About this Coffee
This sweetness-forward decaffeinated coffee is a regional blend from the main region of Colombia that we work in: Huila. In the cup we find ripe berries, dark chocolate, and crème brûlée.
This is a field blend of the three most commonly grown varieties in Colombia: Castillo, V. Colombia, and Caturra. Both Castillo and V. Colombia are Catimor hybrids, which give them high disease resistance. Caturra, on the other hand, is a natural mutation of Bourbon, and is very susceptible to disease.
This decaffeinated coffee was processed at Descafecol, a company based on the outskirts of the town of Manizales, Colombia. The process for decaffeination begins with sugarcane grown a few hours south of Manizales. The sugarcane is processed into molasses, which is then fermented to create ethanol, and subsequently processed with acetic acid to create ethyl acetate. Green coffee is put into tanks and steamed to open up the coffee’s chemical structure and enable the extraction of the caffeine molecules. The steamed coffee is then soaked in ethyl acetate solution multiple times, during which the caffeine molecules bond with the ethyl acetate and are ultimately removed and washed away with the solution. This process removes a minimum of 97% of the caffeine. After the extraction process, the coffee is steamed once more to remove any remaining traces of the ethyl acetate solution, and then sent to dryers to bring the coffee back down to its original moisture content.