El Vergel

Description

El Vergel Decaf is a Sugarcane E.A. decaf from Shady & Elias Bayter’s El Vergel farm in Tolima, Colombia. These Red & Yellow Caturra coffee beans deliver candied lime, mango, red berries and brown spice, and it’s quite possibly the best decaf we’ve ever found.

Flavour Characteristics

Best As: Espresso (Milk based) & Filter (Black)

Flavour Profile: Candied Lime | Mango | Red Berries | Brown Spice

Origin & Producer Details

Producers: Shady & Elias Bayter

Farm: El Vergel

Origin: Colombia

Region: Tolima

Variety: Red & Yellow Caturra

Process: Sugarcane E.A. Natural

Sourced Via: Forest Green

Suitable for

Espresso✓ Suitable

Filter Brewing✓ Suitable

Recommended rest

Days 0–13
Resting

Days 14–35
Best-tasting window

35+
Freeze

Recommended rest: For the best tasting decaf results, we recommend brewing this coffee 14–35 days off roast. Read our full guide to resting coffee. Learn why light roasts reward a longer rest.

Bought more than you can drink at its peak? Our guide to freezing coffee shows how to keep it tasting this good for months. Making milk drinks? Here’s what temperature a flat white should be. Want to pour better latte art too? Read UK Latte Art Champion Ben Lewis’s tips.

About El Vergel

Simply put, this is the best decaf coffee that we have found.

In 1995, the Bayter Family dove into agriculture at El Vergel farm, focusing initially on the cultivation of avocados. But when avocado prices dropped in 2006, they saw an opportunity in coffee cultivation. Introducing coffee varieties like catimore, red, and yellow caturra, they quickly built a highly productive coffee farm. By 2016, with guidance from coffee expert Miguel Jimenez, they shifted to focusing on specialty coffee. In 2018, they fully embraced natural coffee processes, including the innovative Koji fermentation method.

Harmony x El Vergel

Ever since I met Shady & Elias for the first time in 2020 and hearing about their passion for innovation first hand, this has been a collaboration that I've been extremely looking forward to. It's extremely unusual to find decaffeinated coffee expressed from a single farm, so when this one came across my radar, I was extremely excited. We have worked with Shady & Elias before with a release last year, alongside Freddy Correa (another farm holder in Tolima) but this is our first release from El Vergel!

Want to know more about coffee from Colombia? Read our Colombia origin guide.

Why Sugarcane E.A. Decaf?

This particular decaf has been processed using Ethyl Acetate (often abbreviated to E.A.). There are two derivations of Ethyl acetate — Lab/Synthetic derivation and Natural derivation. The E.A. used as part of this decaffeination has been derived naturally, from a byproduct of the fermentation of sugarcane.

Very fresh coffee beans are first steamed to open up the pores. Then they are soaked in a cold water solution, mixed with ethyl acetate. The water has a gentle flow rate which allows the ethyl acetate to bind with and extract the caffeine from the beans themselves, leaving behind less than 0.1% caffeine content. Once this process is complete, the beans are then steamed once again to clean the Ethyl Acetate residue before being dried like normal.

The Caturra Variety

This lot is a mix of Red and Yellow Caturra, which differ only in the colour of their ripe cherries. Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon, first discovered in Brazil in the early 20th century. A single gene keeps the plant compact, so farmers can grow more trees closer together, and it produces good yields of high-quality coffee.

It has been one of the most important varieties in Colombia and Central America for decades, and it’s known for a sweet, clean cup, which shines through in this decaf’s candied lime and red berry notes.

Perspectives on Decaf Quality

In our view, decaf coffee often gets a bit of an unfair, bad reputation. Many of us hold the presupposition that decaf coffee is low grade and/or old crop coffee, decaffeinated in volume at large decaffeination plants (For the most part, these large decaffeination plants are located in Europe and North America and add unnecessary carbon mileage to the product.) to get a second chance at being sold to fill a need once it's no longer desirable for its primary purpose...

And for a long time, perhaps that was the case.

Then producers like Shady & Elias started asking the question: “If we used really good, fresh coffee for decaffeination, and processed it locally, would that make a really good decaf?”

From our perspective, the answer is yes!

I would say that the reason why El Vergel's Decaf is so great is because of the quality of the cherries they use for it and because of the gentle, chemical free E.A. Sugarcane decaffeination process. The process ensures that the seeds retain their full aroma and flavour, resulting in a sweet, smooth and flavourful cup profile.
— UK Barista Champion 2024 Roosa Jalonen

Interestingly, this is also reflected in the way the coffee grinds. We recently put up a blog post that talks more in detail about how using Particle Size Analysers can be useful. Typically decaffeinated coffees produce a disproportionately high percentage of fine particles that can lead to clogging in the brew. The analysis we took of this particular decaf indicated that it led to a lower production of super-fine particles, leading to a more generous extraction, higher flavour clarity and exceptional cup quality.

Harmony always seeks to find the very best and freshest decaf coffees available, and we think that you'll love this particular rendition of our "Really Good Decaf" coffee.

Learn more about El Vergel and Forest Coffee, or see our cupping report on this coffee.

How to Brew This Coffee

Dial In With Accuracy

For consistent results with this decaf, accurately measuring your dose and yield will help you hit the sweet spot. We strongly recommend using a reliable scale. See our guide to the best coffee scales and the Felicita Parallel we use in the roastery.

Brewing Tips

Rest window: Follow the recommended 14–35 days off roast for the best clarity and balance.

Grind size: For the best extraction and clarity, we recommend grinding slightly coarser than you would with a typical caffeinated coffee, especially when brewing on filter devices. Decaf can produce a higher percentage of superfine particles, which has a tendency to clog paper filters.

Filter brewing: Start with a 1:16 ratio, then adjust to taste. Grind quality makes a big difference with filter, so here’s our pick of the best filter coffee grinders for home.

Espresso: Start around 1:2 for a sweet, rounded shot that works beautifully in milk. An even, level tamp matters here too; see our guide to the best coffee tampers.

Explore More Recipes

To try recipes from world-class coffee brewers, explore our guide to the best filter coffee recipes of 2026.

FAQs

What is Sugarcane E.A. decaf?

Ethyl Acetate (E.A.) is used to selectively extract caffeine after the beans are gently steamed. In this coffee, the E.A. is naturally derived from sugarcane fermentation, and after extraction the beans are steamed again to remove residue, leaving <0.1% caffeine. (See “Why Sugarcane E.A. Decaf?” above.)

Is Ethyl Acetate natural?

There are lab/synthetic and natural derivations. This coffee uses a natural E.A. made from a by-product of sugarcane fermentation, as noted in the product details.

What does “Natural” mean in Sugarcane E.A. Natural?

Here “Natural” refers to the processing method of the coffee beans themselves before they were sent off to be decaffeinated using sugarcane-derived E.A. (as opposed to a synthetic source). The decaf process described above is carried out locally to preserve flavour and minimise mileage that the beans have to travel to complete their processing.

Can I get this on subscription?

Yes, we offer a flexible Decaf Subscription (weekly, fortnightly or monthly, shipped out on Thursdays).

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Browse all single-origin coffees

Love decaf? Get it delivered with our Really Good Decaf subscription.

Want coffees like this delivered? Try our Single Origin Coffee Subscription, a rotating selection of our favourite single-origin coffees. Buying for someone else? Our gift coffee subscription makes a great present, and our office coffee subscription keeps your workplace stocked.

✅ Ethically Sourced Directly from producer Shady Bayter at El Vergel, Colombia

What do our customers say?

★★★★★

“Exceptionally flavourful. Many of the customers we serve don't realise it's decaf.”

— Kish, Kiosk Coffee

★★★★★

“The best decaf I've tasted, lovely in my morning coffee”

— Caroline, Winchester

★★★★★

“Our top seller for a reason. Really good decaf indeed.”

— Tank, Dever Stores

“Absolutely hands down the best decaf coffee I've ever had. … Yours is exceptional and nicer even than many caffeinated specialty roasts we've tried. Thank you, yours is a game changer!”

— Huw

“From my experience, I have found many decafs to be boring/safe. However, I love the one you sent! I'm really enjoying the bright lime-like acidity paired with the rounding brown spice.”

— Caden, Head of Coffee, Bean & Leaf Coffee House

“Absolutely delighted to discover your excellent decaf offering … I really love what you're doing.”

— Mike

“We had great feedback, delicious coffee.”

— Ken, Craft Decaf

“I just tried your decaf for the first time, and it's blown me away. Nicer than my regular beans. Hats off.”

— Sam

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Text from Harmony Coffee's listing.