Decaf (EA) Sugar Cane - Green Coffee

About The Sugar Cane (Ethyl Acetate) Decaf Process

The Sugar Cane (Ethyl Acetate) Decaffeination process begins with gently steaming the coffee beans at low pressure to remove their silvery skins.

The beans are then moistened with hot water, causing them to swell and soften. This step initiates the hydrolysis of caffeine, which is bound to the chlorogenic acid salts inside the beans. This is known as the preprocessing step.

Next, the beans are placed in extractors filled with humidified coffee. Caffeine removal is carried out by thoroughly washing the beans with a recirculating natural solvent, ethyl acetate (EA). This process is repeated several times to ensure the removal of at least 97% of the caffeine content, a step referred to as extraction.

After the caffeine extraction, any remaining ethyl acetate is eliminated by passing low-pressure, saturated steam through the coffee beans. This final step ensures that almost all residual traces of ethyl acetate are removed, leaving no more than 5 parts per million (ppm) of EA in the green coffee beans.

The beans are then sent to vacuum drying drums to remove the excess moisture added during the humidification process. This step ensures the final humidity content is between 10% and 12%. The coffee is then quickly cooled to room temperature using fans to preserve freshness.

Finally, the decaffeinated coffee beans are polished with carnauba wax to enhance their appearance and offer an added layer of protection to the beans.

Additional Information

• Region : South America
• Specie : Arabica