This special, caffeine-free coffee steers clear of the typical things that give decaf coffee a bad reputation. With a caramel base and a strong apple and citrus notes, this decaf coffee from the El Vergel estate in Tolima, Colombia is full of flavor, so much so that you may not even realize it’s decaffeinated! If you have ever wondered “what’s the point?” when it comes to decaf coffees, the spectacular flavor from this naturally decaffeinated Colombian coffee may turn you into a decaf believer.
Performing well on all brew methods, this coffee excels on regular filter methods, like a drip coffee pot or a manual pour over. In something like a Chemex or V60, you will notice more berry and citrus tastes, while using this coffee in a French Press or as espresso will showcase classic Colombian chocolate notes while retaining that big berry flavor. If you’ve ever wondered what the point of drinking decaf is, grab a bag of Decaf El Vergil Tolima and find out for yourself!
The following coffee benchmarks have been collected with the help of our importing partners and farmers. Firelight Coffee uses this information to understand and verify the sustainability of each coffee prior to purchase. All information was freely shared by our importing partners and/or the coffee farmer or producer. Sustainability scores were determined by Firelight Coffee based on an evolving set of internal scoring methods and are subject to change. Click to expand each section below the graph for more details.
| Organic Farming | |
| Is the coffee certified organic? | No |
| Has soil analysis been done to determine the optimal fertilizer need? | Yes |
| Is the appropriate amount of fertilizer used on the farm? | Yes |
| Has the use of most synthetic fertilizer been reduced on the farm? | No |
| Has the amount of herbicides, specifically Glyphosat, and pesticides been reduced to no more than once per year? | No |
| Is any water treatment done for the water used to process the coffee? | Yes |
| Regenerative Farming | |
| Does the farm have at least 30 shade trees per hectare? | Yes |
| Does the farm have at least 50 shade trees of 3+ types per hectare? | Yes |
| Is there adequate soil coverage on the farm to promote soil protection? | Yes |
| Has irrigation been limited, only being done on top of covered soil? | Yes |
| Has the use of Chloride been limited? | Yes |
| Has the use of Chloride been stopped completely? | No |
| Is there increasing biodiversity in plant and animal life on the farm? Explain | Yes, with the change of crop from avocado to coffee they are seeing new species of birds and plants. |
| Is there succession based biomass present on the farm (e.g. grass cover crops, pioneer trees, climax trees)? | Not enough data |
| Are all defensive and fertilizing inputs used natural and regenerative? | No |
| Is waste properly disposed of on the farm? | No |
| Does the importer have a plan to seek increased environmental efforts at the farm level? | No |
| Environmentally Conscious Transport | |
| How far was this coffee transported via container ship? | 2378mi / 2066nm |
| How far was this coffee transported via land/truck? | ~810 miles |
| Buying Strategy | |
| Is the coffee price set according to the C-Market? | No, the importer tyipcally prices this coffee by calculating the cost of production and operations plus a healthy margin. |
| Does the importer pay producers directly or through a cooperative or other third party? | N/A (farm owned by the importer) |
| What is the FOB Price? | $3.77 USD |
| Fair Price for Labor | |
| Is the FOB price in line with the Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide? | Yes |
| Does farmgate (amount paid to the farmer) cover the cost of production? | Yes |
| Does farmgate provide a living wage above cost of production? | Yes |
| Working Conditions | |
| Is the farm fair trade certified? | No |
| Do you have an assessment of the risk of child labour, forced labour and human trafficking in your region? | Yes |
| Do you have an assessment of the risks of discrimination, workplace violence and harassment, including sexual and gender-based violence in your region? | Yes |
| Do you have policies and procedures in place for identifying, mitigating, preventing, monitoring and remediating child labour, forced labour, human trafficking, discrimination and workplace violence and harassment, including sexual and gender-based violence? | Yes |
| Philanthropy | |
| Does the importer have a plan to partner with the producer to increase gender equity in this growing region? | Yes |
| Does the importer have a plan to partner with the producer to increase local education opportunities? | Yes. The importer has brought internet connectivity to the region where the primary farm is located (Piedra Grande Trail, Fresno, Tolima). They plan to do the same in the Gaitania region where several farmers reside. They also have a focus in educating farmers on better farming and processing techniques. |
| Does the importer have a plan to partner with the producer to alleviate extreme poverty in the region? | No |
| Does the importer have a plan to partner with the producer to increase access to sustainable energy? | No |
| Does the importer have a plan to partner with the producer to build, maintain, or increase access to local infrastructure? | Yes, by providing access to a wet and dry mill to their partner farmers. |
| Does the importer have a plan to partner with the producer to increase access to clean water and/or nutritious food? | Yes, they encourage their farmers to plant a variety of crops such as plantains, citrus fruits, soursop, avocado and other native plants so that they are able to depend not only on coffee as a cash crop but to have different sources revenue and consistent access to fresh, nutritious food. |
| Does the importer have a plan to partner with the producer to support the local economy through job creation &/or infrastructure maintenance? | No |
Technical Details:
A note on the decaffeination process:
This coffee is naturally decaffeinated using a Sugarcane Ethyl-Acetate Decaffeination process. You may be thinking that that doesn’t sound very natural, but the process is as natural as they come. Colombia has a lot of sugarcane fields. The molasses from sugarcane can be combined with alcohol to create Ethyl Acetate, this can then be mixed with water and the coffee (after being steamed for a short period of time) can be soaked in the mixture to remove 97% of the caffeine. The coffee is then washed well, and dried slowly. The result is a naturally processed caffeine free coffee!
The biggest benefit of this process is that it can be done locally in Colombia (and other countries with access to raw sugarcane products). All the inputs are naturally derived and the whole process has minimal effect on the taste of the coffee. So, if you have excellent coffee being processed the taste profile will remain excellent.
