Condor Decaf

So this coffee was pretty interesting. EA Decaf usually has a pretty signature taste. I’ve noticed it consistently across all the decaf I’ve gotten from a variety of roaster from Monogram, Rogue Wave, Found, etc. This… This one did not have that flavor to be honest. When I brewed it, it was incredibly soft and sweet. There wasn’t crazy acidity of funkiness, but just overall pleasantness. I will say, there was a bit of acridity that I attribute to the fact that I brewed at a bit too high of a temperature (RW recommends 88c, I did 92). But overall still really good. I don’t think anything can beat that one decaf I had from El Paraiso, but this definitely was very enjoyable.

From the Roaster

The Bayter family has been farming at El Vergel Estate since 1995, starting with avocado as their primary crop. When avocado prices fell in 2006, they began integrating coffee into the operation, adding catimor, red caturra, and yellow caturra. In 2016, with guidance from Miguel Jimenez, they transitioned to specialty coffee varieties, and by 2018 had adopted natural processing with a focus on fermentation control, including their Koji fermentation process. In 2017, Martha Montenegro, Elías, and Shady Bayter set out to find new ways to add value to their coffees and connect more directly with international buyers, leading to the founding of Forest Coffee in 2019. Today, Forest Coffee spans a network of 250 coffee-growing families across four projects in Colombia, built around processing innovation, education, and direct trade.

This lot is a washed EA decaf. The process begins with fermentation to develop the coffee’s flavor profile, followed by caffeine extraction using circular containers filled with a blend of water and ethyl acetate (EA). EA bonds with the caffeine and extracts it while preserving flavor compounds, bringing caffeine levels to 0.1%.