Off Hours / Decaf Coffee

About the Coffee

Off Hours comes from smallholder farmers in the municipalities of Tesalia and Teruel, two towns in the Rio Negro and Iquira subregions of Huila, Colombia. The coffee grows at 1,700 meters above sea level, where the elevation and temperature swings slow down the cherry's development and concentrate sugars in the bean. The farms here grow Tabi, Castillo, and Caturra varieties, three cultivars that have become reliable workhorses across Huila's small producer communities.

After harvest, the coffee is processed using a washed method, meaning the fruit is removed from the bean before drying, which keeps the cup clean and consistent. It then goes through EA decaffeination (ethyl acetate decaf), a solvent-assisted process that uses ethyl acetate, a compound naturally found in fruit, to selectively bond with and remove caffeine from the green bean. EA decaf is generally considered gentler on the bean's underlying flavor than older methods like Swiss water, and it leaves more of the coffee's original character intact. The result is a decaf that doesn't taste like it's been through a process.

Huila is one of Colombia's most established coffee-producing departments, accounting for a significant share of the country's specialty output. The combination of Andean altitude, rich volcanic soils, and two harvest cycles per year gives producers there a structural advantage in growing consistent, high-quality coffee.

About Rosso

Rosso has been roasting coffee in Calgary, Alberta since 2008. Over that time they've built a sourcing approach centered on direct relationships with producers, prioritizing traceability and consistency across their lineup. They've won awards for their coffee along the way, but the through-line has been a straightforward commitment to buying good green coffee and roasting it carefully.

Rosso roasts daily, which means the coffee leaving their facility is fresh. For a decaf like Off Hours, that matters more than most people expect. Decaf beans are more porous than regular green coffee and go stale faster, so roast-to-order frequency is one of the few things a roaster can control on that front.