Decaffeinating coffee from Esquipuas, Guatemala
At least several times a year, I encounter someone who either believes decaf coffee is useless or good decaf coffee doesn’t exist. But what about the folks who can’t consume caffeine but love the taste of coffee? Or the folks who want to drink coffee at all hours of the day but don’t want to be up all night? These people seek coffee simply for flavor, and they deserve good decaf. We all do!
Good decaf coffee starts with good coffee before its decaffeinated. Many importers already do the work in selecting green coffee for decaffeination. While we’ve leaned on them to provide delicious options, it’s been a part of our plan to source green coffee to decaffeinate from a producer we already work with. This is one way we can increase business with an existing partner.
coffee trees blossoming at finca las marias
In the past, we decaffeinated coffee by Mayan Harvest in Bella Vista, Mexico, and we have done this for a few years. We adore coffee from Bella Vista, and only stopped decaffeinating it because the quality of the coffee from Bella Vista has continued to improve, and the price has increased. For us, this is a success. Having this coffee get too good and expensive to decaffeinate is good. This means more coffee buyers have become familiar with Bella Vista coffee, and Mayan Harvest can serve more clients. We’re glad Mayan Harvest has grown and expanded their reach and are happy we can still feature their coffees year after year on our single origin menu.
Over the past year, we have been working on our next decaf project with Erick Toledo of Finca Las Marias in Esquipulas, Guatemala. We’ve been working with Erick and his family since 2020, using their coffee as a blend component for Short Strand. We’ve also featured a natural coffee on our single origin menu for the last two years. When it became easier to travel again, Michael and I visited Erick in 2023 to see how things have developed at his farm.
driving out of the center of esquipulas. in this photo is the esquiplas cathedral, which is home to the black christ. every year, it hosts four million pilgrims from different parts of guatemala.
The coffee we have selected for decaffeination is the same washed coffee we use in our Short Strand blend. Every year, we taste nearly two dozen samples of coffee from different lots to confirm with Erick which lots can be mixed and used for Short Strand, and almost every lot we’ve cupped has met our quality criteria. We attribute this consistency to both excellent farming practices and meticulous processing. Fresh cherries are picked and submerged in water. Any cherries that float are separated since these “floaters” are either partially full or defective. The cherries are de-pulped, with mucilage still intact, and then placed into a fermentation tank for 36 to 48 hours. Fermentation time varies depending on the weather: if temperatures are hotter, coffees need less time to ferment. Afterward, the mucilage is rinsed off the coffees in a water channel before being immediately spread thinly on a drying patio. Here, the coffees are still in parchment and rotated with a rake to promote even drying. The dry mill is located in a sunny, windy part of the town, and these environmental conditions help with the drying process. Coffee is dried slowly and down to 10-12% moisture content to maintain peak flavor and preserve quality. Depending on the climate, this can take one to two weeks. The coffees are then stored in bags with their parchment still intact, and the parchment is not removed until the coffees are ready for export.
erick showing michael around the farm
The coffee is sent to Swiss Water for decaffeination upon reaching the US. At Swiss Water, green coffee is meticulously cleaned and hydrated with pure water before it’s introduced to Green Coffee Extract (GCE)—a liquid crafted from clean water and water-soluble solids found in green coffee, excluding caffeine. The caffeine migrates from the bean to the GCE due to an imbalance in caffeine content. This process, completed within ten hours, results in a coffee that is 99.9% caffeine-free.
After cofeee is washed, it is placed on a drying patio and rotated regularly to promote even drying.
After a long journey, we’re thrilled to introduce our new decaf. In its fully caffeinated form, this coffee boasts a mild citrus acidity, a round body, and a chocolatey aftertaste. Post-decaffeination, its syrupy taste and mouthfeel remain intact. This decaf is versatile and pairs well with almost anything. It’s sweet and slightly nutty, reminiscent of caramel and pecans, and its swift yet comforting cocoa powder finish will leave you craving more!
