New Green Decafs - Burundi Feature

Burundi farmers near the Buhorwa washing station

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Sept. 27, 2012 - BURUNDI DECAF

Smart roasters know -- great decaf green coffees are fresh decaf green coffees. Be sure to get yours by contacting Artisan Coffee Imports or other importers we know are offering fully transparent decaf coffee: Crop to Cup, Caravela and Invalsa Coffee, for example.

Available now through Artisan Coffee are decaf Colombia (AA) and  decaf Burundi. Both offer great taste and exceptional transparency. And knowledge about a decaf coffee's origins (all the way to the cooperative level) is exceptionally difficult to find.

Unloading Burundi coffee at Continental in NJ

The Burundi decaf coffee is from the Buhorwa washing station, which includes cooperatives like Bukeye. It landed in the U.S.(NJ) in April (imported by Crop to Cup) and was decaffeinated on July 4 (truly! Independence Day in the US, but not in Canada where it was decaffeinated!)

In the cup:
Aroma is chocolatey with raisins.  Flavor hits you full on with the nuttiness and toasted bread taste, with a bit of sweet berry jam thrown in. Acidity is acceptable for a decaf -- won't blow you away. (At least it's there for NOW, because it's fresh. Don't wait 6 months, or even 2 months to buy this folks.) What I like best -- no metallic aftertaste.

Decaf Process:
Decaffeination was done at Qusac near Montreal, Quebec. This eco-friendly decaffeination process offers the DFE (Designed For the Environment) process, which uses solvents in the most sustainable ways possible.

photo credit this blog entry: Crop To Cup

SCAA Houston - Day 4 - Single Origin Decaf Cupping

May 1: This was the big day - Artisan Coffee Imports first cupping at an SCAA event took place starting 9:15am. About 15 cuppers came! I was worried a Sunday morning event would be too tough for anyone to get to. The amount of prep work was more than I anticipated, so many thanks go to Jose Ramirez of Farmer Brothers and Robert Athay of Theta Ridge for their help and support.

The cupping featured 9 decaf coffees, two of which were on sale by Artisan Coffee Imports:

• decaf Kenya AA, Meru-Riankune (precision or MC decaffeination process)
• decaf Colombian AA, El Meridiano, Tolima-Herrera region, ASOCEAS coop, (ethyl acetate - EA - process)

The other coffees on the table were:

• decaf Kenya CO2 process
• decaf Kenya SWP
• decaf Colombia traditional (MC) process
• decaf Colombia SWP
• decaf organic Peru CO2 process
• decaf organic Peru SWP
• decaf organic Sumatra SWP

Cuppers at the session included Stumptown, Ritual, Equator, Invalsa, Swing Coffee, Wawa, Coffee Express, Crop to Cup, Caravela, Just Go in Taiwan and GEPA - Fair Trade Company in Germany.

Guest cupper, Ben Kaminsky of Ritual Roasters, cupped our triangulations -- he correctly picked out the decaf 3 out of 4 times! The trays were Kenyans, Colombians, Perus and Sumatras. The Sumatra was the one he missed. He said the Kenyan was the next one where it was almost too close to tell.

Near the end of the cupping, Justin Archer of Ecom/Sangana/SMS gave some comments on the challenges farmers are facing in Kenya. Frederick Kariithi, Chairman of the Rung'eto Coop in the Kirinyanga region of Kenya, also added some insights. They mentioned the struggle in Kenya to raise production which has fallen steeply in the last decade. Kenya used to produce 120,000 metric tonnes, and last year was down to only 35,000 -- next year 2011/2012, might get back to 50,000 m. tonnes. Poor weather, climate change and aging farmers are a few of the culprits mentioned.

New decaf Colombian AA to be featured at SCAA

A tasty new decaf from Colombia has landed in Oakland, CA! Get yours by contacting Artisan Coffee Imports (734-717-6278). Processed using the ethyl acetate "natural" decaffeination method (at the Descafecol plant in Colombia) this coffee has lemony sweetness, brings a fresh, crisp aftertaste, very nice acidity, clean and has a viscous body. A surprisingly tasty cup.

What's great is the transparency through to the cooperative level. The coffee is called "El Meridiano", a brand name of the ASOCEAS association of 58 small coffee growers in Herrera, a department of Tolima, Colombia. To really drill down to the location, look up the town of Rioblanco -- that's the small mountain town closest to most of the farms. I've uploaded a photo of Einar Ortiz, one of the farmers in this cooperative.

Varieties of coffee in this lot: Caturra (70%), Colombia (20%) and Typica (10%)
Fully washed in micro-mills at each farm
Sun-dried at each farm in green-house and roof type drying patios
Grown with 40% shade cover
Preparation: Excelso European Prep (EP) (Screen 15+)
Specialty Grade

Going to the SCAA Event in Houston? Cup this coffee and other decafs at the "Single Origin Decaf Cupping" being hosted by Artisan Coffee Imports on Sunday, May 1, 9:15- 10:15am in the Activities Hall (of the G.R. Brown Convention Center), The Cupping Exchange, Room A.