Misak Decaf
Type-Colombia/Excelso
Process-Sun dried
Region-Cauca
Grown-2000-2200 Metres above sea level
Who grows it? The Misak community 
Tasting Notes-Caramel- honeycomb - Dark chocolate
Scored at-85 points
 
The Misak or Guambianos are an indigenous community based in the Cauca region of Colombia. Their culture is strongly connected with mother nature and traditional practices.
The land is owned by the community and the coffee is hand picked by the entire group as a social commitment to one another.
The coffee is processed at the local washing station and then sun dried.
This really is an outstanding decaf and mustn't be missed!
As you know, the chemical caffeine is naturally found in the coffee bean, like in cocoa beans and in certain teas. To decaffeinate coffee, the caffeine must be physically removed from the beans. Caffeine is water soluble, so this is done in various methods of soaking coffee beans in water and a solvent that will separate the caffeine from the beans. The most difficult challenge is trying to remove the caffeine while preserving the rich, natural flavors of the coffee itself. Traditional decaffeinating processes used the water solvent method with the addition of heat or pressure. Adding too much heat or pressure forces the beans to swell to a great extent and may radically disrupt a green bean’s cellular structure, which ultimately degrades the final taste.
The Sugar Cane Process, which originates in Colombia where sugar cane grows in abundance, avoids disrupting the bean’s cellular structure and even enhances sweetness of the final cup! To begin, fermented molasses derived from sugar cane is used to make ethanol. The alcohol ethanol is mixed with a natural acetic acid, to create the solvent ethyl acetate (E.A.). E.A. is also prominent in wine, beer, fruit, and vegetables. The coffee beans are soaked in water, which increases the bean moisture content and releases caffeine from the structure. After soaking for a sufficient period of time, the beans undergo an E.A. wash, which dissolves the caffeine. Finally, the beans are cleaned with water again, exposed to steam briefly to clean the inner portions of the bean, and then dried to the original moisture level. This process removes roughly 97% of the caffeine content. Due to the fermented molasses from the sugar cane, the Sugar Cane Process creates beans with a pleasant, clean, and sweet flavor!