Product Information - Colombia Finca El Paraiso Decaf
Finca El Paraiso
Origin : Piendamo, Cauca, Colombia
Varietal : Castillo
Process : Water-EA, Anaerobic Fermentation
Altitude : 1,850masl
Harvest : September
You must have heard of Finca El Paraiso plenty of times by now. Yes, it is the popular farm since they created the outstanding lot with double anaerobic fermentation(naming their processing this complicate was started all due to this fella, Diego Samuel, the owner of Finca El Paraiso), 10th placed, and bidden for the most expensive price at Colombia COE in 2019.
Most of their lots are sold and distributed in Northeast Asian countries. Their lots are extremely famous for targeted distinct fruit flavours. In fact, the 2020 Australian Brewers Cup champion, Carlos Escobar won his national final competition by using one of the Geisha lots of this farm.
Water E.A process, also known as sugarcane process, is one of the methods for decaffeination. The key ingredient here is E.A, short for Ethyl Acetate, which is a mixture of ethanol and acetic acid.
- Ethyl alcohol(ethanol) is created by fermenting the sugar extracted from sugarcane, then it is mixed to acetic acid. As a result, ethyl acetate is made which is also easily found in nature.
- Green coffee is sent and prepared for decaffeination. The greens experience a low pressure steaming process in order to soften the beans and expands the pores on the cellulose.
- Then the coffee is submerged in the solution, made of water and ethyl acetate as a solvent, that dissolves the salt of chlorogenic acid that it is the part which the caffeine is bonded(carbon). As salt of chlorogenic acid dissolves in the solution, the caffeine is also pulled out of the coffee beans.
- Once the tank filled with the solution is saturated by caffeine, it is drained out, then fresh solution is introduced in the tank. The ethyl acetate is circulated multiple times until at least 97% of the caffeine is removed.
- Afterwards, the coffee is removed from the tank, then gets a low-pressure steamed again. This steaming process removes the ethyl acetate remained.
- Lastly, the coffee is vacuum dried to the targeted moisture content, commonly between 10% and 12%.
We have roasted this coffee very light, thus the intensity of the brewed coffee would not be such a challenge to even non-coffee drinkers. Also you can enjoy this coffee all day long. You can sleep!
This coffee does not have a flavour explosion unlike the other lots from Finca El Paraiso. Rather then that, it is more on subtle side as there are some technical limits of the decaffeination process.However, this particular lot is no doubt very different from any other decaf coffee produced so far. The notes we get from the cup are more reminiscent of specialty coffee offered by many other coffee roasters on daily basis. We cannot discern if it is decaf or ordinary coffee by smelling or tasting. Also, that is the main reason why we decided to showcase this limited coffee.
- (Always) Its top note is light brown spice such as cinnamon, specifically cassia cinnamon-related.
- (Always) The sweet character can be developed within the range of caramelised foods such as cooked banana / madeleine / canelé / golden syrup / organic cola
- (Often) It can be developed within the range of dairy products such as apple sherbet / yoghurt / ice cream
- (Sometimes) Its madeleine-like flavour can be reminiscent of Chinese salted duck egg yolk or stone grilled egg which may sound very interesting
- (Often) The body is medium light and silky but it can vary depending on different extractions
Also we have found this coffee consistently cinnamon-like, apple sherbet, and madeleine during our production cupping & tasting with plenty of various brewing methods, so most of you are likely to get those as well.
It is roasted for both filter coffee and espresso, particularly the best on pour-over tools with the rough reference recipe as below.
- Brewing ratio : 1(coffee) to 16(brewing water)
- Brewing time : around 02:30 to extract the most pleasant sugar level of this coffee.
- Brewing water temperature : 93 degrees Celsius water.
It is also very good with immersion methods such as Clever or Plunger.
- Brewing ratio : 1(coffee) to 16(brewing water).
- Brewing time : 4 to 5 minutes (coarse grind size).
- Brewing water temperature : over 94 degrees Celsius water.
Try this reference recipe on an espresso machine, then start dialing in accordingly if needed. It is very juicy and silky as long espresso
- 20g dose in 20g basket
- Brewing time 19 seconds(on EK-43)
- 48g to 54g out
- Brewing water temperature : 94 degrees Celsius water.
