D Stands for Decaf - Peach Perfect - El Paraiso Sugar Cane Decaf

Amazing as a cold brew! Truly the coffee version of peach iced tea.

Juicy peach, tropical maracuja with gentle acidity, and delicate notes of strawberry. Fruity, lively, surprising — without caffeine.

peach · maracuja · strawberry

Behind the brew

Produced by Daniel Bermúdez at Finca El Paraíso in Piendamó, Cauca. El Paraíso is renowned worldwide for innovative processing methods including controlled fermentation in bioreactors and the Thermal Shock.

The Castillo cherries go through a washed process with a special aerobic and anaerobic fermentation. In the final step — the Thermal Shock — sudden changes in temperature lock the aromas into the beans and intensify the flavour. The beans are then dried under controlled conditions.

The result: an intense aroma of ripe peach, tropical notes reminiscent of maracuja, and a cup that turns berrier as it cools. Warm, cold, or with milk — a true allrounder.

Producer: Daniel Bermúdez
Origin: Piendamó, Cauca, Colombia
Variety: Castillo
Altitude: 1,960 MASL
Processes: Advanced Washed + Thermal Shock
Decaf process: Sugar Cane Process
Importer-Exporter: Coffeemates

About El Paraíso

A family farm with a vision

The Bermúdez family didn't grow up in a coffee dynasty — as they put it, they were adopted by coffee farming. Maybe that's exactly why they were never afraid to question it. What began in 2012 as a small family project in Colombia — limited resources, unpredictable climate, all the obstacles thousands of Colombian producers face — has quietly grown into a revolution in specialty coffee.

Finca El Paraíso is the family's flagship farm, led by Daniel Bermúdez — a visionary and innovator. The family runs several farms across the Cauca region (including El Paraíso, El Rubi, and Villa Rosita), which together form a cohesive system for growing, processing, and exporting coffee. For years, the team has been developing their own fermentation methods with one goal: to use science to extract the true essence of coffee while preserving the soul of the region.

Instead of buying technology, the family builds it. That's how yeast-mediated biocatalysis, in-house condensation dryers, and the now-famous Thermal Shock method came to be. Today El Paraíso reaches more than 86 countries — and shares its know-how through a co-production model that supports smaller farming families in the region.

About the process

Advanced Washed + Thermal Shock

It all starts with the selection of ripe coffee cherries. These are cleaned with ozone and placed into fermentation tanks, where they ferment anaerobically under water for 36 hours.

After that, the cherries are pulped and the mucilage is removed. From the pulp and mucilage, El Paraíso cultivates specific microorganisms in its own pilot facility — these are the cultures that later create the aroma and flavour precursors in the coffee. This "culture medium" goes back to the beans in the tanks for another 12 hours, where the aromas are bound to the bean under pressure.

The final step is the Thermal Shock: a sudden change in temperature locks the aromas into the beans and seals the coffee for a clean drying process. Drying happens in a controlled way inside a dehumidifier — this preserves the fine, soft notes of the coffee, prevents over-oxidation, and stops fermentation at exactly the right moment.

Sugar Cane Process

The Sugar Cane process uses ethyl acetate (EA), a natural solvent derived from sugarcane through fermentation. EA occurs naturally in many fruits and foods.

1. The green coffee beans are steamed to open up their pores.
2. They are placed in a solution of water and ethyl acetate, which bonds with the caffeine and removes it without affecting the flavour. This step is repeated several times, until up to 99.9% of the caffeine is removed.
3. The beans are steamed again to remove any remaining traces of ethyl acetate, then dried. The residual amount left in the beans is many times lower than in a banana.

The Sugar Cane process preserves the original aromas and flavour of the coffee, often gains in sweetness, and leaves no aftertaste from the decaffeination. This coffee was decaffeinated in its country of origin — keeping a greater share of the value chain in Colombia and reducing the CO₂ footprint.

How to brew

Filter
Ratio: 1:15 (e.g. 15g coffee to 225ml water)
Temperature: approx. 88–89°C
Grind: slightly coarser than usual
Bloom: 45g for 45 seconds, then two pours to 120g and 225g. Avoid excessive agitation — it leads to stalling and increased astringency.

Espresso
Temperature: approx. 91°C
Ratio: 1:2 as a base, or shorter
Grind: slightly finer than usual

Aeropress
30g coffee with 120g water at 80–85°C
Grind: coarser than usual (French press level)
Pour all water in at once. Stir for 10 seconds. After 1 minute, put the lid on and press for 1 minute. Dilute with 80–120g water.

About D Stands For Decaf

D Stands For Decaf is a specialty decaf roaster based in Vienna. Founded with one mission: to prove that decaf doesn't have to be a compromise.

Every coffee in the range is sourced from farms known for exceptional quality — then decaffeinated using only natural processes (water or sugar cane) that preserve the flavour, not strip it. The result is a lineup of coffees that taste like the farm they came from, not like an afterthought.