CONGO HALA SWISS WATER DECAF COFFEE

Rebuild Women’s Hope is a cooperative established in 2013 on the banks of lake Kivu. These banks belong to the island of Idjwi, a large remote island in the middle of the lake. With two washing stations, they process cherry from the 3000 plus members that have farms stretching up to 2,000 masl. Cherry is either delivered directly to the site or to numerous collection centres, that will collate the cherry and take to the washing station that day. Coffee is cleaned and sorted, pulped, and undergoes a ‘wet soak’ for 8 hours before being washed, and then dried on raised beds under sunlight and shaded when appropriate. The varietals used are Blue Mountain and Kent, grown at altitudes up to 2000 metres. Scored an impressive 82.75 by the independent coffee graders of the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) higher than most non-decaffeinated speciality coffees! The only thing you’re not losing is sleep! Flavour and aromatic notes of chocolate, plum, cream, blackcurrant

The Swiss Water process is an organic, 100% chemical-free option for decaffeination. This method does not require the addition of chemicals, instead relying on a super saturated green coffee solution called Green Coffee Extract (GCE). This is introduced to a batch of green coffee. As the GCE is already saturated with all the water-soluble compounds found in green coffee, minus the caffeine, the matching molecules won’t diffuse out of the coffee beans—but the caffeine will. The flavour is retained in the beans while the caffeine is removed. Thanks to some scientific smarts and creativity, it’s possible to have decaf coffee that tastes the same – just without the caffeine!

We've been roasting the world's best coffee in our 2kg San Franciscan roaster since 1994, resisting the temptation and logic of roasting on a more commercial scale, to stand by the philosophy that we can bring out the best in any coffee working this way. To give some context, each batch produces just enough for 8 supermarket size packets. Often, one roast is taken entirely by one customer! 

The best tip we can offer to enhance your enjoyment of any coffee you try is to suggest that you grind your own beans freshly as required.