Australian Coffee Culture · Real-life English
Specialty Coffee Menu English: Washed, Natural and Anaerobic Processing
Understand coffee processing terms on specialty café menus and practise asking baristas for a plain-English explanation.
Quick answer
When a specialty café lists washed, natural or anaerobic beside a coffee, these words usually describe how coffee cherries were processed after harvesting. They do not describe how the barista washes your cup.
Understand the Australian context
Washed coffee typically has much of the fruit removed before drying. Natural coffee dries with the fruit around the seed. Anaerobic refers to fermentation under conditions with little or no oxygen; exact methods differ between producers. These labels do not guarantee a particular flavour.
Descriptions such as fruity, bright and funky are tasting impressions, not measurable promises. Ask what the particular coffee tastes like.
Words to recognise
- washed process
- fruit removal, fermentation/washing and drying methods associated with cleaner cup profiles
- natural process
- coffee dried with whole fruit around the seed
- anaerobic fermentation
- fermentation in low-oxygen conditions; actual protocols vary
- tasting notes
- the flavours a seller or taster perceives in a coffee
Conversation practice
Customer: What's the difference between these two filter coffees?
Barista: One is washed; the other is natural.
Customer: Does the natural one taste fruitier?
Barista: This particular lot does, yes.
Customer: Could I try the washed one today?
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Try it yourself
Read a specialty coffee menu and explain two processing words in your own English.
Phrase Wall practice: use this phrase
What's the difference between these two coffees?
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Independent reference sources
The following educational or coffee-industry sources provide context; they are not paid partner links.