THE STORY BEHIND

This coffee comes from the municipality of Argelia, which is situated in the south west of the department of Cauca. Cauca is the fourth largest producer of specialty coffee in Colombia with around 90,000 smallholder farmers who produce a mix of varieties – Typica, Tabi, Caturra, Castillo and Colombia – on holdings of approximately 1ha. In addition to producing coffee, they grow small amounts of food, including bananas, avocado and oranges for consumption or trade.

The Argelia municipality is located in an area that has been plagued by the civil unrest and illegal drug trade for many years. This is still a pertinent problem for the families living here and many of them are looking to make a living through legal channels and to support their families and communities.

In 2020, Siruma Coffee, a small specialty female led exporter, launched a project in Argelia for an initial period of 15 months until early 2022. The funding came from USAID to support five small associations incorporating about 220 families that grow coffee to make a living.

Siruma has been providing technical assistance off the ground with their agronomist holding educational sessions on pre- and post-harvest techniques for the families that wish to join. The producers are also being trained in sensory analysis of the coffees and of the impact of processing on its quality. Baseline data was gathered from the producers who each produce approximately 17 bags of green exportable coffee annually.

THE FERMENTATION PROCESS

During harvest, the farmers pick ripe cherry with their family: this is done every week as the coffee ripens at varying stages even on such small plots. Once picked, the cherry are washed and floated. They are subsequently pulped and left to ferment overnight for 12-18 hours. Wet parchment is then floated and immature cherries are removed before being dried for 8-14 days in parabolic tents or on covered roof patios.

The coffee is then taken to the association, where it is stored, and the producers receive the initial payment for their coffees. 
Next, the coffee is assessed by the Siruma team who certify that all the coffees purchased meet the quality specifications.

THE SUGAR CANE DECAF PROCESS

The coffee first undergoes steaming at low pressures to remove the silverskins. It is then moistened with hot water to allow the beans to swell and soften. This step prepares the coffee for the hydrolysis of caffeine, which is attached to the salts of the chlorogenic acid within the coffee.

The extractors, that are naturally obtained from the fermentation of sugar cane and not from chemical synthesis, are then filled with moistened coffee, which is washed several times with the natural ethyl acetate solvent, to reduce the caffeine down to the desired levels. Once this process is finished, the coffee must be cleaned of the remaining ethyl acetate through a flow of low pressured saturated steam, before moving onto the final steps. The coffee is then sent to vacuum drying drums, where the water previously used to moisten the beans is removed and the coffee is dried to reach the level of humidity between 10-12%.

Once dried to the desired level, the coffee is cooled quickly to ambient temperature using fans before the final step – the application of carnauba wax to polish and provide the coffee with protection against environmental conditions and to help provide stability. Finally, the coffee is then packed into 35 kg bags ready for export.