Popayán, situated in the department of Cauca at an elevation of 1,700 m.a.s.l., benefits from an ideal topography for cultivating exceptional coffee. Popayán is sheltered by the Andes mountain range, creating consistent climatic and altitudinal conditions. These factors contribute to the development of coffee beans with sweet and citrus profiles. Our supply partners have worked closely with approximately 75 growers who have contributed to this program and with whom they have established long-term relationships.
Through this program, farmers are incentivized to prioritize quality, and based on assessments, offer premiums of up to 20% above market prices Following the careful selection of coffee cherries, these are then de-pulped and thoroughly washed to completely remove the mucilage. Afterwards, the coffee is spread out on raised beds for 5-7 days until reaching the ideal moisture content. This method ensures the preservation of the coffee's unique flavours and characteristics.
Popayán Decaf is decaffeinated by the natural Sugar Cane process at the Descafecol plant at country of origin, in Manizales, Colombia, ensuring the coffee doesn’t travel further than necessary to reduce the carbon footprint impact and support a vertical supply chain without the extra costs and food miles of shipping the coffee to decaffeination plants in Mexico, Canada or Germany, and the profits stay within the country of origin. This involves the coffee been immersed in water with a natural occurring ester from sugar cane which extracts the caffeine from the green coffee. This process avoids excessive temperatures seen in other decaffeination processes and leaves a coffee with its inherent attributes intact and roasts and tastes much more like the original caffeinated coffee.
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Region: Popayán, Cauca
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Producer: 75 medium scale coffee producers
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Variety: Caturra, Castillo and Colombia
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Process: Washed, Swiss Water Decaffeination
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Altitude: 1,500-2,070masl
