Description

Grades in Ethiopia are grouped in to four main categories, G1 and G2 being the top two washed grades, and G3 and G4 being the top two natural processed grades. This coffee is washed, with beans removed from the cherry through a de-pulper, before passing through a fermentation phase for 12-36 hours. Once this is finished the cherries are washed in clean water and then dried on traditional raised beds or occasionally patios.

To prepare the beans for caffeine removal, they are cleaned and hydrated with pure, local water, the beans are then introduced to an internally developed Green Coffee Extract (GCE), and caffeine removal begins. Caffeine ventures out on its own, away from the coffee beans into the GCE until the ratio of soluble compounds in the GCE to the compounds in the coffee reach the point of equilibrium. Caffeine and GCE flow continuously through carbon filters until all the caffeine is trapped and separated from the GCE, which is refreshed so that it can be used again and again to remove more caffeine. The process is monitored for around 10 hours and caffeine levels checked as well as time, and gauge temperature controls, until the coffee is 99.9% caffeine free.