'Tasty decaf is getting easier to find, this one is a great example. Dried apricots and molasses combine with solid milk chocolate notes to make a great all-rounder'
We're seeing more and more good decaf coming onto the speciality coffee market these days. Here we have a great example from the Planadas region. It's a solid, no nonsense coffee that suits a variety of brew methods. We're finding it particularly delicious in espresso based milk drinks, but it's also great in a pourover where you'll struggle to tell that there is no caffeine involved - proof that you can have your cake and eat it.
Origin: Planadas, Tolima Colombia
Varietals: Castillo and Caturra, Colombia.
Processing: Sugar Cane Decaf.
Roast degree: 132 (read more).
Suitable for: All Brew Methods (read more)
Q Score: 85 (what's this?)
You can get more sensory information about the coffee by looking at the diagrams in the images above. If you need to know how these work, just click here.
Taste and flavour perception are complex and difficult to articulate. We love sharing our tasting notes with you, but please don't rely too heavily on our reports. Your experience is what matters most and it may be different. We've written about that whole issue here.
IMPORTANT: Please read our short Coffee Bean Care Guide here.
Want to know more about this coffee? Read on......
This coffee comes from smallholders from the Planadas and Canon de las Hermosas regions. Coffees from selected growers are cupped and analyzed individually in order to only use the best lots for this blend (coffees 85+).
Afterwards these coffees are blended, milled in Bogota and transported to DESCAFECOL where caffeine is removed from the coffee using the sugarcane ethyl acetate. This decaffeination process enhances sweetness while maintaining the integrity of the flavor.
The decaffeination process starts when green beans are put in separate chambers then these go through a funnel to start the pre-treatment stage. Later it enters to the steam chamber where the silver skin is removed from the bean.
After this, the beans are submerged in spring water and as soon the coffee is saturated with water it is sent to the extractors where the beans have direct contact with sugar cane ethyl acetate for 8 hours which removes the caffeine content. Then the decaffeinated coffee is dried in a chamber to reach the same moisture content that it had prior to the process.