COFFEE
We’ve partnered with Cofinet to import their Popayàn decaf coffee. Their unique sugar cane decaffeination process preserves the excellent quality of these beans so there is no compromise for a perfect cup without the kick.
Flavour: Maple syrup, fig and cocoa.
Pre-order collections of green coffee beans:
Plymouth, etd end July
Pre-orders delivered by post or available
to collect from our office: etd end July
PRODUCER: Smallholders in Popayán, Colombia
EXPORTER: Cofinet
SAILING CARGO VESSEL: Ide Min
LOADING PORT: Santa Marta. Colombia - May 2024
DELIVERY PORT: Plymouth, UK - June / July 2024
NAUTICAL MILES: over 4,300 nm
Cofinet collaborates with approximately 65 growers who contribute to their program and with whom they build long-term relationships. This program encourages farmers to focus on quality and based on quality assessment, they provide up to 20% premiums above the market price.
Popayán is located in the Cauca department of Colombia, at an altitude of 1,500 - 2,070 meters above sea level. The Meseta de Popayán is sheltered by the Andes Mountains, which helps to create a uniform climate and altitude. This coffee is a mix of Colombia, Castillo and Caturra varieties, which undergo a typical washed process where cherries are floated and sorted before being pulped and washed to remove all the cherry and mucilage. Parchments of coffee are then placed on patios to dry over 20+ days.
After this first washed process, the milled coffee is delivered to Descafecol in Manizales for decaffeination using the sugar cane process. The green coffee beans are put into a steam chamber where their silver skin is removed and submerged in spring water. As soon as the coffee is saturated with water, it is sent to the extractors where the beans have direct contact with ethyl acetate – a natural byproduct created from sugar cane refining – for eight hours, dissolving the caffeine content. After this, the then-decaffeinated coffee is dried in a chamber to reach the same moisture content which it had before the process.
The ethyl acetate can be reused several times before it is sent on for refinement, and the resulting caffeine is then dried and sold to other industries such as pharmaceuticals and energy drinks manufacturers.
This process avoids excessive temperatures seen in other decaffeination processes and leaves a coffee with enhanced sweetness which roasts and tastes much more like the original, caffeinated coffee. The big advantage of this process, outside of the flavour profile, is that it was developed and is completed in Colombia. This allows for progression through the supply chain without the extra costs and shipping miles to decaffeination plants in Mexico, Canada or Germany, and the profits stay within the country of origin.
Score: +84
pre-order and save
To make our prices competitive with the equivalent quality coffee you might find elsewhere, we invite you to pre-order.
By purchasing in advance we guarantee the farmer and the ship a successful voyage. By collecting from the ship, we reduce the need and cost of onward distribution and storage, and by buying larger amounts to last the season, we collectively economise on the volume of packaging. We pass the financial savings of this on to you and it allows us all to shift toward a way of shopping that is in line with the farmers’ and the ship’s seasonal schedules.
collect from the ship
We expect the arrival of the Ide Min to Plymouth toward the end of June. If you have ordered green beans, we invite you to join us for unloading and to meet the ship and crew after their epic transatlantic voyage. Just let us know when you pre-order and we will be in touch with exact collection details closer to the time.
If, for any reason, you cannot make it to the ship we will deliver your green coffee along with any other items ordered by post (UK national delivery only).
meet the roasting room
We are chuffed to be roasting our coffee with the wonderful folks at The Roasting Room. Olly approaches coffee with a contagious passion that extends to his small but mighty team. Exceptional quality is maintained by roasting in small batches on machines he knows intimately.
This commitment to quality and sustainability matches our own, they believe that roasting (like our sail cargo supply chains) is an art and a science.
Interested in regular deliveries of green or roasted coffee for your business? Join our sail cargo movement and get in touch.
We proudly supply the following roasters with green, sail-shipped coffee beans.
