Colombia Santander de Quilichao Sugarcane Decaf

Country: Colombia
Region: Santander de Quilichao, Cauca
Varietal: Various
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1,760 MASL
Cupping Notes: Milk Chocolate, Molasses, Hazelnut  

Description:Cafinorte was established in 1991 in the town of Santander de Quilichao.  They service several key roles to their members in northern Cauca such as: Purchase guarantees, subsidies for agricultural products and equipment, fertilizer credits, harvest cash advances, QC Lab for sample analysis and training, maintenance and repair facility for agricultural machinery., and a partnership with Banco de Bogota for their members to access bank services.

Cafinorte’s role is key in order to give it’s members a reliable, transparent and fair option when delivering their coffee.

Their mission is to become commercial leaders in the region by promoting the specialty coffees of their producers in the international markets.  They aim to promote sustainable environmental, economic and social prosperity of their members and the coffee community in general.

Cafinorte – Santander de Quilichao coffee is a representative regional coffee of Northern Cauca.  We want to go a step further in our aim to promote regional coffees by giving it full identity of the cooperative and the sub regions it serves.

Cafinorte is located in very special region as it covers rich tapestry of cultures (Black Afrodescendants, Indigenous, Mestizo, Pijaos, Paeces, among others).  Given the demographic composition, the average coffee farm size is less than one hectare.  This increases the need and importance of the cooperative and the FNC presence in the region.  Still these producers are blessed with some of Colombia’s richest soils and microclimates that consistently produce very nice coffees.

Sugarcane decaffeination utilizes a naturally occurring compound, ethyl acetate (EA) to decaffeinate coffee. The EA process is relatively simple. The coffee beans are moistened with water and EA is circulated throughout. The EA binds with the caffeine in the bean and extracts the caffeine while leaving most of the other flavor compounds. After the desired caffeine level is reached, the EA residue on the beans is removed by steaming them.