Last year we featured an Ethiopian Decaf coffee called Halo as part of our Education Lot menu and were excited by the overwhelmingly positive response to the availability of a second decaf option in addition to our year-round Colombian Los Sueños Decaf offering. It was with that in mind that we decided to seek out a similar option this year and worked with our import partners at Osito to bring in this delicious Swiss Water Processed Decaf option from the Tokuma farmers group in Agaro.

Last year’s Halo Decaf, as well as our foundational Los Suenos Decaf lot, is decaffeinated with what’s called an EA or Ethyl Acetate method. This decaffeination process has gained popularity in the specialty coffee industry in recent years, in part because the EA decaffeination process often takes place closer to the coffee's country of origin, namely Colombia, reducing the distance a fresh harvest needs to travel. Ethyl Acetate processing is also prized for its ability to maintain a high level of the original character of a coffee, which can often be lost as a result of any decaffeination process. The Swiss Water Process, applied to this coffee, is another common decaffeination method and is similar in approach to the Ethyl Acetate method. Both processes begin by steaming the green coffee to expand the cell structure of the coffee seed to prepare it for caffeine extraction. Where the processes differ is in the next step. In the EA method, the prepared green coffee is steeped in a solution of Ethyl Acetate (a byproduct of fermenting sugarcane) which attracts and thereby removes the caffeine molecules from the coffee. Swiss Water Process, in contrast, soaks the prepared coffee beans in fresh water that has been infused with a small amount of caffeine, in other words, a 'caffeine-lean' solution. By doing so, the Swiss Water method leverages the process of diffusion, whereby the caffeine molecules will naturally move from the area of high caffeine concentration (the coffee bean itself) to the immediately surrounding area of lower caffeine concentration (the caffeine lean solution). The result of this diffusion process is decaffeinated coffee beans and a resulting caffeine-rich solution, from which the coffee beans can be removed, rinsed, and dried back to their original moisture content. Similar to what we find with the EA method, this Swiss Water lot is a great example of the process's ability to maintain origin character, and we’re delighted to once again be offering an experience for decaf drinkers that doesn’t compromise on quality or complexity flavor.