PRODUCER
This coffee is produced by Siruma Coffee, a small producer of specialty coffee led by women. Last season, the association started a project to support about 220 families who make a living from coffee cultivation. It provides on-site technical assistance and training courses on harvesting and processing techniques. Each of the families involved produces approximately 17 bags of green coffee beans per year. Thanks to Siruma helping them secure commercial channels through our partner Falcon Coffees, all the farmers were paid 9.5% more for their coffee than the normal local market price.
PROCESSING
First, the coffee is processed using the classic washed method: it is peeled, fermented for 8-12 hours, washed and then dried for 14 days.
The coffee is first steamed at low pressure to remove the skins and then moistened with hot water to swell and soften the beans. This prepares the coffee for ‘caffeine hydrolysis’, where it is washed several times with the natural compound ethyl acetate, a by-product of sugar cane processing, which draws the caffeine out of the beans. Once this process is complete, the coffee is stripped of the ethyl acetate residue using a stream of low-pressure steam and transferred to vacuum drums where it is dried to 10-12 % moisture. It is then rapidly cooled using fans and, in the final step, treated with natural carnauba wax to protect the beans from moisture loss and other external influences.
VARIETY
This coffee contains a blend of local varieties. This is because it comes from small fields of 1 hectare where farmers grow a mixture of coffee trees including Typica, Tabi, Caturra, Castillo and Colombia varieties.