One of life’s great joys in the age of specialty coffee, is drinking specialty coffee. One of its great worries is what to do when caffeine’s kick is keeping one awake until the early hours, making a mockery of early-to-bed plans for worm catching. Inevitably, we reach for the decaf, hopeful that it tastes like the real deal, and hopeful of that good night’s sleep.
We are super proud of our decaffeinated coffees and the latest decaf to arrive is from Finca La Bolsa in Guatemala. We tasted through the new crop from La Bolsa and chose the lot we felt would stand up to the decaffeination process and retain its aroma profile and depth of flavour. We have been selecting coffees this way for some years now, working with La Bolsa and Fazenda IP (Brazil). After each coffee is selected, it is sent directly to Descamex in Mexico where the decaffeination process takes place.
Descamex use their Mountain Water Process method for decaffeinating our coffees. The process starts on receipt of the green coffee we have sent from Guatemala or Brazil. The coffee is analysed to enable the processors to programme the correct water temperature and time, in each stage of caffeine extraction. During the process the green coffee is effectively steam-bathed which releases the caffeine from the coffee into the water. This caffeinated water is sent through a series of filters which removes the caffeine. The now caffeine-free water is recirculated back to the coffee to allow any other flavour compounds that have escaped (alongside the caffeine) back to the green coffee. After this step the coffee is slowly dried to the appropriate moisture level, re-bagged, and prepared for export. Caffeine is highly water soluble, so this method works well and doesn’t involve any chemical solvents. However, as the coffee is heated and saturated the process does have an impact on the bean’s cell structure and flavour. As a result, the coffee roasts differently and its potential flavour changes.
When we receive the decaf green coffee, we roast it in our Loring roasters. As the cell-structure has altered, the coffee develops a little differently. The first noticeable difference is in the green coffee itself; it is no longer green but a light brown colour. As it roasts it also develops its colour more quickly than its non-decaffeinated counterpart and so even though the regular coffee is roasted for longer and to a higher temperature, the decaffeinated looks noticeably darker. In terms of flavour, both the fresh fruit notes and the acidity soften in comparison to the original coffees.
We have both the regular La Bolsa and decaffeinated La Bolsa on the counter together now. They are from the same crop, selected at the same time by us, and it’s a great opportunity to taste the difference the process makes to the flavour and appearance of the beans. For the decaf drinkers amongst us, it’s also a nice time to compare the flavour with the Decaf Fazenda IP which we finished recently. There is a definite caramelized similarity that shows in both coffees which comes from the decaf process.
So fear not specialty coffee drinkers, the decaf is here for if and when you might need it, and it tastes great.
Monmouth x
