The May issue of Coffee & Cocoa International came out today with our column on the decaf option in Vietnam. (Page 44 - 45.)
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| Pg. 44 - 45 in the May 2016 issue of Coffee & Coca International |
Decaffeination Option
in Vietnam
By
Ruth Ann Church, Artisan Coffee Imports
Through
a chance meeting with Will Frith (www.willfrith.com)
at Roasters Guild retreat in August 2015, I learned about a new option in Asia
for decaffeination. Thanks to Will’s travels and explorations in coffee in
Vietnam, he was able to easily introduce me to a relatively new player in the
decaffeination world: Hiang Kie Industries
Limited (HKI). HKI began operations in 2007 and was the first decaffeination
plant set up in the Long Thanh Industrial Zone in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam, (about
an hour drive from Ho Chi Minh City). They process using methylene chloride (MC)
for a solvent.
The
company runs two decaffeination plants, one can handle smaller batches than the
other. They process beans from all coffee regions: South America, Africa and
Asia. The minimum batch size is 2.5 MT, or about 5,500 lbs., which is about 42x
60kg bags. What intrigued me about their service is their transparency. With
relatively little effort, their sales representative answered my questions
about process details and costs. It is a “direct” MC process, meaning the beans
soak in the solvent, and then the solvent, with the caffeine, is removed. Of
the different MC processes, this one has always been my favorite. It seems the
simplest and “cleaner” than the indirect process. It seems to offer the best
chance that original coffee bean is left intact as much as possible.
Hiang
Kie offers two types of dryers. A drum dryer takes about eight hours to dry the
coffee and a vacuum dryer takes about three hours. Total processing time about
is about 14 to 16 hours depending on the type of beans.
I
was eager, so Dinesh Bhojwani, Hiang Kie’ sales representative, arranged to send me three
samples: a Colombian, a Brazilian and a Vietnamese Arabica. All were
decaffeinated at Hiang Kie and they all cupped quite well. I admit I was
surprised, having lived my entire “coffee life” believing Vietnam can only
produce low-quality robustas. The Colombia was my favorite. It retained a lot
of its acidity and fruity notes. The Brazil had typical earthiness and body of
a Brazil natural. The Vietnamese Arabica had brilliant aroma with sweet cherry
and dark chocolate. Admittedly, much of this amazing aroma was tempered in the
brewed cup. But this decaf Vietnam still had smooth body and minimal bitterness
in the aftertaste. So if you’ve been wondering whether to try decaffeination in
Asia, HKI would certainly be worth considering.
Ruth Ann Church is President of
Artisan Coffee Imports (www.ArtisanCoffeeImports.com), an importer and trader of
specialty green decaffeinated coffee. She can be reached at rachurch@artisancoffeeimports.com.
Artisan is now offering consulting at origin for work related to sustainability
and impact assessment. Ruth Ann has advanced IDP training and is Q Grader (in
the process of re-calibration). She is currently studying for a second master’s
degree focused on the coffee value chain and sustainability at Michigan State
University. http://artisancoffeeimports.com/about/
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