Everybody gets older every day; some of us even want to sleep at night. This is one of the best decaf coffees out there.
It’s maybe the 5th year we've purchased from Villamaria; it's always great, and I always say that, but it's only the second time we've picked up this decaf. The first time was way back in like 2021, and it was actually a bit of a flop, not because it wasn't nice - it was lovely - but because we didn't really know how to sell it.Times change, premium decaf isn't a crazy new concept anymore, and this is a premium decaf at a great price. If you want to see more stuff like this on the list, give it a brew and feel your caffeine-induced anxiety fade away.
Times change, premium decaf isn't a crazy new concept anymore, and this is a premium decaf at a great price. If you want to see more stuff like this on the list, give it a brew and feel your caffeine-induced anxiety fade away.
The Context
Villamaría’s processing station, Jamaica, was chosen due to its ideal climate and altitude for drying naturally processed coffee. Combined with the large space available, this made it possible to produce high-quality naturals at a scale previously unavailable in the region.
As the project developed, roasters around the world began committing to long-term purchasing from Villamaría, while neighbouring communities saw the benefits of selling cherry to La Aurora — the delivery and buying point for Jamaica — rather than parchment to nearby trilladoras. Selling whole cherry to a processing station is uncommon in Colombia, though widely practised in many other coffee-producing countries.
Communities including Villarazo, La Batea, and Corozal have been positively impacted by the existence of Jamaica. Today, increasing numbers of producers continue delivering cherry to La Aurora, a contributing farm managed by Rubiel Orrego. Like many coffee producers in Colombia, growers in Villamaría had historically been promised higher prices and full crop purchases by larger institutions, promises that often failed to materialise. Unsurprisingly, trust in new ventures had diminished over time.
Jamaica’s close proximity to the communities it works with, alongside Raw Material’s continued return each harvest, has helped demonstrate a long-term commitment to the region. As word spreads of a system offering better prices, reduced labour through cherry sales rather than parchment processing, and increasing demand from returning roasters, the number of participating producers continues to grow.
The Station
Villamaría is a municipality in the department of Caldas, Colombia, a region rich in water sources and natural resources. Located a few kilometres from the city of Manizales, the surrounding landscape is shaped by the Chinchiná River.
The Jamaica drying station is located in Chinchiná, Caldas, and currently represents the harvests of 30–50 coffee-producing families from nearby communities including Villarazo. These farms sit at higher elevations than the station itself, while Jamaica is positioned at approximately 1300 MASL — around 500 metres lower than many of the contributing producers. The warmer climate at this lower altitude is particularly well suited to the production of honey and natural processed coffees.
The station focuses on washed, honey, and natural lots. With the aid of Nuna dehydrators and mechanical drying systems, humidity and temperature can be carefully controlled throughout the drying process, helping to maintain quality and consistency across processing styles.
The Process
This coffee was dried for approximately 15 days in a temperature-controlled greenhouse before being finished in a mechanical dryer.
The coffee then undergoes sugar cane decaffeination, often referred to as a “natural decaf” process. Ethyl acetate is a naturally occurring compound (C4H8O2) commonly found in the fermentation of fruits and present in foods and beverages such as ripe bananas and beer.
The decaffeination plant Raw Material works with in Colombia — located a short drive from Villamaría — uses water sourced from Nevado del Ruiz, the volcano situated between Caldas and Tolima, alongside natural ethyl acetate derived from fermented sugar cane sourced from Palmira in southern Colombia.
The process begins by steaming the coffee to increase porosity and initiate the hydrolysis of caffeine, which is naturally bonded to salts and chlorogenic acids within the bean. The beans are then submerged in an ethyl acetate solution until approximately 97% of the caffeine has been removed. Finally, steam is used to remove any residual traces of the compound.
The remaining residue is typically less than 30 ppm — dramatically lower than the naturally occurring levels found in a banana.
