Black Cat Coffee - Colombia [DECAF EXTRA BAG]

Origin

Villa Maria farm in the Caldas region of Colombia

Variety

Colombia & Castillo

Processing

Washed & Sugarcane Decaf

Altitude

1800 masl

Roast Profile

Omni-roast

Tasting Notes

Notes of Cocoa, Shortbread and Mandarin

Coffee Facts

Villa María situated not far from the El Fénix community wet mill and farm and is one of the main drying stations in Chinchiná, Caldas. The station currently represents the harvests of 30 coffee producing families in the surrounding area of Jamaica in the area of Villarazo, sitting at altitudes higher than the drying station itself. As Villamaría sits at a lower altitude, it is better suited to the processing of honey and natural coffees due to the hotter temperatures found here.

Sugar cane decaffeination is often termed as a natural process decaf. Ethyl Acetate is an organically existing compound (C4H8O2) and by-product found most commonly in the fermentation of fruits and is present in
both ripe bananas and beer for example. The plant we work with in Colombia uses water from the Navado el 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!.