About Planadas Decaf and the process behind
Our Planadas Tolima is a sugar cane decaffeinated coffee. After being fully washed and dried, the caffeine is reduced through a natural process.
The coffee beans first undergo steaming at low pressures to remove the silver skins. They are 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 moistened coffee is washed several times with ethyl-acetate solvent (EA).
In the case of sugar-cane decaf, the ethyl acetate is naturally obtained from the fermentation of sugar cane grown in Colombia and not from chemical synthesis. Once the caffeine is reduced to the desired level, the beans are cleaned to remove the remaining EA and dried to between 10–12%.