Our Colombian E.A. (ethyl acetate) decaf offerings are special in more ways than one: First, they're cupped specifically for their quality and sourced by single-origin, either region or farm. We call them Decaf De Caña because they're custom decaffeinated in Colombia, using a special, natural process that utilizes a solvent of ethyl acetate, which can be derived from fermented sugar. Cafe Imports staff has personally visited the decaffeination plant several times, and we are impressed by the process as well as the quality in the cup!
The process works by soaking green coffee in a solution of E.A., which bonds to the salts of chlorogenic acid in the coffee and allows for the removal of caffeine. The coffee is removed from the solvent and steamed at low pressure to remove the E.A. compounds, and the finished product retains its flavor integrity but contains almost no caffeine at all. (The beans will contain a maximum of 0.01–0.03% caffeine.)
For more information about the E.A. process, visit our E.A. Decaf page. For more information about coffee production in Colombia, visit our Colombia page.
