Pink Bourbon Decaf
Impressions: orange, dark chocolate, nougat, baking spices
Roast degree: light medium (2.5/5)
Country: Colombia
Department: Multiple
Variety: Pink bourbon, colombia, caturra
Process: washed
Decaffeination: EA process
Farmers: Multiple
Partner importer: Azahar
After years of buying spot lots of decaf from Colombia (mostly due to lots changing all the time), we think we might have finally found a solid and steady relationship via Azahar Coffee.
In order to offer a decaf that is mostly from the prized pink bourbon variety, they have to consolidate lots with multiple farmers over many departments in Colombia.
This coffee doesn't disappoint. And that is an understatement.
Of the dozens and dozens of coffees David tasted this year, this is one of his favourite. Not favourite for a decaf. FAVOURITE. Period. And the rest of the crew agrees.
You can also find this coffee in our light halfcaf Zen Blend and if you are looking for slightly darker decaf easier to dial in as an espresso, check out our staple Mexican decaf!
How many times did we say people get it wrong when it comes decaf? Many. We've always had tasty decaf on the menu: the Amatenango Mexican Decaf has been a staple for years, but it's a bit more developed to make it easier to extract as an espresso.
This Colombian Pink Bourbon is a light coffee aimed specifically to excel as a filter brew. It's a coffee that is so damn good that it won't even bother you, unless you are really tired, that is caffeine free.
This coffee is bright and balanced, with orange and orange peel notes.
The dark chocolate and nougat makes the coffee rich and deep, with an amazing mouthfeel.
The baking spices round it up for amazing complexity.
You can also brew this as an espresso of course, but we recommend a fine grind setting and a longer extraction time, especially with milk.
A fast shot will be super tasty as an americano though!
And we recommend to grind either a bit coarser and use a higher ratio compared to your regular light roasts when it comes to conical pourover brewers.
| Method | Dose | Ratio | Time |
| Espresso | 18 g | 2.2:1 | 32-36 sec |
| Espresso with milk | 18g | 2.1:1 | 36-40 sec |
| Americano | 18 g | 2.4:1 | 30-34 sec |
|
V60/Origami |
23 g | 16:1 | 3:30-4:15 min |
|
Chemex & Batch Brew |
40-60 g | 16:1 | 5:00-5:45 min |
|
French Press |
18-25 g | 15.5:1 | 3:30 min steep time |
Importer: Azahar
Price we paid Azahar : 14CAD/kg
+0.83CAD/kg for the financing cost
+0.94CAD/kg for shipping
Farmgate price: Azahar paid Jelber 3,100,000 COP per carga (125kg of parchment). The average in the region was 2,200,000COP, so Azahar paid roughly 40% above market price.
A buyer's guide?
Why did Azahar paid so much above market price for this coffee? This question can be answered with the hard work they put in the Sustainable Coffee Buyer's Guide.
Instead of following the C price (worldwide price) or a generic market or local price often dictated by the C Price, they went above and beyond and created a whole new way of paying farmers in a meaningful way.
They do the hard work on figuring out living condition and cost or production in each region where they work in Colombia (and Mexico).
There are 4 tiers in the guide:
- poverty wage: the price paid for a coffee that would leave farmers living in poverty in that region
- legal wage: farmers paid according to the minimum salary imposed by the government (often not respected in rural jobs)
- living wage: a wage that allows the farmers to live well with all his family while also paying farm workers a living wage
- prosperous wage: this is the same as the living income but with an extra 20% paid to the farmers family + another 20% paid for reinvestment in the farm
This coffee was paid according to the Prosperous category guidelines.