La Plata - Colombia - Decaffeinated
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About this coffee
This lot underwent the Ethyl Acetate decaffeination process at the Coffein Compagnie in Bremen, also known as the Sugarcane Decaf or Natural Decaf Process.
The special EA process preserves the high quality of the green beans, whilst successfully removing the caffeine content. Ethyl acetate occurs naturally in fruits, and this is why it is the best natural option for decaffeination. For this process, sugars from sugarcane are fermented to create ethyl alcohol. This is then mixed with acetic acid to create ethyl acetate.
The EA decaffeination process begins with a pretreatment steaming the coffee beans at a low pressure to remove the silver skin, or the thin layer of skin on the coffee beans. The coffee beans are then moistened with hot water to swell and soften, to catalyze the hydrolysis (the chemical breakdown of a substance due to reaction with water) of the caffeine. Essentially, the caffeine is bonded to chlorogenic acid inside the coffee, and this process breaks them apart to remove the caffeine. The beans are then moved through an extractor, where they are repeatedly washed with the natural solvent, ethyl acetate. This occurs several times in order to remove 97% of the caffeine content within the coffee.
