TASTING NOTES: Strawberry, Milk Chocolate, Biscuits
DECAFFEINATION PROCESS: Sugarcane process, all natural, no inorganic chemicals
COUNTRY: Ethiopia
REGION: Sidama, Bensa Woreda
COFFEE PROCESS: Washed
IMPORTER: Falcon Coffee
Grown in the highlands of Abay Teka in Ethiopia at altitudes between 1750 -1950 masl, Lala Salama is a sugar cane decaffeinated coffee from the renowned Alemu Adama wet and dry mill in the Sidama Region’s Bensa Woreda. This station, known for its commitment to quality and sustainability, partners with around 350 smallholder farmers and processes both washed and natural coffees with meticulous care.
This decaf offering is composed of varieties 74158, 74165, 74110, and heirloom cultivars, delivering the vibrant character of Ethiopian coffee without the caffeine. Using the Sugar Cane process, caffeine is removed gently, preserving the coffee's inherent sweetness and clarity.
Expect a cup with delicate florals, juicy stone fruit acidity, and a silky body, all rounded off by a soft, caramel-sweet finish. Lala Salama, which means “sleep peacefully” in Swahili, offers all the flavour without the caffeine buzz.
The Sugar Cane Decaf Process
The coffee first undergoes steaming at low pressures to remove the silver skins before then being moistened with hot water to allow the beans to swell and soften. This then prepares the coffee for the hydrolysis of caffeine, which is attached to the salts of the chlorogenic acid within the coffee.
The extractors (naturally obtained from the fermentation of sugar cane and not from chemical synthesis) are then filled with moistened coffee which is washed several times with the natural ethyl acetate solvent, to reduce the caffeine down to the correct levels. Once this process is finished the coffee then must be cleaned of the remaining ethyl acetate by using a flow of low pressured saturated steam, before moving onto the final steps. From here the coffee is sent to vacuum drying drums where the water previously used to moisten the beans is removed and the coffee dried to between 10-12%.
The coffee is then cooled quickly to ambient temperature using fans before the final step of carnauba wax being applied to polish and provide the coffee with protection against environmental conditions and to help provide stability.
