Wet Hulling

Wet hulling is a unique coffee processing method in Indonesia. It is called Giling Basah in Indonesian and Wet Hulling in English. The wet hulling method in Indonesia is a processing method that came into being according to the unique local conditions. The more common coffee beans processed by the wet hulling method are mandheling (mandheling is produced in Sumatra, Indonesia).

The climate type of Indonesia is a tropical rainforest climate, with high temperatures and rainy weather throughout the year, with an annual precipitation of more than 2000 mm, and there is no dry period. This is indeed a difficult thing for coffee production. There will be sudden heavy rain almost every day, and the drying of coffee will become a big problem. So Indonesian coffee farmers invented the wet hulling method, also known as the semi-washing method or wet peeling method. It removes the “parchment” directly after the fresh coffee fruit has been peeled off when the moisture content is still relatively high (30%~40%), allowing it to dry faster and greatly shortening the drying time. In addition, for the Dutch colonists who controlled Indonesia at that time, the wet hulling method effectively reduced labor input and had greater profit margins. Combining the above two points, the wet hulling method has been widely promoted in Indonesia.

The wet hulling method is a response to a unique environment and has become one of the characteristics of Indonesian coffee. The wet hulling method makes the flavor of the coffee beans very recognizable, and it will taste very full-bodied, with fresh flavors of forest, herbs and earth.

However, in general, small farmers use the wet hulling method, and the beans are directly dried on the ground, and the processing process is not standardized, which brings some miscellaneous and other unpleasant smells. Some of the more standardized ones will be dried on a special concrete floor, and there is even a canopy above the head. , but that is very rare. There are also some small farmers who directly hand over their fresh fruits to large factories for processing, and the cleanliness of the wet-shaved farmdheling will be much better. In any case, the wet-shaved Mandheling is very distinctive all over the world, and some coffee connoisseurs have always been fascinated by it.