Villamaria Decaf — Colombia / Natural Process

Café

It is rare these days that we can drink a decaf that tastes like none we’ve ever tasted before, and that is exactly what enamoured us to this coffee from the hills of Villamaria. The combination of full bodied chocolate and praline sweetness paired with the bright acidity of red fruits made this coffee stand out immediately, and the lack of cardboard decaf notes sealed the deal.

Project

This coffee is the product of the excellent work at La Aurora buying station, Jamaica drying station, and Descafecol decaffeination plant. At La Aurora, in a practise uncommon to Colombia, producers can sell their cherry directly, where it is sorted before being transported to the lower elevation drying station of Jamaica. La Aurora employs and provides childcare services to single mothers, who typically face difficulty finding work due to ongoing cultural stigma. This particular coffee was processed at both La Aurora, and at Jamaica drying station, which sits at 1300 MASL. Thanks to this lower elevation, Jamaica has warmer temperatures which are much more conducive to managing honey and natural fermentations.

About decaffeination

Then the final step, the decaffeination. The sugarcane decaf process is one of the world’s only natural decaffeination processes. Descafecol, just a short drive from Villamaria, uses water from the nearby volcano Navado del Ruis, and natural ethyl acetate 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. The end result? A coffee that, when tasted blind, you cannot even tell is decaf.