Colombia Pitalito Decaf

This decaf is super round and mellow with a toffee-like sweetness. It reminds us of dried or cooked stone fruit. Produced by several smallholder producers from different municipalities in and around Pitalito, it was decaffeinated in Colombia using the ethyl acetate process, also known as the sugarcane method.

The Sugarcane Decaffeination Method uses ethyl acetate (E.A.), a naturally occurring compound and solvent derived through the fermentation of sugarcane, to extract the caffeine from green coffee. By fermenting molasses derived from sugarcane, ethanol is created. This alcohol is then mixed with acetic acid to create the compound ethyl acetate, which is used as a solvent to remove the caffeine from the coffee beans. Since sugar cane is readily available, this is a very popular natural method to decaffeinate coffee in Colombia.

To begin the process, the green coffee is steamed at low pressure for about 30 minutes to open up its pores, allowing for caffeine extraction. Coffee is then placed in tanks, which are filled with a solution of water and ethyl acetate. This solvent bonds with the salts of chlorogenic acids within the coffee, allowing for the extraction of caffeine. Once the coffee is saturated, the tank is drained and a fresh load of the solution is added. This process is repeated several times for about eight hours in total, each time more of the caffeine is extracted.

Next, the coffee is removed from the solution and prepped for a final round of low-pressure steaming to remove traces of the E.A. Finally, the coffee is dried once again, physically polished to ensure cleanliness and packaged for export.