No Punch Backs Half Caf

About the Coffee

No Punch Backs is a half-caf blend combining two origins: a washed Brazilian coffee from Gabriel de Carvalho Dias at Fazenda Cachoeira da Grama, and a washed Colombian coffee that's been decaffeinated using the E.A. (ethyl acetate) method. E.A. decaffeination uses a naturally derived solvent to remove caffeine while preserving the coffee's underlying character. The blend sits at 50% caffeinated and 50% decaf, grown at altitudes between 1,200 and 1,850 meters above sea level.

Gabriel de Carvalho Dias farms Cachoeira da Grama in Brazil's coffee-growing belt, producing washed coffees at elevations that support slow, even cherry development. On the Colombian side, the E.A. decaf process starts by steaming the green beans to open their pores, then using ethyl acetate, a compound found naturally in fruit, to selectively bond with and remove caffeine. The beans are then washed and dried before roasting. It's one of the cleaner decaf processes available, and it's why half-caf blends built this way tend to taste more cohesive than mixing a full-caf and a decaf at home.

Detour recommends resting this coffee between 5 and 30 days off roast before brewing, which gives the gases released during roasting time to dissipate and lets the flavors settle. It works across brew methods, with specific ratios dialed in for drip, espresso, and immersion brewing.

About Detour Coffee

Detour started in 2009 out of a back alleyway in Dundas, Ontario. The premise was simple: coffee is fun, and that should come through in everything from how it's sourced to how it's roasted.

Their sourcing approach is built around three things: relationships with the people growing the coffee, traceability through the supply chain, and quality in the final product. On the roasting side, they use a Loring roaster, which applies convection heat rather than direct flame. This tends to produce cleaner, more consistent results and makes the flavors in the cup easier to extract, whether you're brewing on an automatic drip machine or pulling espresso shots.