Milk chocolate, carob, malted grain, mild raw sugars, and a nice perceived acidity at Medium, while Darker roast will bring out smokey cacao nib, pipe tobacco and mesquite.
This decaf was processed by Swiss Water in Vancouver, Canada. Swiss Water’s patented, chemical-free process uses only water to remove 99.9% of the caffeine from coffee. In our experience with various different decaffeination types, we’ve found theirs to be one of the gentlest, in terms of its effect on the final cup of coffee. Knowing that we’ll still be able to recognize the coffee’s flavors after decaffeination is a big reason we’ve turned to Swiss Water to process the majority of our decafs.
Los Papales is a 200 hectare coffee estate located about 15 minutes outside the main town of Jinotega. The coffee farm has been in the Lopez family for more than 100 years, and is multi-generational to this day. Most of the coffee is grown in more than ample shade, that along with a commitment to water conservation and wastewater management, has earned them certification by the Rain Forest Alliance. The altitude at the farm ranges from 1300 to 1700 meters above sea level.
The scent of the dry fragrance has a mild sweetness of lightly sweetened cocoa powder, with a hint of bread malt. It showed a convincing chocolate smell, sweetness may have some malted grain flavor to it, centered around notes of milk chocolate, carob chips, and a mild raw sugar sweetness. Perhaps most surprising, was the acidity level. Not “bright”, but much more vibrant than so many other decafs.
- Origin: Nicaragua
- Region: Jinotega
- Producer: Los Papales Estate
- Altitude: 1300-1700m
- Cultivar: Caturra, Catuaí
- Grade: SHB
- Processing: Wet processed (Washed)
- Decaf: Swiss Water Process, Vancouver