El Vergel Condor Washed Decaf

About the Coffee

El Vergel is a farm and processing station in Tolima, Colombia, run by Elias and Shady Bayter. The farm sits at 1,400 meters and has built a reputation for working closely with partner producers in the region through what they call their Partner Series, where neighboring farms contribute lots that are processed at El Vergel under shared standards. This Red and Yellow Caturra comes from a plot called La Roma, harvested in 2025.

The decaffeination method here is Ethyl Acetate (EA) using sugar cane, which is a natural process that originated in Colombia. Sugar cane is fermented into ethanol, then combined with acetic acid (vinegar) to create ethyl acetate, a compound that already occurs naturally in fruits, wine, and beer. The green coffee beans are steamed to open their structure, then washed with the EA solvent, which bonds to and removes the caffeine. The beans are rinsed with water again and dried down to a stable moisture level. It is one of the gentler decaf methods available, and it starts with materials that are locally abundant in Colombia.

El Vergel processes this coffee as a washed lot, meaning the fruit skin and pulp are removed before the beans are dried. This keeps the cup clean and allows the character of the Caturra variety to come through without fermentation flavors competing in the background.

About Hatch

Hatch was founded in Markham, Ontario, and its origins go back further than the roastery itself. The founder began roasting coffee by hand while living in West Africa, and that hands-on approach carried into how the company was eventually built. They moved into their current roastery and brewery space in 2015 and started roasting on their own terms from the beginning.

Hatch runs three roasting machines, including a Loring 70kg added in 2022, and has seven active Q-Graders on staff. Q-Graders are certified coffee tasters who assess quality using a standardized international scoring system. Hatch won Th3rd Wave Coffee Roaster of the Year in 2022, and has continued to focus on quality and experimentation as the business has grown.