Colombia - Nogales - 1/2 Caf
Origin: Colombia
Region: Huila, Bruselas
Producer/Farm: Oscar Hernandez @ Los Nogales
Elevation: 1750 MASL
Varietal: Caturra
Processing Method: Thermal Shock & EA Decaffeination
Tasting Notes: Black Currant, Orange Zest, Chocolate Cherry, Hibiscus
The town of Bruselas is a Colombian hub for advanced processing techniques. Oscar Hernandez, a third generation producer, is following in his grandfather's footsteps and championing his father's efforts continuing over 80 years of tradition and evolution. Oscar's dad, Ricaurte, won the Colombia Cup of Excellence back in 2006, and since then it has been said that "Ricaurte put Bruselas on the map" in the specialty coffee world.
The decaffeination process for most of the coffee we source is called Ethyl Acetate Decaffeination. At a basic level this process uses a sugar alcohol byproduct (Ethel Acetate) as a caffeine specific solvent to remove the majority caffeine from the (green) coffee. This method is used because it is able to remove the caffeine without drastically affecting the coffee flavors that are present. It also increases the ability for producers to decaffeinate their coffee because it needs less water than other decaffeinating processes.
For this lot, the cherries are handpicked at peak ripeness, floated to remove lower-density beans before being hand sorted, washed, and disinfected to minimize unwanted microorganism involvement during processing. Once cleaned, a thermal shock was used to kickstart the fermentation process bringing the temperature of the cherries up significantly, for a short time, before a rapid chilling. Then the cherries are de-pulped before being placed in plastic barrels to ferment alongside the sweet, viscous musto, lactobacilli (a type of yeast), and a little water. Finally, the coffee is removed to dry for 21 days until optimal moisture content (10-12%) is achieved. When processing this lot in particular, the intent was to produce a fully decaffeinated lot, but because of a mathematical error along the way the result was a partially caffeinated lot with fruit and chocolate notes that we love.