DECAF: COLOMBIA

Decaf

Tastes like

Creme Brûlée

Buttered Toast

Guinness Stout

Creme brûlée, buttered toast, and Guinness stout. Huila coffee, with the caffeine taken out.

You get caramelized creme brûlée sweetness up front, warm buttered toast richness through the middle, and a deep roasted Guinness stout finish that settles in and stays. Rich, satisfying, and completely without apology.

Region

Huila

Country

Colombia

Variety

Castillo, Caturra, Colombia

Process

Washed / EA Decaf

Elevation

1400–2000 MASL

Harvest

Oct–Dec / Jun–Aug

The coffee

This is a decaf built on a proper Colombian coffee, sourced from one of the country's most respected growing regions. Huila sits in the southwest, between the Central and Eastern ranges of the Andes, and consistently produces some of the most characterful lots in the country. The varieties here, Castillo, Caturra, and the Colombia variety, are the backbone of Colombian production, two of them developed by Cenicafé, the country's agricultural research centre. The result is a coffee that was worth decaffeinating in the first place, and the EA process makes sure it stays that way.

Origin

Huila is one of Colombia's most complex regions, shaped by altitude, climate, and the smallholder farmers who produce nearly all of it. Nestled between two Andean ranges with the Magdalena Valley running through the centre, the variation in elevation makes Huila a region that can surprise you. It accounts for nearly 20% of Colombia's total coffee production, yet 80% of producers here work on less than three hectares. The coffee coming out of this region reflects that scale: careful, hands-on, and worth seeking out.

Process

Washed in the Colombian tradition, then decaffeinated using ethyl acetate drawn from sugarcane. The coffee is picked ripe and depulped the same day, fermented in open-air tanks for 12 to 36 hours, then washed clean and dried. After that comes the EA process. Ethyl acetate is a naturally occurring ester, produced here through the fermentation of sugarcane, which gives this method its name: de Caña, from the cane. The green coffee is steamed to open its pores, then placed in a water and ethyl acetate solution. The E.A. bonds with the caffeine and draws it out over eight hours of cycling until none remains. The coffee is steamed once more to clear any traces, then dried and prepared for export. The cup stays clean because the process respects what was already there.

Brew it your way

Excellent on filter. Pulls well as espresso. On filter at 1:16, the creme brûlée sweetness and buttered toast character come through with clarity, and the Guinness stout depth gives the cup a satisfying weight. Pull it as espresso at a 1:2 ratio in 28 to 32 seconds for something rich and roasted that is easy to drink any time of day.