Decaf is currently composed of a coffee from various smallholder farmers throughout Colombia.
Decaf is as fresh and flavorful as our caffeinated coffees and pairs wonderfully with milk! The current iteration, featuring the EA Sugarcane processed lot from Colombia, is super sweet, juicy, and full bodied. We taste: apple juice, cherry cola, nougat, vanilla, marshmallow, baking spice, brown sugar, caramel.
The Ethyl Acetate (EA) decaffeination process is performed by the local company, Descafecol SA, in the town of Manizales, Caldas. The ethyl acetate used by Descafecol is produced by sugarcane grown locally; in fact, it’s often planted at the base of the same mountains where coffee flourishes. Ethyl acetate and spring water are the only substances coffee comes into contact with during the decaffeination process. Ethyl acetate is a natural solvent that’s able to dissolve other substances; and thus, it gently extracts the caffeine from coffee seeds and avoids the use of excessive heat that could damage the structure of the seeds. The process begins with a pretreatment step of steaming beans at a low pressure to remove silver skins. Coffee is then moistened with hot water to soften the beans and catalyze the breakdown of caffeine, which is bonded to chlorogenic acid inside the coffee. Coffee then passes to an extractor, where the caffeine is removed by repeatedly washing with the natural solvent - ethyl acetate. After several passes in this stage, we’re left with a delicious coffee that’s just over 97% free of caffeine!
