Floral, sweet, and surprisingly bold—that’s this decaf Colombian coffee from the Canadian roaster September Coffee. Neon Sorbet offers subtle notes of rose water, a sweetness reminiscent of sorbet and brown sugar, a light body, and a pleasantly sweet finish. Although it’s a decaf coffee, it comes across as clean, lively, and aromatic in the cup, so if you’re in the mood for something playful and elegant later in the day, this coffee might pleasantly surprise you.
The beans come from the Piendamó area in Colombia’s Cauca region, where they are grown at an elevation of around 1, 900 meters by Wilton Benitez on his family farm, Granja Paraiso 92. Wilton has more than 26 years of experience growing coffee and has been dedicated to specialty coffee for over 16 years. The farm uses terraced fields, drip irrigation, shading, and laboratory-controlled fertilization, and it also has its own processing plant, as well as microbiological and quality control laboratories. This lot consists of the Pink Bourbon variety, which is now considered an Ethiopian landrace and is known for its sweetness, freshness, and floral character.
After being hand-harvested, the cherries are sorted by size and density and then sterilized with ozonated water and UV light. They are then fermented for 48 hours with the addition of Saccharomyces pastorianus yeast. After the pulp is removed, the beans undergo another 68 hours of fermentation, during which the natural juices produced in the first phase are also utilized. The parchment coffee is then washed and dried for 48 hours. The final step is decaffeination using sugarcane, which allows the coffee to retain its distinctive sweetness, floral notes, and light, clean character.
- Altitude: 1,900 m above sea level
- Producer: Wilton Benitez
- Farm: Granja Paraiso 92