Las Mercedes - Colombia - Decaffeinated

Owners: lfonso Eduardo
Guerra & Olga
Escobar

Located in the temperate climate and mountainous
terrain of southwest Antioquia, Finca Las Mercedes has
the perfect altitude and climate for producing excellent
quality coffee as well as playing host to a diversity of
native flora and fauna. In this ideally situated terrain,
the Guerra family have dedicated 150 of their 386
extensive hectares to coffee. The rest of the farm lies
under native forest – some 236 hectares devoted
entirely as nature and a watershed preserve.

All coffee at Las Mercedes is selectively hand harvested
before being delivered to the farm’s state-of-the-art mill to
be pulped on the same day. After pulping, the coffee is
fermented twice. The first fermentation is anaerobic,
occurring at cool temperatures for 25 hours. Afterwards, the
coffee is fermented aerobically for an additional 25 hours,
then washed and graded via the canal. Next, the beans are
delivered to dry on raised beds in the open sun, where they
are regularly turned until they reach optimal humidity.

Las Mercedes employs 15 permanent workers and 150 during
the harvest. The staff are diligent in researching and
implementing the best agricultural practices. Some 20% of
their trees are renovated annually and the farm is looking
towards planting disease-resistant and durable coffee
varietals. The family is also always looking for new ways to
improve their coffees’ quality in the cup. Their main harvest is
in November-February when 60% of the annual production is
harvested, and later in April-June for the remaining 40%.
The farm’s diligent environmental and social practices have
led them to achieve Rainforest Alliance, UTZ Kapeh and 4C
certification.

The CO2 decaffeination process: 

The raw, unroasted coffee is moistened with water and
put into a vessel where it is brought into contact with
pressurised, liquid carbon dioxide. By circulation
through the coffee, the carbon dioxide draws the
caffeine out of the bean. In an evaporator, the caffeine
precipitates out from the CO2 which, after evaporation
and re-condensation, is pumped again into the vessel
containing the coffee for a new cycle. When the
required residual caffeine level is reached, the CO2
circulation is stopped, and the coffee is
discharged into a drier where it is gently dried until it
reaches the original moisture content.