Decaf Colombia Huila

A woman rehearses the steps of the San Juan dance around a coffee plantation in Huila at sunset. The colors of the sky imitate those of her skirt, the authentic Sanjuanero skirt, thick, agile, a majestic dress. The dancer holds the skirt with each hand at the ends, raising it up to simulate a crescent. In this beautiful image, all the details of the complexity of the costume can be appreciated: yellow, blue and red velvet flowers, white petticoats, delicate golden embroideries and precise acrylic brushstrokes. The figure of the dancer and her agile movements capture the attention of the curious people who walk around the area. Little by little they surround the improvised show to enjoy the dance until the evening.

This coffee has been treated in the beneficio of Descafecol where it has followed a process to eliminate 97% of caffeine with fresh water and ethyl acetate, which is extracted from sugar cane naturally. To get an idea, a ripe banana has 20 times more ethyl acetate than this decaffeinated coffee and the residues are minimal.

During the process, the beans are steamed at a low temperature and the beans are moistened in hot water to start the hydrolysis of the caffeine.

After washing the beans in ethyl acetate in the extraction machines several times, it is possible to eliminate almost 100% of the caffeine. The coffee is then washed with fresh water to remove any traces of ethyl acetate, and allowed to dry in vacuum drums.