Shadowing Practice: Honey Coffee Processing - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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In recent years, a processing method known as honey has become more common, especially in parts of Central America.
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While washed coffee has all of its fruit material removed as quickly as possible, including the skin and the mucilage, in a honey process, only the skin is fully removed,
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and the seed is allowed to dry in some or all of its fruit mucilage.
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Honey processing is not as widely used as some of the other methods, but it's increasingly found in places like Costa Rica and El Salvador.
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While it shares similarities with the Brazilian pulp natural process, there are differences to both the methodology and the results.
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As with any type of post -harvest processing, the steps involved vary from place to place.
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In this video, we'll look at how the Chacon family at Las Lajas Micromil
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in Costa Rica achieves their coffee's distinct profiles using the honey process.
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Just as in the washed process, coffee cherries first need to be picked ripe and sorted to make sure that only the best cherries are included in production.
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Also identical to the washed process is the fact that the coffee needs to be depulped as soon as possible after picking, usually between 8 and 12 hours.
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There are several variations of honey coffee that are commonly found in Costa Rica and elsewhere, and they're typically described with reference to color.
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You'll often find yellow, red, and black honeys from different mills, for instance.
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At Las Lajas, all of the honey coffee starts out the same way.
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The cherry skin is removed by a depulping machine, but 100 % of the mucilage is left on the seeds.
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The main focus of producing honey coffees at Las Lajas is in the drying phase.
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coffees at this mill are taken directly from the depulper to the drying area
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depending on the weather that day and on what oscar
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and francisca chacon decide is best for
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that lot the seeds in their mucilage will be set out to dry in one of several different ways
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for yellow honeys as seen here coffee's moved onto tarp covered patios under full sun
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or it's raked into a thin layer for fast even drying.
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For something more fruity and fermented tasting, such as a red or a black honey, the coffee's piled in the greenhouse for certain amounts of time before being agitated,
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rotated, aerated, and raked out by mill staff.
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During the drying time, the coffee's fermenting and developing the characteristics that are unique to each honey profile.
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Drying time depends on both the weather and the individual style of honey process being applied, but it usually takes between two to three weeks for the coffee to reach about 11 % moisture.
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At Las Lajas, the Chacones focus primarily on honey and natural coffees, and they produce yellow, red, and black honeys with coffees from their different farms.
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Each honey style has a slightly different profile.
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Yellow tends to be the most mild in terms of fruitiness, most closely resembling a washed coffee.
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Red honey tends to have bigger fruit flavors and sweetness, as well as a noticeably more syrupy body.
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Black honeys express more whiny, boozy, or jammy characteristics with a creamy body, almost like a lighter version of a natural.
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While this is just one example of the honey process, the chacones are considered standard bearers of the style within the industry, and they're a great example of intentional and innovative processing methodology.
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Once the coffee is fully dried, it'll be stored in its parchment layer in a warehouse until it's ready to be exported.
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Then the parchment layer will be removed and the coffee gets shipped.
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We'll see you next time.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “Honey Coffee Processing”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Honey, coffee, process, drying, Chacon. This video has 27 sentences and 611 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:31. The speaker talks at a steady 135 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 75% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| layer noun | /ˈleɪ̯ɚ/ | A single thickness of some material covering a surface. |
| mill noun | /mɪl/ | A grinding apparatus for substances such as grains, seeds, etc. (Some are small and simple, and some are large and complex.) |
| cherry noun | /ˈt͡ʃɛɹi/ | A small fruit, usually red, black or yellow, with a smooth hard seed and a short hard stem. |
| seed noun | /siːd/ | Any propagative portion of a plant which may be sown, such as true seeds, seed-like fruits, tubers, or bulbs. |
| depend verb | /dɪˈpɛnd/ | To be contingent or conditioned; to have something as a necessary condition |
| characteristic noun | /ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/ | A distinguishing feature of a person or thing, a part of mental or physical behavior. |
| methodology noun | /ˌmɛθ.əˈdɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/ | The study of methods used in a field. |
| primarily adverb | /ˈpɹaɪ.mə.ɹə.li/ | Of a primary or central nature, first and foremost. |
| thin adjective | /ˈθɪn/ | Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite. |
| elsewhere adverb | /ˈɛlsˌʍɛɹ/ | Synonym of somewhere else: in, at, or to some other place. |
| commonly adverb | /ˈkɑmənli/ | As a rule; frequently; usually. |
| increasingly adverb | Increasing in amount or intensity. | |
| distinct adjective | /dɪˈstɪŋkt/ | Capable of being perceived very clearly. |
| vary verb | /ˈvɛəɹi/ | To change with time or a similar parameter. |
| export noun | /ˈɛks.pɔɹt/ | Something that is exported. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| start out verb | To emerge suddenly; to jump out. |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “th” sounds: methodology /ˌmɛθ.əˈdɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, thin /ˈθɪn/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: variation /ˌvɛəɹiˈeɪʃn̩/, intentional /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: characteristic /ˌkæɹ(ə)ktəˈɹɪstɪk/, methodology /ˌmɛθ.əˈdɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, primarily /ˈpɹaɪ.mə.ɹə.li/, innovative /ˈɪn.əˌveɪtɪv/, intentional /ɪnˈtɛnʃənəl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like layer, mill, cherry.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.