Guarapo Decaf

The coffees that make up this decaf come from the larger producers in the Monkaaba network; predominantly Jose Burbano, Augusto Ortega, and Pastor Ordoñez. Monkaaba was created by Esnaider Ortega Gomez, and comprises of a group of smallholder coffee producers in San Agustin wanting to gain more autonomy over their coffee production. The goal of Monkaaba is to assist other growers in the area to better place their coffees in the market, be more involved in the marketing and sales of their coffees, and invest in their future by improving their knowledge and skills.

Each producer that has contributed to this lot delivers their parchment to the Monkaaba bodega, where it is sorted and milled. The lot is sent to Descafecol where the decaffeination process begins, using a sugar cane derived natural solvent to strip the caffeine from the coffee. The coffee seeds are steamed to remove the silverskin and loosen the structure, before being submerged in the sugarcane derived ethyl acetate solution, and steamed once more to clean the seeds. A final drying phase brings the moisture of the lot back down again to 12% or slightly below.

Guarapo translates to fresh pressed sugar cane juice – most coffee farms have wild sugar cane growing, and it's common for this to be made into a syrupy drink, used as a lunchtime snack or in cocktails. A very fitting name for this lot!