Colombia - Villamaría Natural Sugarcane Decaf

The Villamaría natural sugarcane decaf from our friends at Raw Material is grown in the Caldas region of Colombia. Careful roasting in small batches at Hillside Coffee brings out complex flavour notes of chocolate, passion fruit and lemon. We are currently offering this coffee in two sizes, with prices starting at £10.50 for a 200g bag.

Dried for 15 days, in a temperature-controlled greenhouse finished in a mechanical dryer. Sugar cane decaffeination is often termed as a natural decaf. Ethyl Acetate is an organically existing compound (C4H8O2) and by-product found most commonly in the fermentation of fruits and is present in both ripe bananas and beer for example. The plant Raw Material works with in Colombia, a short drive from Villamaría, uses water from the Navado del Ruis (a volcano between Caldas and Tolima) and natural ethyl acetate from fermented sugarcane sourced in the southern region of Palmira, Colombia.

This process begins with steaming of the coffee, increasing its porosity, beginning the hydrolysis of caffeine, which is usually bonded to salts and chlorogenic acid in the bean. The beans are then submerged in an ethyl acetate solvent until 97% of the caffeine is removed. Finally, steam is then used to lift residual traces of the compound. The ultimate residue which remains is ≥ 30 ppm, which is a level dramatically less than that of a banana!