The Decaf Project curated by James Hoffmann
During the pandemic, James Hoffmann hosted The World's Largest Cupping where he, along with Square Mile Coffee Roasters, made kits of several different coffees that people could buy and blind cup them at the same time that James did, live in real time on his YouTube channel. It was his way of bringing people together during a time of great isolation.
Well, he's doing something like it again with decaf and we knew we had to be a part of it!
What is The Decaf Project?
The Decaf Project is an educational journey into decaf ending with the world's largest live coffee tasting.
For the first time ever, you will be able to taste the same exceptional coffee that has been decaffeinated three different ways, alongside the caffeinated version. If you’re curious about decaf or coffee - then this will be a lot of fun!
The live event portion of this project is but one part of a much greater whole: while it will certainly be an exciting day, and we hope a really valuable experience for those who do participate, we are very keen to emphasize that the most important and exciting thing is actually the unprecedented access to these coffees. The live tasting will be recorded and available on the channel for people to follow along after the event ends and is a fundamental resource to accompany the experience people will be having at their own pace.
About the coffee
The coffee selected for this project is La Virgen, cultivated in the highlands of Guadalupe, Huila, Colombia - a region known for its rich, coffee-growing heritage.
The dedicated coffee families of Guadalupe have cultivated their craft through generations, producing high-quality coffee with a deep commitment to environmental sustainability. With farms averaging 5 hectares, many of these growers have achieved Rainforest Alliance Certification and are fully compliant with EUDR standards, ensuring responsible farming practices that protect their environment and communities.
For the Decaf Project one special lot of La Virgen has been divided into four parts—three were decaffeinated by using different methods, and one remains as unprocessed washed coffee.
About the three decaf processes
Coffein Compagnie - Ethyl acetate (EA) decaffeination
Ethyl acetate is used in decaffeination because it is highly selective with respect to caffeine and can physically extract it from green coffee beans in a gentle, but targeted manner.
First, the green coffee beans are steamed to remove the silverskin and increase their water content, opening up their cell structure. The water-ethyl acetate-solution selectively extracts caffeine from the beans in several stages. Finally, steam is used to remove any remaining ethyl acetate from the beans, which are then dried to their original moisture content.
Ethyl Acetate is a natural component of sugar cane, coffee, and fruits such as musk, strawberries and bananas, but is also produced synthetically.
CR3-Kaffeeveredelung M. Hermsen - CO2 Subcritical Decaffeination
This unique process was developed by CR3 in the late 80s. It uses natural carbon dioxide, under subcritical conditions (i. e. relatively low temperature and pressure), to gently and selectively target caffeine, so as to retain the full taste potential of the green coffee. This process is all organic certified.
Raw, unroasted coffee is moistened and placed in a vessel with pressurized liquid carbon dioxide, which circulates through the coffee to extract caffeine. Once the desired caffeine level is achieved, the CO2 circulation stops, and the coffee is gently dried to its original moisture content. The caffeine is extracted from the liquid carbon dioxide, allowing both components to be reused.
Swiss Water® Process
The Swiss Water® Process uses water, temperature, and time to gently remove caffeine, while preserving all the coffee’s original characteristics.
The green coffee, rehydrated to the target moisture level for decaffeination, is put into contact with a Green Coffee Extract (GCE). GCE is made out of fresh water and all of the soluble solids within coffee (minus the caffeine). The GCE is continuously circulated around the green coffee, triggering the diffusion process, which removes only the caffeine (the only element of imbalance) and none of the flavor components of the coffee. The process takes place over 8-10 hours until there’s no more than 0.1% of caffeine remaining. Caffeine is then removed from the GCE using a proprietary carbon filtration system, so that the GCE can be reused.
Discover decaf coffee like never before with The Decaf Project by coffee expert, James Hoffmann. We are so excited to be one of only 23 roasters in North America offering this exclusive experience.
What's included in the tasting kit?
Each kit features four (4 oz bags) that contain variations of the same high-quality Colombian coffee from La Virgen, Guadalupe, Huila
1 Non-Decaf – The original washed coffee.
1 Swiss Water® Decaf
1 Ethyl Acetate Decaf
1 Natural Carbonic Decaf (Subcritical CO₂)
1 Cupping book
What is the time frame?
November 22 (Friday)
November 29 (Friday)
December 6 (Friday)
Each of these Fridays James will be publishing a different factory tour shot on location at each of the decaffeination plants on his YouTube Channel airing at 3 pm UK time.
December 4 - LAST DAY to order The Decaf Project Tasting Kit for the live event.
December 5 - all tasting kits will be shipped.
December 15 - Tasting event - LIVE STREAMED on the James Hoffmann YouTube Channel.
3 pm UK time.
What if I can't make the LIVE tasting?
Our suggestion is to host a gathering with your coffee friends in your home watching the recorded version while you cup and converse together about your experiences as you taste these coffees side by side. You should be able to get about 12 cuppings from each of our kits.
One last note - while we do have a deadline to get the kits to you for the live event, we will continue selling them until we run out.