El Carmen Decaf

El Carmen takes it’s name from a community of farmers all living and working near the town of Pitalito which is in the south of Colombia in the Huila region. The association was created by an import company called Raw Material who saw an opportunity to support the local community allowing them access to a wider coffee market than there was before. 

Raw Material buys coffee from over 300 farmers all of whom are processing their coffees on the farm which is very traditional in Colombia. By pooling together small lots which would usually be hard to sell, Raw Material builds larger lots which are easier to export direct to roasters like ourselves.  We are delighted to say that the average farmers connected to El Carmen earns 2.5 times the average income for the area.

This coffee has been decaffeinated using Sugarcane, which is a natural method of processing coffee. The coffee is steamed to increase porosity which allows the caffeine to separate from the bean. It is then submerged in a liquid form of fermented sugar which bonds with the caffeine and then steamed to lift traces of the compound. This process removes around 97% of the caffeine and preserves this coffee’s fantastic flavours.

We would recommend this as a starting point.