Colombia, Quindio, Finca Christalina, Decaffeinated

This offering is balanced and sweet, with a nice acidity. It tastes like non-decaf. Sweet Spot Roast

We Taste: Roasted pecan, nougat, cocoa and brown sugar. 

Origin: Colombia

Region: Quindio

Farm/Washing Station/Mill: Finca Christalina 

Variety: Castillo

Altitude: 1450-1500 masl

Process Method: EA sugarcane decaffeination process

Roast level: Sweet Spot 

Roasting Notes: Roasting decaf is always a unique challenge. The specific process of your decaf always changes the physical characteristics of the bean and how it absorbs energy. So experience roasting all the decafs is helpful! The other challenging factor is a lack of color change as the bean roasts. Or better said a non green coffee color development change. So as a roaster you have to be a little flexible in calling color change or even 1st crack, as some decafs crack very softly. For this roast I use a gentle start so as to not damage the delicate nature of a decaf by forcing in too much energy right away. I also extend the mid phase to allow for optimum body and sweetness development. For the development phase I use three minutes to go to a 55 on the SCA specialty roast scale. Longer and not too far.

Sourcing Notes: I sourced this coffee to have a nice nuance decaf that had lots of coffee flavor. So many decaf’s have minimal to no coffee flavors. The flavor all comes from the roast. This decaf is heavy on coffee flavor. Has some delicate origin nuisance and  a mild crisp acidity. It was the tastiest and most expensive decaf I tasted this year. 

Coffee Info/Story: Finca Christalina is a 19 hectare farm that has been growing coffee for over 100 years. Alberto and German have been running the farm since 2015, after inheriting it from their father. They sort the coffee cherries before and after fermentation and drying process to ensure no underipes sneak through. 

The decaf process uses the indirect solvent method, where the coffee is soaked in near boiling water for several hours. This extracts the flavor elements and coffee oils from the beans. The beans are washed in ethyl acetate for 10 hours, a solvent that selectively bonds to caffeine molecules, which then evaporates out. The beans are then re-soaked in the original slurry to reabsorb their flavor elements and coffee oils. - Anthem Coffee Importers