GALERAS
The town of Buesaco is located high on a mountain ridge in the Andes of the Nariño department in Colombia. Promotora Café de Altura operates its offices, cupping lab, and warehouses here, where the cooperative collects coffees from smallholder farmers whose farms are spread across the surrounding hills.
The cooperative works with more than 300 smallholder producers throughout Nariño, many of whom harvest coffee year-round. At the cooperative’s facilities, the coffees are analyzed and purchased, with farmers receiving premiums above market price. These premiums incentivize high quality standards and responsible farming practices, such as avoiding glyphosate and other chemicals.
Promotora Café de Altura cups coffees throughout the harvest season to create lots that are consistent in both bean size and cup profile. This decaffeinated lot is composed of small batches from farms surrounding the Galeras volcano. The coffee has been decaffeinated using the ethyl acetate (EA) method.
PROCESSING
Ethyl acetate is produced by esterifying ethanol – derived from the fermentation of sugarcane – with acetic acid. The green coffee is immersed in a solution of water and ethyl acetate, where the compound binds with the caffeine and begins extracting it from the beans.
The solution is then rinsed and the process is repeated until a decaffeination level of at least 97% is achieved. Finally, the green coffee is steamed to remove any remaining ethyl acetate from the beans.