Chiapas Producers • Decaffeinated Caturra, Typica and other Washed Varieties

Chiapas Mountain Water Decaf - Mexico

This organic decaf comes from small farms in southern Chiapas with most working just a couple hectares in the Sierra Madre mountains between 1200 and 1900 meters. They grow mostly older Typica and Bourbon plants with some Caturra and Catuaí mixed in.

Even at such a small scale, each farmer handles their own processing. They've got these modest setups at home, some use motorized depulpers, others still hand-crank theirs. Fermentation happens in cement tanks, then everything dries on their rooftop patios.

After drying, the coffee heads to Descamex in Córdoba for the Mountain Water Process. They've been doing this since 1980 - first decaf facility in Latin America. The process makes this super-concentrated coffee water that has everything in it except caffeine, then soaks the beans in it for about 24 hours. The caffeine migrates out through osmosis and gets trapped by carbon filters. Everything else stays put. No chemicals, just water from Pico de Orizaba.

Honestly, this is one of the best decafs we've had. That classic Mexican chocolate sweetness is still there, the fruit notes made it through intact. For anyone who's tried our regular Chiapas, you can taste them side by side and see how good decaf has gotten. The Mountain Water Process removes 99.9% of the caffeine without stripping what makes the coffee good in the first place.