Ritual Coffee Roasters

We've had the pleasure of working with the desarrollo producer group in the town of gigante, colombia, for a number of years now, so we're happy to announce the launch of los gigantes decaf. In an effort to create a decaf that matches the caliber of our regular offerings, we pre-selected coffees with a bright and sweet profile before they are sent to be decaffeinated. At the descafecol plant in manizales, the caffeine is removed using naturally occurring ethyl acetate derived from sugar cane. You'll find ethyl acetate in green coffee as well as various fruits, and it is the most common ester in wine. The resulting coffee is intensely sweet and fruited both in aroma and flavor: banana bread, preserved cherries, and chocolate pudding.

Maria zelaya's hacienda carmona, guatemala. In antigua, guatemala, maria zelaya grows bourbón and typíca trees on her 110-hectare farm, hacienda carmona, at elevations between 1580 and 1890 meters above sea level. Maria is fiercely dedicated to producing quality coffee, and has built a beautiful beneficio. She processes the coffee in the traditional washed manner: depulping the skin of the coffee cherry off before subjecting it to a 24-hour fermentation process to deteriorate any remaining sugars off of the seed, and finally, sun-drying the coffee on patios. This year's selection is incredibly sweet- with flavors of mission fig and chocolate covered cherries.

Lucia zelaya's la soledad, guatemala. In the sacatepéquez department outside of antigua, guatemala, lucia zelaya and her husband, don rony asensio, cultivate the caturra and bourbon trees at their farm, la soledad. Shaded by ubiquitous grevillea trees at 1750 meters above sea level, these 21 hectares of coffee trees are harvested of their fruit throughout the spring. The coffee is then processed at the zelaya family's own beneficio bella vista in the traditional washed manner. The skin of the coffee cherry is pulped off before the seed is subjected to a fermentation process, used to deteriorate the residual clinging sugars. This coffee tastes clean and sweet, with flavors of orange zest, honey, and pear.