Decaffeinated Mexican BCT Select – Southern Production – MWP

Burman Coffee Traders

Details

Process

Washed, Mountain Water

Roast Suitability

Description

This Mexican decaf green coffee starts out as the BCT Southern, a regional lot that gathers washed coffees from smallholder farms across Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas. It grows between 1,000 and 1,800 masl on a traditional base of Bourbon, Typica and Mundo Novo, and the harvest runs from November into March. Most of these growers work 1 to 5 hectares, so what you get is a regional average rather than a single estate: mild, clean and predictable, which is what a decaf has to be if it is going to behave the same way every time. The caffeine comes out at Descamex (MWP), the plant in Córdoba, Veracruz that was the first decaffeinator in Latin America and that patented the method known today as Mountain Water Process in 1987. The seeds are soaked in water that pulls out the caffeine along with the soluble flavor compounds, that water runs through a filter that traps only the caffeine molecules, and the solution goes back to the coffee so the seeds reabsorb their own flavor. Descamex puts extraction above 97 percent. The lot is dried a second time before export, and that extra pass through water and heat is why decaf arrives browner and more fragile than regular green coffee. Tasting Notes: Best around a medium roast. This is a low acidity, chocolate leaning decaf with some hints of nuttiness. At light roasts you get a sweeter edge, just a hint of mild brightness, a bit of nutty/herbal and more delicate features, the body stays thin and the chocolate has not arrived yet. Medium roasts are where it fills out: much more chocolaty with nutty overtones, a more rounded body with just enough acidity to keep it from going flat. Medium dark to dark turns creamy, with semisweet baking chocolate in the lead with a complimenting roasty note as you approach second crack. Holds up nice with milk at darker roasts, also a good decaf espresso base. Roasting Notes: Fairly easy to roast but a bit different from caffeinated. The beans are already brown in the bag, so color will be a bit dece