Decaf Nariño

FLAVOUR NOTES  :
Milk Chocolate, Strawberry Cream

ORIGIN : Colombia
REGION : La Unión, Nariño
ALTITUDE : 1600 - 2000  m.a.s.l
PRODUCER : 15 Smallholders farmers from Nariño
VARIETAL : Blend
PROCESS : EA Sugarcane Washed
WEIGHT : 250g

 DESCRIPTION  :

Decaf Nariño is a sugarcane washed blend from smallholder farmers in Nariño, Colombia, grown at high altitude, delighting the cup with luscious notes of milk chocolate and strawberry cream.

Smallholder Farmers
In Nariño, coffee is grown not on vast estates, but on small family farms where each household tends to less than a hectare of land. Across the region, nearly 33,000 families care for their own modest plots, working closely with the land and the plants in a way that invites patience, precision, and pride. This intimate scale allows for an artisanal approach to coffee growing, where quality is shaped by daily hands-on attention. Though Nariño ranks only ninth in Colombia by production volume, its coffees are celebrated for something far more meaningful: the remarkable character and excellence born from these family-run farms.

Nariño, Colombia
La Unión, in Nariño, is quickly becoming the beating heart of the region’s coffee culture and a reference point for specialty coffee in Colombia. Tucked into the southern Andes, this mountain municipality is home to traditional varieties such as Caturra, Castillo, and Colombia, grown in landscapes shaped by altitude and mist. At elevations between 1,500 and 2,200 meters above sea level, farmers pour care and intention into every stage of cultivation, allowing the environment and their craftsmanship to work in harmony. The result is coffee with layered complexity and distinctive character—cups that speak clearly of their origin.

EA Decaf
This coffee is gently decaffeinated using ethyl acetate (EA), a naturally occurring compound found in sugar cane and fruits. The process selectively removes caffeine while preserving the coffee’s original character, allowing its flavors to remain clear and expressive in the cup.

Six Steps of the Sugarcane Process

#1. STEAM: Lightly steam the coffee beans to remove the silver skins and expand their pores 

#2. MOISTEN: Moisten the beans with hot water to soften them and start the hydrolysis of caffeine 

#3. EXTRACT: Circulate EA through the beans to bind with and extract the caffeine 

#4. REMOVE EA: Use low pressure steam to remove any remaining EA 

#5. DRY: Dry the coffee beans to the desired moisture content 

#6. POLISH: Apply carnauba wax to protect the coffee and add stability 

The sugarcane process preserves most of the coffee's original flavours, and can also add fruity notes. As an extra benefit it also has a lower carbon footprint than other decaffeination methods.