Decaf

Often frowned upon, decaf coffee can be delicious when done well. We believe they should be treated with the same respect as our other coffees, and we’re on a mission to bring you the cream of the non-caffeinated crop.

Our current decaf is a gem. Hailing from Mexico, the cup boasts notes of red grapes, praline & raspberry jam, all with a super smooth finish.

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Our new decaf coffee, Monte Albán, grows in the vicinity of the city of Oaxaca. 

All of the small-scale farmers in the area are organic-certified and produce very interesting and flavoursome coffees.

Monte Albán refers to the Zapotec ruins, located around 9km from Oaxaca, which are the remains of one of the earliest cities in Mesoamerica. These ruins date back to 500BC and can be seen from everywhere in the Valley of Oaxaca. 

Monte Albán was an important social and political site for around a thousand years. This is one of Mexico’s most culturally rich archeological sites with the remains of temples, palaces, tall stepped platforms, and an observatory with wonderful 360-degree views over the city. The site is surrounded by lush valleys and beautiful mountains.

For the coffee growers in this region, specialty coffee production is relatively new, but they are keen to continue learning and improving.

The coffee cultivated here is ripe with notes of yellow fruits, almonds, citrus, vanilla, and honey.

We sourced these beans through our friends at Caravela, who dedicate their efforts to finding producers with a commitment to quality, sustainability, equity and social welfare.

This particular lot of Monte Albán was decaffeinated using the Mountain Water Process, unique to Mexico. In this process, the green beans, packed with caffeine, are soaked in water from high-altitude mountains. This expunges most of the caffeine content. The next step involves running the water, now loaded with caffeine, through an elaborate filtration system.

This system helps to clear away about 99% of the caffeine originally found in the beans but maintains the flavour components of the coffee. The mountain water, now saturated with coffee flavours but without the caffeine, is added again to the beans resulting in a sweet and consistent coffee.

In the case of Monte Alban, this coffee showcases notes of praline and cocoa, with hints of red apple, raspberry and blackberry. The aftertaste reveals a red grape juiciness, and a forest fruit jam mouthfeel. On the dry smell there is also an interesting floral aroma of vanilla, and meadow honey.