Colombia Huila Sugarcane Decaf | Green Coffee Beans

Recommended Roast Level

Full City (Medium)

Tasting Notes

Sugarcane decaf coffees give a very sweet and complex profile for a decaf coffee. This bean in particular gives a delicious breakdown of chocolatey sweetness, which is something we’ve come to expect in a traditional coffee from the Colombian growing regions from which we source. 

The Ethyl Acetate (Sugarcane) Process

Ethyl acetate is an occurring ester (present in bananas and also as a by-product of fermented sugars) that is used as a solvent to bond with and remove caffeine from green coffee. First, the coffee is sorted and steamed for 30 minutes under low pressure in order to open the coffee seeds’ pores and prepare them for decaffeination. The coffee is placed in a solution of both water and ethyl acetate, where the E.A. will begin to bond with the salts of chlorogenic acids inside the seeds. The tank will be drained and re-filled over the course of eight hours until caffeine is no longer detected. The seeds are steamed once more to remove the ethyl acetate traces, though E.A. is only harmful to humans in very high quantities (400 parts per million or more). The coffee is then dried and polished for export.

Highlights