Nogales Low Caff - Caturra

MEET THE PRODUCER | Los Nogales is a farm located just outside the town of Bruselas, a Colombian hub for advanced processing techniques. Established in 1940, this family business strives to combine tradition with innovation to produce some of the best specialty coffee in Huila. Today, the farm is stewarded by Oscar Hernandez, a third generation producer who is following in his grandfather's footsteps and championing his father's efforts. Oscar's dad, Ricaurte, won the Colombia Cup of Excellence back in 2006, and since then it has been said that "Ricaurte put Bruselas on the [specialty coffee] map, and his son, Oscar, is continuing his tradition."

TRUST THE PROCESS | After being handpicked at peak ripeness, the coffee cherries are floated to remove lower-density beans before being handsorted, washed, and disinfected with ozone to minimize unwanted microorganism involvement during processing. For this lot, a thermal shock was used to kickstart the fermentation process, and the cherries were then depulped before being placed in plastic barrels to ferment alongside the sweet, viscous musto, lactobacilli (a type of yeast), and a little water. Finally, the coffee is removed to dry for 21 days until optimal moisture content (10-12%) is achieved.

The decaffeination process which has made this coffee possible is called Ethyl Acetate Decaffeination. It's a fascinating and confusing science experiment, but at a very basic level: a sugar alcohol byproduct is used as a solvent to help dissolve the caffeine out of the coffee. When processing this lot in particular, the intent was to produce a bonafide decaf lot, but... well... there may have been a mathematical error along the way. When Oscar and his team got the lab results back, they found that the caffeine hadn't been entirely removed - BUT, it had been significantly reduced. The result is a coffee with about 1/3 the caffeination of your standard cup of joe, making it a versatile cup you can brew any time of day.

TAKE A SIP |  Whatever assumptions you may have made about (almost) decaf coffee up until this point, we hope you'll lay them aside and give this one a try. Delicious cooked fruit, like stewed strawberries, combine with a delightful vanilla note to remind us of some of our favorite summertime baked goods. It's also floral (like roses) and citric (like lemon verbena), which only further serve to delight our summer-loving senses. 

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Origin | Bruselas, Huila, Colombia

Producer | Oscar Hernandez

Farm | Los Nogales

Process | Mucilage EA Decaf

Variety | Caturra

Elevation | 1750 masl