Source Analysis by Mayra Orellana-Powell, Charlie Habegger, and Chris Kornman
We sourced this coffee from family-owned farms organized around Cooperativa Capucas Limitada (COCAFCAL), founded in 1999, is an association of 70 farming families located in the community of Capucas, within the department of Copan, Honduras. COCAFCAL boasts a state of the art coffee processing facility complete with a modern cupping laboratory. The coop’s processing infrastructure includes quad-level drying tables under solar canopy protection, and its nursery boasts a wide range of coffee cultivars as well as fruit, shade, and timber trees.
The commitment to detail in coffee production is matched with a commitment to impact quality of life. Social programs include a virtual library where community members can access knowledge from the internet – including a partnership with the Autonomous University of Honduras for virtual attendance – and partnerships to bring regular access to dental care and youth athletic programs to the community.
COCAFCAL also strives to support diversified revenue sources in Capucas through a honey production program and a women's group called Flor del Campo that roasts and sells high quality coffee for national consumption. To showcase their efforts, COCAFCAL has an annual coffee competition called Te Van a Conocer Compa ("You're going to get to know us, friend") where the international coffee community is invited to sample the best coffees in the region and enjoy a bit of eco-tourism. In 2016, the cooperative won Fairtrade “Small Producer of the Year” for Latin America.
Royal sourced this coffee prior to decaffeination directly from COCAFCAL through our Royal Select program selected based on cup profile, physical preparation, and potential to express excellently once decaffeinated. It was then shipped, in this case to Swiss Water in Canada to undergo “Swiss Water Processing.” During the Swiss Water process, the green coffee is hydrated to expand the beans for caffeine extraction. The hydrated green coffee is then introduced to Green Coffee Extract (GCE), a unique solution of concentrated coffee solubles that allows the caffeine to leave the green coffee via osmosis while minimizing the loss of desired flavor compounds. Once the caffeine has been removed the green coffee is re-dried and re-bagged for transport, and the GCE is filtered of its caffeine through proprietary carbon filters and recycled to be used again.
