Colombia DECAF – El Carmen

• Country – Colombia
• Region – Huila
• Farm – Red Association El Carmen 
• Varietal – Castillo, Caturra and Colombia
• Process – Sugar Cane Decaf
• Cup Score – 84
• Altitude – 1400-1800 masl

Tasting Notes: 

Dark Chocolate, Orange and Candied peel

Farm Overview

El Carmen is a town within the Huila district of Colombia where local farmers collectively bring their coffee beans to the processing station which is supported by our friends from Raw Material. 

Raw Material has a long standing relationship with El Carmen. This relationship has enabled farmers to have access to drying beds and quality control infrastructure and provide a stable coffee price through consistently paying a premium above market price. This enables us to gain access to higher quality coffee that is sustainable for the farmers in Colombia.

The Sugarcane decaf process

Sugarcane decaffination is often termed as a natural process decaf. Ethyl Acetate is an organically existing compound and by-product found most commonly in the fermentation of fruits, and is present in ripe bananas.

The processing plant Raw Material work with in Colombia uses water from the Navado del Ruis (a volcano between Caldas and Tolima) and natural ethyl acetate from fermented sugarcane sourced in the southern region of Palmira, Colombia. This process begins with steaming of the coffee, increasing its porosity, beginning the hydrolysis of caffeine, which is usually bonded to salts and chlorogenic acid in the bean.

The beans are then submerged in an ethyl acetate solvent, until 97% of the caffeine is removed. A final steam is then used to lift residual traces of the compound. The ultimate residue which remains is < 30 ppm, which is a level dramatically less than that of a banana!

Good decafs are hard to find - this one is delicious so give it a try!