We have changed our decaf from a “Swiss Water” processed one: grown in Colombia and decaffeinated in Canada, to a “Sugarcane” Processed one: Grown AND processed in the Popayan region of Colombia.
It tastes fantastic, still doesn’t use any nasty chemicals, and is far more sustainable both in terms of the environment and ensuring we have a consistent supply.
The beans look a little different and will oil up in a shorter time, but this won’t affect how they taste if used within a month and kept sealed in their bag.
We have always been rather proud of our decaf. The most common comment about our Swiss Water Decaf is that: when ground fresh, it tastes just like a normal coffee.
In 2018 we received a sample of Colombian decaf coffee which used a new decaffeination method called the “sugarcane process”. We did a bit of research, discovering that it is decaffeinated in the same region in which it was grown (called Popayan), and the process uses a naturally occurring compound made from sugarcane, which is also grown in the same place (unlike the Swiss Water coffee, which had to take a rather large detour to Vancouver to have the caffeine removed!), We thought that was a big positive, so we roasted and cupped it with great interest. We were not disappointed with what we tasted! The depth of flavour was incredible and, just like the Swiss Water, tasted just like a caffeinated coffee.
One thing we noticed is that the roasted beans did look a bit odd and took on an oily sheen sooner than other coffees would at that roast level. We talked to a few people who had been using this process for a while and none had found this affected how the coffee aged if it was stored correctly.
After a bit of pondering, we decided to stick with the Swiss Water even though we preferred the Sugarcane, as it wasn’t broke; so didn’t need fixing!
Then the global shipping problems of 2021/22 came along, and we had to scramble to ensure we would have an uninterrupted supply of decaf coffee. Initially we changed from a green bean blend from 4 different countries to a single Colombian bean with the same flavour profile. But it still had to make the journey to Canada to have the caffeine removed before making it’s way here (all that shipping was getting awfully expensive, and the wait times were getting longer).
So, remembering the spectacular coffee from Popayan we’d tasted a few years earlier (the normal, caffeinated version of which had by now replaced our Colombian blend component) we decided that now was the time to make changes, and we’re glad we have because it tastes great!