For years, decaf was laughed at by coffee nerds and forgotten by the specialty world – leaving decaf drinkers to toil in a purgatory of over-processed, over-commercialized, over-roasted beans. But times are changing.
These beans were sourced from a range of small Colombian producers (on 1 to 4.5 hectare farms) in Tolima, Cauca, Antioquia, and Eje Cafetero. They’re decaffeinated at origin through a process called “Sugarcane Decaffeination” developed by our friends at Sucafina.
Sugarcane decaffeination utilizes a naturally occurring compound, ethyl acetate (EA). In this case, the EA is derived from molasses, a byproduct of sugar production. The process is straightforward: beans are moistened with water and EA is circulated throughout. The EA binds with the caffeine in the bean and extracts the caffeine while leaving most of the other flavor compounds. After the desired caffeine level is reached, the EA residue on the beans is removed by steaming them.
Beyond the avoidance of unnatural chemicals, the Sugarcane process also maintains far more of the coffee’s natural flavor compounds, allowing it to be specialty roasted like any of our other beans and taste bold and sweet, indistinguishable from caffeinated coffee.
Fucking Strong Coffee is a specialty coffee brand from the folks behind Good Beans - a beloved bean shop tucked amongst the canals of Amsterdam. We built the brand in 2018 as a response to the monotonous, snobby tone that had infected most of the specialty coffee world. Minimalist cafes, ridiculously technical language, pretentious branding, and moralizing eye rolls… they all snarkily whispered the same thing: specialty coffee is for the few. You want to know what we think…? Fuck that.
In many ways, our beans are fancy as fuck. We traceably source coffee from small, top-notch producers who are paid far above market price for meticulously processing their cherries and sustainably maintaining their land. In Amsterdam, we specialty roast with the type of care that would make any smirking barista smile – bringing out bold, surprising flavors that we’re always jazzed to share with our friends.
Our fresh beans are packed in our signature resealable cans (which you can refill for a discount at our Amsterdam shop if you're in town) or in swanky black kilo bags. We roast weekly and ship within 2-3 business days.