Rinaldos Coffee - Organic Decaf - Brazil: Fazenda Londrina - Sparkling Water Process

From Rin:

Fazenda Londrina is one of four farms owned by the Naimeg group, a family business which was headed up by the late founder Gerson Naimeg. Gerson, the son of a German settler and Brazilian mother, established his first farm in 1965 when he bought a small plot of land in Uba located in northern Paraná. Like many others, he and his family moved to the Cerrado to avoid the annual threat of frost and now they have four farms in the region. Fazenda Londrina is around 394 hectares in size with 200 hectares set aside for coffee and is located near the city of Patos de Minas, at an altitude of approximately 1160 meters above sea level. The farm successfully grows varietals of Catuai, Icatu and Acaia on the local clay loam soils and harvesting is mechanical thanks to the flat lay of the land. Fazenda Londrina has won awards in national espresso competitions in recognition of its good character in the cup.

In line with Brazilian law, 20% of the land at Fazenda Londrina is given over to a nature reserve where indigenous plants provide a habitat for wildlife. This coupled with the social standards which have been established for the people that work the land, has led to Rainforest Alliance certification for the farm.

SPARKLING WATER DECAFFEINATION PROCESS

This process was first discovered by a scientist called Kurt Zosel at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in 1967 as he was looking at new ways of separating mixtures of substances. In 1988, a German decaffeination company called CR3 developed this process for decaffeination whereby natural carbon dioxide (which comes from prehistoric underground lakes) is combined with water to create ‘sub-critical’ conditions which creates a highly solvent substance for caffeine in coffee. It is a gentle, natural and organically certified process and the good caffeine selectivity of the carbon dioxide guarantees a high retention level of other coffee components which contribute to taste and aroma.

The process is outlined below:

1. The green beans enter a ‘pre-treatment’ vessel where they are cleaned and moistened with water before being brought into contact with pressurised liquid carbon dioxide. When the green coffee beans absorb the water, they expand and the pores are opened resulting in the caffeine molecules becoming mobile.

2. After the water has been added, the beans are then brought into contact with the pressurised liquid carbon dioxide which combines with the water to essentially form sparkling water. The carbon dioxide circulates through the beans and acts like a magnet, drawing out the mobile caffeine molecules.

3. The sparkling water then enters an evaporator which precipitates the caffeine rich carbon dioxide out of the water. The now caffeine free water is pumped back into the vessel for a new cycle.

4. This cycle is repeated until the required residual caffeine level is reached. Once this has happened, the circulation of carbon dioxide is stopped and the green beans are discharged into a drier.

5. The decaffeinated coffee is then gently dried until it reaches its original moisture content, after which it is ready for roasting.

Great for: Aeropress, Cafetiere, Espresso, Filter, With milk
Organic:
Origin: South America/Brazil
Type: Decaffeinated