Caña Decaf

Caña Decaf

£ 10.00 
Origin
Colombia
Notes
Hazelnut praline
Milk chocolate
Variety
Mixed varietals
Process
Sugarcane decaf
Brewing
Allrounder

Overview

This stand-out decaf delivers a sweet, rich and balanced flavour profile but without the caffeine hit, thanks to the “Sugarcane” decaffeination process. The process uses a naturally occurring ester (found in fruit like bananas and also a byproduct of fermented sugarcane) to dissolve caffeine from the green beans, leaving untouched all the inherent flavours of the bean. The result is a flavourful and versatile cup – delicious as both an espresso and filter – with chocolate and hazelnut notes and lingering caramel sweetness.

The story

This coffee is a blend of Castillo and Caturra produced by a group of farmers based in the Huila region of southwest Colombia. We sourced this coffee through Café Imports, an importer committed to developing longstanding partnerships with coffee producers in Colombia. Most of the coffee producers in the region manage only small parcels of land - 80% of farmers own less than three hectares.  As a result, they undertake every step in growing and processing their coffee themselves, typically without any additional assistance - which is an incredibly time-consuming and labour-intensive feat.

Café Imports has partnered with a decaffeination lab in Colombia to prepare this decaf. The decaffeination process involves using ethyl acetate (E.A.), which is a byproduct of sugarcane fermentation (and obtained by Café Imports from the local sugarcane industry). E.A. has special properties that allow it to act as a solvent to bond with and remove caffeine molecules from green coffee.  The coffee is first steamed for 30 minutes at low pressure to open up the coffee seeds’ pores.  It is then placed in a tank containing a solution of water and E.A., where the E.A. begins to bond with the caffeine inside the seeds. The tank is drained and re-filled repeatedly over the course of eight hours, until caffeine is no longer detected.  The seeds are steamed once again to remove any remaining traces of E.A. It is then vacuum dried to reduce the moisture content of the beans.

Production process

The ripe cherries were selectively harvested then pulped (removing the surrounding fruit from the seed) on the same day. The seeds are fermented for 12-36 hours, after which they are washed (removing the mucilage stuck to the seeds), then dried until they reach the desired moisture content.  The dried beans are then taken to a centralised plant, for evaluating and sorting, after which undergo the decaffeination process.

Our relationship

We purchased this decaf from Café Imports on 'spot' (that is green coffee stored in Europe ready to be roasted). The coffee was harvested in two periods – the main crop was harvested between October and December 2023 (with a smaller, earlier, harvest occurring between June and August 2023).

For further details on the prices below visit our Transparency Page.

Price to producer
Paid by Cafe Imports
Total cost
$9.74/kg

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