Mexico Quetzal Decaf

This is one of our most important coffees of the year. Mexican coffee has dwindled to almost nothing in recent years as a result of coffee leaf rust, low C market prices, political strife, and drug trafficking. Almost all remaining Mexican coffees are grown on large estates in Oaxaca and other well-known provinces. This coffee is different. It is from the Guerrero region, and is grown by indigenous people in traditional biodynamic fashion. These coffees are from tiny farms (often less than a hectare) with productions of less than 60 kg from many of them. These farmers' way of life depends on companies like Skylark to support them by paying higher prices than the market would offer for the quality they supply... that's why we bought a really big lot from Guerrero this year. Fortunately, the quality of this particular lot is stellar. Luscious notes of Ferrero Rocher and cherry preserve will reward you for supporting these farmers along with us. We sourced this coffee through Ensambles, who do superlative work to shepherd this coffee from seed to our roastery. Here's a bit more info from them below: The state of Guerrero is one of Mexico’s 16 coffee producing states, bordering Oaxaca and Puebla. In Guerrero, 80% of the territory are mountains and the main economic activity is agriculture. Coffee was first introduced by the Spanish along the coast in Sierra de Atoyac, and most of the labor force for picking coffee was brought over from the poorest areas of Guerrero - a region called Montaña Alta. Those workers, seed by seed, propagated their homes with coffee, bringing it in their pockets from the big plantations in Atoyac. The region is now characterized by the production of shade grown natural coffees. Guerrero almost only produces naturals, which is rare in Mexico, with more than 90% of total exported coffee being washed. Nowadays, Montaña Alta suffers from high rates of poverty, marginalization and migration to the more northern states of Mexico, as well as the US, in search for work. In the face of a lack of opportunities, and the growing demand for narcotics in northern countries, a crack in the door was opened for drug trafficking to take over these vulnerable regions. This proliferation of narco-trafficking has unfortunately painted Guerrero in a very unfavorable light, the perception of which is exceedingly difficult to overcome. Because of this context, few companies have invested in the area with regards to the purchasing of coffee. Almost 100% of Guerrero coffee is bought, directly or indirectly, by one single private company, who then resells to a big international buyer. This monopoly has set very low prices for coffee and a general lack of interest from this crop. Ensambles Cafes Mexicanos began a project focused on specialty coffee in this area back in 2017, a project led by Miguel Guevara, an agronomist originally from Montaña Alta. Miguel has been working with producers to improve quality and help reach out to different markets. Miguel delivers training on selective picking, cherry flotation, and drying. He also supports the project by obtaining regional funds to finance nurseries, local warehouses, raised beds etc. The first producers to join this initiative were all women. Many women in this region are empowered to make decisions because their husbands are living farther north for work. Those women call themselves the “Evas," in reference to the first woman Eve. They decided to call the project JUBA, which means 'mountains' in their indigenous language Mephaa. Discontentment with low prices has allowed this project to grow rapidly, increasing from 5 to now 70 producers in 5 years. Ensambles now has a regional lab in Montaña Alta with analysts and cuppers where producers can come and bring their sample. We provide feedback and recommendations until their coffee qualifies for the specialty premium. Our criteria range from cup quality, humidity/water activity, to yield. We are now able to employ and empower two women from the community to coordinate the lab and reach out to more producers across the region. "Nahual" means the ability to transform yourself into another being. We think it is a good analogy for the switch from commercial low paid coffee to quality better priced coffee. Elevation: 1400 Meters above Sea LevelVarietal: Oro AztecaCup score: 84.5Price paid per kg: £9.70Process: Grown biodynamically, then processed naturally on raised African beds.

Meaning ‘sleep’ in the indigenous Wayuunaiki language, Colombian 'Atunkaa' decaf lots are some of our favourite for sweet dreams and calm days. We loved the crisp Atunkaa Washed decaf we had earlier this year, and now we get to offer this juicy naturally-processed iteration, replete with sugary notes of Cherry Coke and vanilla. We think it's just the thing for winter's dark evenings. This decaf coffee is from Siruma, one of our key long-term partners in Colombia via our importer Falcon. Siruma was founded six years ago with the mission of partnering with underserved farming communities in Cauca, Caldas, and Tolima. The company's name comes from the Wayuunaiki language and means ‘Heaven and Skies’. Victoria and her Siruma team constantly inspire us by how hard they work to improve both their farmers' coffee and livelihoods, and Falcon are exemplary in how they work with Siruma to promote the stories of everyone involved. It's a win-win relationship that we love being a part of. Atunkaa Decaf showcases Siruma's commitment to transparency and fair prices for farmers. It is sourced from the Central Cauca Association for Peace (ACC) in Piendamó, Cauca. ACC was created by a local farmer who wanted to add value to Castillo coffee and provide stable incomes to help neighbours avoid illicit crops. Central to the cooperative's model is its wet-milling plant, which gives smallholders without their own processing infrastructure a place to deliver cherry and receive a fair price. Because the plant's natural processing capability adds significant value, the cooperative is able to pay growers well for their cherry. On arrival, cherries are classified to determine whether they are directed toward natural or fully washed processing, with the higher-quality cherries reserved for naturals. They then pass through a cleaning stage to remove solid particles, followed by optical sorting that separates under-ripe cherries — routed to the washed process — from the ripest fruit selected for naturals. The natural-process cherries undergo an aerobic stage of 24 to 36 hours before mechanical drying at 35 to 40 degrees Celsius until moisture reaches 10 to 11 percent. Each batch is kept separate and packed in GrainPro to preserve quality. The coffee is decaffeinated by Descafecol using a sustainable sugarcane-based process. By working directly with the mill and decaffeinator, Siruma ensures fair pricing and complete traceability back to the contributing farmers. Elevation: 1700-1900 Meters Above Sea Level Varietal: Castillo, Colombia, Caturra Cup score: 86 Price paid per kg: £11.60 Process: Natural, then Ethyl Acetate/sugarcane decaffeinated

Introducing Twilight, our new all-rounder decaf. It was nearing the end of the day for affordable and delicious decafs on the market, so we decided to get creative. Historically high green coffee prices and increased demand for decafs using the ethyl acetate (‘sugar cane’) process have caused supply shortages and MUCH higher costs, but we don’t think you should have to go without tasty decaf at reasonable prices.So here’s our strategy: We’re finding less expensive coffees that we think (based on our experience) will make for a sweet, chocolatey decaf. We’re sending them off to be decaffeinated as a special order and bringing them to you at prices that can work for all of us — farmers, cafes, Skylark, and coffee drinkers. With Twilight, you'll get reliably accessible coffee with satisfying notes of chocolate, biscuit, and cherry cola. Typically, importers make the choices and take the chances on which coffees to decaffeinate. It’s not always easy to predict how a decaffeinated coffee will turn out, and the minimum order for decaffeination is 4 tonnes, so it’s not usually a risk roasters want to take. However, we believe there are plenty of special yet affordable coffees out there that will taste great decaffeinated, so we’re willing to roll the dice. Right now, Twilight is a washed processed coffee from our friends at Bette Buna in Guji Ethiopia. It was a very fresh crop ‘grade 4’ coffee when we got our hands on it, so the producers paid less for the sorting of the green coffee. We’ve run it through our optical colour sorter to make it more consistent, and it’s tasting delicious. Everybody wins, and we’ll continue looking for opportunities to make decafs with impact throughout our supply chain for the foreseeable future. Elevation: 1400-2100 MASL Varietal: Heirloom Cup Score: 84.75 Price paid per KG: £10.19 Process: Sugar cane decaf, done in Bremen Germany

Very proudly announcing: Our second round of decaf from our best friends at Bette Buna, and it's a truly special decaf for all you night owls out there. With a juicy, nuanced profile of soft berries, citrus, and toffee, it's delicious on its own or in a milky drink. This coffee is from our favourite Ethiopian coffee producers, Bette Buna, who not only grow exquisite coffee but also provide countless opportunities for people in their communities. We decaffeinated this coffee in partnership with our friends at Falcon Coffee, who did incredible work supporting Bette Buna this year. They took half of this coffee, and we took the other half to split the risk of doing a decaf run. Betta Buna was founded by partners Hester Westerveld-Syoum and Dawit Syoum when they inherited their grandfather’s tiny family farm in Taferi Kela, Sidamo. With a background in NGO and development work, they decided to grow and scale the farm as the foundation for a larger company with greater impact. Coffee is a big deal in Ethiopia: More than 33% of the country's GDP comes from the export of coffee and 80% of that production comes from smallholder farms under 2 hectares, even as 90% of people working in coffee in Ethiopia don’t make a livable income. Bette Buna was formed to meet the obvious need to improve outcomes for smallholders and to generate opportunities for farming communities along the way. Having started in 2019, they have already grown considerably. They have expanded the Taferi Kela farm from 2 to 50 hectares and have spread to a second 50-hectare farm in Megadu, Guji, where this lot was grown. Both farms have tree nurseries where varietals are grown for their own use as well as to share with surrounding farmers. Similarly, they have facilities where they process their own lots and educate other farmers in processing techniques while their ‘Coffee Campus’ programme provides training in roasting, brewing, and even exporting. Essentially, they invest in their farming communities not only by teaching and motivating farmers but also by hiring local workers at their nurseries and mills, including single mothers and disabled people who would struggle to find employment elsewhere. They also work hard to incorporate sustainable farming methods, rewild forests on their land, and protect local wildlife to promote ecosystem health for coming generations. We’re such big fans that we sent Micah and Tabitha to help and learn from them for a couple weeks this January. You can read more about their experience in a recent blog post here. To process this lot, cherries were fully washed, then sun-dried on raised beds for 3.5 weeks to naturally enhance their complexity and sweetness. They were then decaffeinated using the Ethyl Acetate process, a natural and environmentally friendly decaffeination technique. To achieve this technique, green coffee beans are steamed to open their pores, making it easier for caffeine to be extracted. The beans are then washed with ethyl acetate, a naturally occuring compound found in fruit, which selectively binds to caffeine molecules. Ethyl acetate is able to dissolve caffeine without significantly affecting the flavor compounds in the coffee. After the caffeine has been removed, the beans are steamed again to remove any residual ethyl acetate. Finally, the coffee is dried and prepared for roasting. Above: Sisay Tadesse and Hester Westerveld-SyoumBelow left: Sisay Tadesse standing next to anaerobic fermentation barrelsBelow right: Dawit Syoum harvesting ripe coffee cherries Elevation: 1,998-2,200 MASLVarietal: Enat Buna & 74412Cup score: 85.5Price paid per kg: £10.30Process: Washed and EA Decaf