Country: Colombia
Region: Cauca
Varietal: Various
Process: Washed, Sugarcane
Altitude: 1,500 - 2,100 MASL
Cupping Notes: Caramel, Almond, Honey
More on this coffee:
This lot was processed as a washed lot at the Trilladora Andes mill. It comes from the Centra Cooperativa Indígena del Cauca, which is made up of 2,373 members. After processing, the coffee was a taken to an in-country facility who specializes in Sugarcane Ethyl Acetate (EA) decaffeination.
Ethyl Acetate which is a naturally occurring compound and solvent that derives from the fermentation of sugarcane.
When the coffee first arrives at the plant it is placed in big silos that give off a light steam. This is to open the pores of the beans to allow for easy extraction of the caffeine. It's also to remove the silver skin from the bean which can hinder the process.
The green beans are then submerged into a tank filled with water and EA to begin the Decaf process. The EA naturally bonds with the compounds of the coffee, allowing for the decaffeination to occur.
The process takes about 24 hours and removes about 98-99% of the caffeine. The extracted caffeine is sold to energy drink companies or soda companies. The silver skin from the green bean that was removed is also used and sold as a fertilizer...a darn good fertilizer, too!
