Nobody asked for this one—yet here we are!

Our aim as coffee roasters is not simply to roast fancy singles or sell bulk blends. We want to roast coffee in all its forms and share with you the beautiful flavours that we can find! Releasing this Top Shelf Decaf—and simply having it as an option on our roster for a time—is part of what we believe it means to ‘go all the way’.   

The processing of this coffee is a spectacular achievement and the complexity that we find in the cup is largely due to the processing efforts before the decaffeination processing. This is what you are largely tasting in this decaf and why it tastes so markedly different from others on the market. It all starts with ripe cherries. They are received and let to oxidise for 36 hours. They are then floated in water with a 5% alcohol concentration to disinfect impurities before being de-pulped and placed into special plastic bags to undergo a 60-hour anaerobic fermentation. At the start of this 60 hours  a mosto—which is essentially natural juice from the cherries—is added to ferment with the coffee cherries. This fortifying mosto is actually derived from a different batch of the very same coffee and contains within it an abundance of beneficial microbes and bacteria that are unique to this specific coffee and its growing conditions. The mosto enhances the fermentation process, essentially adding a dialled up complexity and intensity of flavour in the resulting cup. The fermentation is interrupted at the 60 hour mark when the coffee is administered a kind of thermal shock. This involves flushing the coffee with hot water (50’C) and then cold water (20’C) for 30 minutes. This rapid cooling process has the effect of locking in more of the volatile compounds generated during fermentation. The resulting coffee has an increased intensity and complexity in the aroma, two key characteristics that we always look for in every coffee. 

The coffee beans are then dried through a process known as Pristine Precision Drying. The beans are selected and disinfected and then hermetically sealed in stainless-steel dehumidifying tanks until they reach a moisture content of 11%. This process takes approximately 40 hours, after which the coffee is left to rest and stabilise for one week. All of this happens prior to the coffee being decaffeinated, which has been completed using the sugarcane process (Ethyl Acetate). This decaffeination process is largely considered to be one of the most natural and least flavour-disruptive methods of decaffeination on the market.

Although decaf coffee will never be our best seller it still deserves a spot on the menu. Simply put, it’s rare to have the opportunity to taste this sort of stuff!

In the cup we have been finding orange rind, vanilla, bergamot and pomegranate. Surprising coffee moments like this is definitely part of why we roast!