, art, and more importantly, myself.

[00:05:27] I love that we can go on this journey with this particular beverage for however long we need to. Then we switch it up, get another coffee, and continue on that journey.

[00:05:48] I've tasted a couple of naturals lately. Very fruit-forward, right in your face.

[00:05:59] And then it just settles. It kind of keeps hitting you in the same way.

[00:06:06] It changes from time to time, but nothing like a washed coffee.

[00:06:17] Nothing like something that when you taste it, you're wondering if this is really coffee.

[00:06:25] And that's what we come back to. That's what I think about all the time.

[00:06:30] And when I do, it's a place I know I can be.

[00:06:39] What about you? Do you feel that about washed coffees? Do you even know or care about the differences?

[00:06:46] We haven't even talked about this whole varietal thing. That can be a whole other conversation in itself.

[00:06:54] But something about a process that, to me, has carried the coffee world.

[00:07:04] I understand that the majority of coffees in the world, especially Brazilian coffees, are naturals.

[00:07:12] So that's more so what most of us are drinking than anything, right?

[00:07:20] But when you step back and actually see it for what it is, those fruity notes that come through in a washed coffee, that's what we care about. That's what we want.

[00:07:35] There are so many things out there in the coffee world that we are trying to understand and chase.

[00:07:45] Let's not lose sight of this whole washed coffee thing.

[00:07:49] I was on a journey for the past couple of months, seeing if washed coffees were still relevant, seeing if all the new stuff out there is the direction we need to go.

[00:08:06] At the end of the day, you're going to go in any direction that you want. You're going to follow and chase your palate.

[00:08:13] But for me, it has given me a bigger appreciation for washed coffees. All different variations, what they can do, what they cannot do, what the coffee is actually telling you when you're drinking it.

[00:08:29] That's the thing that gets me going.

[00:08:36] That gets me understanding it for what it is. So with that being said.

[00:08:47] What about you?

[00:08:52] What do you think about washed coffees? Do you like them? Do you hate them? Do you not know they exist? Have you paid attention to what you're drinking and how it expresses itself to you? Are you seeing a pattern?

[00:09:10] What about washed coffees gets you?

[00:09:15] Because they get me. I like working hard. I like trying to figure it out. I like getting to the point where the coffee is finally talking to me.

[00:09:30] It's like that person you first get to know, or try to get to know.

[00:09:37] They're very reserved. They don't know if they can trust you, so they don't say too much.

[00:09:48] As you keep talking, they start to trust you a little more. They start to open up.

[00:09:58] They start telling you about their family and friends. They start telling you about their personality.

[00:10:06] And it's a two-way street. You're starting to notice that this person is opening up to you, so you share even more.

[00:10:17] And then after a couple of weeks, you realize, wow. This is my best friend. I know them beyond the surface.

[00:10:27] I know them beyond what I see in front of me.

[00:10:33] That's what coffee is to me.

[00:10:37] If you're patient enough, if you take the time to understand what the coffee is trying to do to you, through water, the brewer, yourself, and of course, that coffee, you're going to figure it out together.

[00:10:56] And it's cool that the coffee is there to reward you.

[00:11:08] If you want to be patient with it. If you don't, it's not going to give you anything.

[00:11:16] Maybe you'll get lucky from time to time, but at the end of the day, you're going to have to work for it.

[00:11:25] That's the reason why I love this coffee. It's challenging. It's not easy most of the time.

[00:11:33] And when you get it right, it's extremely rewarding.

[00:11:41] What do you think about washed coffees? Let's talk about it.