I have to admit, decaffeinated coffee has never really been my thing. The idea of drinking coffee without caffeine just feels foreign to me. However, my perspective has been gradually changing over the years, especially after Guillermo had to switch to half-caffeinated coffee due to a heart condition. At Crickle Creek Coffee, we’ve always offered the Swiss Water Process (SWP) for decaf coffee.
The SWP works by first immersing green beans in fresh water to open their pores, and then in green coffee extract (water already saturated with coffee flavor compounds). This allows the water to extract the caffeine without pulling out the flavor, resulting in a great-tasting coffee minus the caffeine.
A while back, while I was still in El Salvador, I had a conversation with a good friend who had just returned from a coffee-buying trip to Colombia. He mentioned a new method of decaffeinating coffee using sugar cane and described it as “brilliant,” with coffee that tasted fantastic. Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for this coffee.
The sugarcane process gets its name because sugar cane is used to obtain a natural compound called ethyl acetate, which bonds with the chlorogenic acids in the coffee beans to remove caffeine. Ethyl acetate is a natural compound found in fruits and other foods. Similar to SWP, the first step involves steaming the coffee beans at low pressure for 30 minutes to open the pores. The beans are then submerged in the ethyl acetate solution to separate the caffeine. Once decaffeination is complete, the beans are steamed again to remove all traces of ethyl acetate.
The coffee is decaffeinated in Manizales, Colombia, by Descafecol. I appreciate that the Descafecol facility naturally derives ethyl acetate by fermenting molasses. It’s also the only facility in the world that uses natural sugarcane, which is abundant in Colombia.
Recently, I was able to get my hands on some Sugar Cane Process decaf and loved it. It was easier to control the roast (side note: decaf coffee can be tricky to roast as it tends to look darker), and the flavors I achieved were much better. There’s no compromise on flavor, and it beautifully showcases the hard work of Colombian producers. I encourage you to try it for yourself, and if you’re up for it, compare it to our SWP Colombian Decaf to see the difference. The beans, Excelso from Caldas in Colombia, offer notes of brown sugar sweetness and spiced apple, with medium acidity, a velvety body, and a long, rich finish.
Enjoy this new offering, and let me know your thoughts.
Happy brewing,
Alejandro