Tasting Notes: Chocolate, Toffee, Heavy Origin: Colombia Region: Huila Process:Washed, Ethyl Acetate Decaffeination (Sugarcane) Variety: Caturra, Castillo, Colombia Elevation: 1400–2000 masl Importer: Cafe Imports With notes of chocolate and toffee filling a sweet and syrupy cup, this decaffeinated coffee from Colombia is big on flavor and nearly free of caffeine! This coffee is decaffeinated using a process that utilizes the solvent ethyl acetate, an ester present in bananas and also as a by-product of fermented sugars. First, the coffee is sorted and steamed for 30 minutes under low pressure in order to open the coffee seeds’ pores and prepare them for decaffeination. The coffee is placed in a solution of both water and ethyl acetate, where the E.A. will begin to bond with the salts of chlorogenic acids inside the seeds. The tank will be drained and re-filled over the course of eight hours until caffeine is no longer detected. The seeds are steamed once more to remove the ethyl acetate traces, though E.A. is only harmful to humans in very high quantities (400 parts per million or more). The coffee is then dried and polished for export. This particular lot is blended from the parchment deliveries of various smallholder growers who live and work in Colombia's Huila department.