Tumbaga Decaf — Colombia / Natural Process

Café

Our new decaf, the Tumbaga EA Decaf, has been sourced with our importing partners at Sucafina Specialty. Colombia’s unique climatic situation makes it possible to source the same flavour profile from different regions depending on the time of year and the timing of harvests. We chose this particular coffee thanks to its clean and comforting flavour profile. Sweetness is the key to this coffee, with notes of caramel and milk chocolate, whereas its acidity remains clean and balanced, very much in a supporting role. The coffee’s viscous texture brings out its more comforting characteristics, making it an ideal candidate for a decaf omniroast.

Project

One of the benefits of working with an operation like Sucafina is the access we have to their immense sourcing network. In key origin countries such as Colombia, there are teams committed to sourcing at every level of volume and quality, to an extent well beyond what we as a medium sized roastery can achieve on our own. The supply chains that are created and managed by these teams allow producers to sell their regional-quality coffees at better prices thanks to their consolidation with similar lots that have been curated in order to achieve a consistent quality that will be more attractive to buyers.

About decaffeination

The EA (ethyl acetate), decaffeination process comes from the Colombian-based Descafecol. Descafecol uses water from the nearby volcano Navado del Ruiz, and ethyl acetate which is based on a natural derivative coming from fermented sugarcane sourced in the southern region of Palmira. The green beans are first steamed to become porous, then rinsed with the ethyl acetate, before being rinsed with water, and then removed to dry and be prepared for export.