This Colombian coffee from Poppy Beans is exactly the kind of coffee that delights with its sweet, floral, yet mellow decaffeinated profile. Notes of grapes, fudge, and milk chocolate come together in the cup, giving the coffee a delicate, sweet, and pleasantly rounded character. Grapes add a lighter fruitiness, fudge brings a richer caramel-cream sweetness, and milk chocolate smooths out the entire profile into a soft finish. As a result, it doesn’t feel like a compromise, but rather like a full-fledged specialty coffee that retains its character even after decaffeination.
The coffee comes from Colombia, specifically the Coffee Axis area in the Quindío region, where it is produced by Sebastián Ramírez as part of the El Placer Farms project. This project was created with the goal of connecting producers directly with roasters and offering transparent traceability without unnecessary middlemen. The project began on Sebastián’s and his father’s farm but has gradually expanded to include other family farms and now brings together several exceptional producers. The emphasis is on sustainable agriculture, gentle processing, and innovation that help highlight the character of each coffee. The coffee grows at an elevation of 1,500–1,744 meters above sea level and is a blend of different varieties.
The beans were processed using the washed method. The harvesting and sorting of the cherries focus on high quality, specifically a ratio of 90% ripe and 10% semi-ripe cherries. The cherries are pulped on the day of harvest, then fermented for 24 to 36 hours in traditional tanks and washed three times to remove any remaining impurities. Drying takes place slowly and under controlled conditions on tarps for 15 days. The coffee is then stabilized in Grain-Pro bags, hulled, electronically sorted, and finally shipped to Manizales for decaffeination using the sugarcane process. The result is a sweet and clean profile that shines best as an omniroast.