Popayan Decaf

About the Coffee

This lot comes from around 65 small producers farming in the Cauca region of Colombia, centered around the city of Popayan. The area sits within the Andes at high elevation, where volcanic soils and a stable climate give the coffee a clean, consistent character. Producers grow a mix of Castillo, Catimor, and Caturra varieties, all of which are well-suited to the conditions here.

The program is built around quality-based premiums, meaning farmers are paid more when they deliver better coffee. That creates a direct incentive for careful cherry picking and attentive processing at the farm level. Coffees are washed (pulped, fermented, and dried with water), which tends to produce a cleaner, more straightforward cup.

After washing, this coffee goes through the Swiss Water Process for decaffeination. The method uses water and a carbon filter to remove caffeine without chemical solvents, which helps preserve the coffee's natural character. It's one of the more gentle ways to decaffeinate green coffee, and the result here holds up well to the original.

About Monogram

Monogram was started by three friends, Ben, Justin, and Jeremy, who met working as baristas and kept at it long enough to make it a career. They came from different backgrounds, music, health sciences, and development, but shared an interest in specialty coffee and wanted to build something that felt less exclusive than what the industry offered at the time. They opened their first cafe in Calgary's Altadore neighbourhood in 2014.

Ben Put has gone on to win the Canadian Barista Championship seven times and placed third at the 2025 World Barista Championship. That competitive background shapes how Monogram approaches sourcing and roasting. They maintain long-term relationships with specific producers, including Mariana Iturralde at Finca Takesi in Bolivia and the Lamastus family at Elida Estate in Panama, and use those relationships to source consistently high-quality green coffee year over year.