Colombia Valle Del Cauca Decaf
Sugarcane EA Process

Description

Valle Del Cauca Coffee Beans

The Valle del Cauca exists as a critical swatch of land.  Natural resources, water management, and friendly environmental practices in this land remain keenly preserved. As one of Colombia’s two main biological conservation corridors, Cauca Valley remains home to World Heritage-listed national parks, wildlife, and water sources that give life to the surrounding land.

The region lies between the National Park of Tatama and “Serrania de los Paraguas”, a recognized Coffee Cultural Landscape and UNESCO World Heritage Site where producers and organizations are committed to agroecology farming and community-based ecotourism. The altitude spans 1,700 to 2,100masl.  The surrounding mountains enclose the valley in a stable microclimate all year round.

Sugarcane Decaf Process

Sugarcane remains readily available in Colombia, and its application to the coffee industry constitutes as a game-changer. Ethyl acetate is an organic compound found in sugarcane, and the decaffeination process begins with the fermentation of molasses derived from sugarcane to create ethanol. This alcohol mixes with acetic acid (the main component of vinegar) to create the compound ethyl acetate.

In a direct solvent-based process, low-pressure steam opens the pores of the coffee beans. Then the beans begin soaking in a solution of water and ethyl acetate. The solvent binds to the salts of chlorogenic acids and allows the removal of caffeine. After flushing the beans with ethyl acetate repeatedly, up to 97% of the caffeine is extracted. Because ethyl acetate comes from sugarcane and exists as an organic compound that can effectively remove caffeine, the coffee’s flavor attributes prevail and remain not extracted.

About Colombia Green Coffee Beans

Over half a million families dedicate their livelihoods to producing unroasted Colombia green coffee on small farms that dot the country’s volcanic mountain ranges. As the world’s third-largest producing country, the volume, quality, and variety that comes out of Colombia year-round proves to be staggering.

According to the USDA, the overall production growth of 6.1 percent for the 2023/2024 harvest remains modest due to reduced coffee renovation areas in 2022, driven by high coffee prices, leading to lower productivity. Dry conditions also negatively impacted young coffee trees and lower-altitude plantations, increasing coffee borer infestations and the production of smaller, underdeveloped beans. Colombia currently has around 840,000 hectares of coffee farms, mostly smallholder-run, with two peak harvest periods: the main harvest from October to December and the secondary “mitaca” harvest from April to June, primarily in the central coffee region.

GEOGRAPHY:

Region Valle Del Cauca

Altitude 1750m

PRODUCER:

Various smallholders

VARIETY:

Caturra, Castillo

PROCESSING:

Washed & EA Decaffeination

HARVEST TIME:

September – December