Pocos De Caldas, Brazil - DECAF

The rolling hills and flat landscapes of Minas Gerais, Brazil, make it an ideal region for coffee production. Poços de Caldas, perched on the rim of an extinct volcano, benefits from mineral-rich volcanic soil and high altitudes - conditions that have supported coffee farming since the 1860s. While machine harvesting is common in Brazil due to the terrain, handpicking still plays a role in this region. In the 1990s, producers began focusing more on quality, refining cultivation and processing methods. Mercanta's exporting partner, Bourbon Specialty, has worked with over 100 local producers since 2000, helping them improve processing and gain better market access. Most coffee here is naturally processed, including this lot, which was dried on patios at the farm before being hulled and prepared for export.

This particular decaf lot underwent the Ethyl Acetate (EA) process, also known as the Sugarcane or Natural Decaf method, at the Coffein Compagnie in Bremen. Using EA derived from fermented sugarcane, the beans are steamed to remove the silver skin, then moistened to allow caffeine separation. Repeated washings with EA extract around 97% of the caffeine, all while preserving flavour and structure. The beans are then steamed again to remove residual EA and vacuum-dried to their original moisture level. The result is a carefully crafted decaf coffee that maintains the character and quality of its naturally processed origin.