Ethiopia and Colombia: Peace Blend - CO2 DECAF | The Coffee Quest

Ethiopia and Colombia: Peace Blend - CO2 DECAF

Decaffeinating can be done in many ways. All concern a full immersion in a bath of some sort of liquid. Here are the four main options.

Di-Chloride methane (DCM)
Ethyl Acetate (E.A.) – also called sugar cane technique
Swiss water
Liquid CO2

Di-Chloride methane (DCM) is a well-scalable technique. This means DCM is usually for decaffeinating large batches of commercial grade coffee. E.A., also called Sugar Cane DECAF, is what we use for our Colombian El Dragon DECAF. Swiss Water uses warm water in a process of extraction and carbon filtering. But this lot has been processed using the CO2 method.

Processing

Liquid Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is the technique that The Coffee Quest has decided to use. Carbonized water is extracted from wells in the south of Germany. This water is naturally carbonized by being in contact with carbonated minerals for thousands of years. The water is being pressed down by limestone or dolomite, pressurizing it and adding carbonite to the water. You can easily find this water in the supermarket, for example: Perrier or Bru.

The water is pumped up to the surface and kept under pressure. The CO2 is separated from the water and by keeping it pressurised the CO2 remains liquid. This liquid CO2 is the bath in which the green beans will be decaffeinated. Unlike water, liquid CO2 is a very bad solvent, which now comes in handy. Only caffeine is extracted from beans while other compounds remain.

The liquid circulates past the beans picking up all the caffeine, moving towards a tank at the end of the process, where the saturated CO2 drops off the caffeine and the CO2 is reintroduced to the beans. This process is repeated until there is less than 0,08% of caffeine in the beans. The caffeine will be extracted from the system by dissolving it in water. This by-product is perfect to use as a natural additive for sodas or natural energy drinks.

Lot information

This lot is a blend from 3 different coffees:

CL24027D: Colombia Las Perlitas Pink Bourbon, Washed
ET24008: Ethiopia Iron Lion, Natural
ET24003: Ethiopia Rumudamo, Washed

You can find the specifications on these coffees on our pricelist, and the profiles are in the links under the SKU’s

The Peace innitiative!

With this Peace Blend, we want to draw attention to the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine. It’s heartbreaking how conflicts and politics can lead to such violence. While some wounds may seem too deep to heal, the children hold the hope for a better future. We wish for today’s children to grow into compassionate adults who can break the cycle of conflict. This is especially challenging for those growing up amid war unable to attend school, facing hunger, and losing their families. Through this Peace Blend, we support humanitarian efforts helping children affected by these crises. For every roughly 3000kg of coffee sold, we donate €1,000. We invite you to join us in making a difference. Help the children they are innocent in all of this.

We are going to chose a final cause and make the donation before Christmas.

Coffee With Added Value

At The Coffee Quest, transparency is key—If you have any questions regarding our coffees, do not hesitate to reach out! We also encourage you to review our Impact Report for an in-depth look at our sustainable sourcing practices and projects.