Does anyone know of an source for greens decaffeinated with the so-called "natural" decaffeination (ethyl acetate) process?

I've always been impressed with Heart Coffee's decaf offerings, and I finally got around to asking a barista if he knew anything about why they tasted so good. He claimed it's because they only source beans decaffeinated with ethyl acetate.

I can't verify that this is the reason behind their quality decaf, but I do know it's always leaps and bounds above any other decaf I've ever had, and it could easily be mistaken for "regular" coffee. So where can I get some?

Thanks,

Frank

I've never knowingly had EA (Ethyl Acetate) processed decaf, but I've enjoyed MC (Methylene Chloride) decaf, usually picking these up from the occasional offerings on the Green Coffee Buying Club. I see that Cafe Imports offers limited Sugarcane E.A. (Ethyl Acetate), currently a Colombia, maybe you could find someone to split a bag or search on sugar-cane... I see that Klatch offered some EA processed Colombia decaf in the past, they may again in the future.

Sweet Maria's extensive library has a page on decaf processes: https://www.sweetmarias.com/health.eco.html

Thanks Chris -- saw SM's article, and then saw that they only had water process decaf in stock. I'll have to read up on MC decaf as well.

Part of me will take some sick satisfaction in drinking something that sounds like it will definitely kill me. I'm generally very health-conscious and make an active effort to buy food from local farms, etc, but from what I can tell these chemical processes sound worse than they are. Who knows...I'm willing to make an exception for good coffee!

PS, Looks like David from Bodka Coffee just PM'd me on splitting a bag, so good suggestion!

Frank

You'll want to pick up only as much as you can use in a reasonable amount of time, as decaf green coffee is said to degrade faster than other green coffee because of the processing. I'm a bad example of this, I have far to many greens to roast in a reasonable amount of time and have been forcing myself to roast up what I have rather than buying new greens, with rare exceptions like some of this year's coffee from Yemen.

I have a small chest freezer that's generally between -25 and -35 celsius, and so far everything I roast tastes the same as it did when it first arrived, but the longest I've gone is 8 months or so. Ask me again in 2 years though

Now that I re-read the SM article you posted I'm intrigued by the MC process decaf as well. I'll have to see if I can find a local roaster who's using it.

Frank

Check out Artisan Coffee Imports. Decaf is their specialty.

The MC processed decaf tastes pretty good. See if you can find a source to try it, it seems to be easier to find in green coffee.

I did check out Artisan Coffee Imports when I was searching for decaf greens, but it looks like they're signing up roasters for quarterly green coffee decaf deliveries. I didn't see any current offerings.

Wow, thanks for all the great info on decaf guys! Now that I'm using an HG one it's so much more convenient to have a decaf in the evening than it was with the K10 Fresh.

Now if they'd only finally get around to making some of those naturally low-caffeine cultivars commercially viable I'd really be set (unless this has happened already and I've missed it).

Frank

I think you are only going to find this in Colombian offerings, since that is where the plant that does this is located. I was buying Los Idolos AA EA decaf as a direct trade offer and got the full scoop on the process. I felt the coffee was a bit more fragile than other processes. Not sure if it is a plus or a minus, but the process adds a banana like sweetness to the coffee.

Cafe Imports has an EA offering at the moment: http://www.cafeimports.com/beanology/vi ... ne-ea-2272

dogjamboree wrote:I've always been impressed with Heart Coffee's decaf offerings, and I finally got around to asking a barista if he knew anything about why they tasted so good. He claimed it's because they only source beans decaffeinated with ethyl acetate.

Have you inquired with Heart about whether they'd sell you some green decaf beans? Some roasters are happy to do this. And since you like their decaf you'll probably like it when you roast it. Plus you would have the benefit of comparing their roast to yours as a learning experience.

I drink quite a bit of decaf as I blend it (post-roast) with caffeinated for my regular use. I'd like to try some ethyl acetate decaf, so please keep us posted on what you find.

Cheers,
Ken