Decaf

Often frowned upon, decaffeinated coffee can be delicious when done well. And that's exactly our mindset when we source and roast our seasonal selection of decaf coffees. 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 crop.

It's the second time in a row that we picked up our decaf coffee from Mexico. Called Monte Albán, it grows in the vicinity of the city of Oaxaca. All of these small-scale farmers are organic-certified and produce very interesting, flavoursome coffees. Monte Albán refers to the Zapotec ruins, located around 9 km from Oaxaca, which are the remains of one of the earliest cities in Mesoamerica. These ruins date back to 500 BC 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 archaeological sites, with the remains of temples, palaces, tall stepped platforms, and an observatory with wonderful 360-degree views over the city, not forgetting the 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.

They strive to produce coffee with notes of red fruits, almonds, citruses, vanilla, and honey.

We sourced these beans through our friends at Caravela, who dedicate their efforts to finding producers that work towards 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 coffee consistent and sweet that, in the Monte Albán case, showcases notes of nougat and cocoa with hints of red apple, blackberry, and raspberry. The aftertaste reveals red grape and sultana juiciness and a blueberry jam mouthfeel. On the dry smell, there is also an interesting aroma of burnt caramel and honey.