Slow Burn decaf, whole bean coffee from Heretic Coffee Co.
Decaf

Slow Burn

$21.00

Size

Slow Burn is our decaf blend. This is for the ones who’ve already put in the hours and still want a good cup of coffee without lighting the fuse all over again.

Slow Burn is built to be smooth, balanced, and full of flavor. You’ll find notes of orange, shortbread, and molasses, with a soft sweetness and a clean finish that works just as well pulled as espresso as it does brewed for drip.

The blend pairs a washed Brazilian Caturra with a washed Colombian Castillo from Tolima, a region where coffee isn’t a trend, but a livelihood. After years shaped by conflict, peace initiatives have allowed farmers here to reinvest and refine what they’ve always done best - farm incredible coffee.

$1.17 per bag sold will go to our SNAP Breakfast Fund.

At a glance

Origin Tolima, Colombia
Elevation 1,500–2,100 MASL
Variety Castillo, Caturra
Process Washed, decaffeinated with sugarcane (EA)
Roast Light
Tasting notes Orange, shortbread, molasses
Best for Espresso and drip
Roasted Portland, Oregon
Origins

Where does this coffee come from?

Slow Burn comes from Tolima, Colombia, where most farms are small and family owned and the coffee grows between 1,500 and 2,100 meters. After years shaped by conflict, peace has let farmers here reinvest in what they've always done best.

The caffeine comes out through the sugarcane process: the green beans are washed with ethyl acetate made from fermented sugarcane, a gentle method that leaves the flavor in. You'll find orange, shortbread and molasses, with a soft sweetness and a clean finish.

NeivaIbaguéBogotá
Tolima, Colombia

Tap a pin, or a name below it, for the story of that coffee.

Tolima, Colombia

Colombia

Tolima sits in the Andes west of Bogotá, and most of its coffee comes from small family farms between 1,500 and 2,100 metres. The region spent years cut off by conflict; the peace of the last decade has let farmers reinvest in what they have always done well, and Tolima coffee is now some of the most sought-after in Colombia.

The caffeine comes out with the sugarcane process: the green beans are washed with ethyl acetate made by fermenting sugarcane, a gentle method that leaves the flavour in.

The details

Elevation1,500–2,100 m

Coffee grown high ripens slowly in cool air, which concentrates sugar and acidity. This will tell you a lot about how a cup will taste.

VarietyCastillo and Caturra

Coffee plants vary, which is why we can get different tastes from different types of coffee. It's like how a wine names its grape. Bourbon and Typica lean sweet and classic; Gesha is floral and rare; Castillo and Catimor beans were planted to survive leaf rust so a farm can keep producing in even the harshest of weather.

ProcessWashed, decaffeinated with sugarcane (EA)

This is how the fruit was removed from the seed after picking. Washed is clean and bright, and natural is dried whole and tastes of fruit and ferment. This choice changes the cup more than almost anything else.

RoastLight

We roast to the point where the coffee is sweetest rather than to a fixed color, so a light roast here may be darker than a light roast somewhere else.

Best forEspresso and drip

What we built the roast around. Any coffee can be brewed any way, but this is where we think this one is happiest, and it is how we dialed it in on the bar.

Why we buy it

Decaf doesn't have to taste gross. This one keeps its orange, shortbread and molasses, which is why it's Slow Burn.

The farm

Decaf Colombia Tolima EA, comes from small, family-owned farms across Tolima.

How we brew it.

Pulls as well as espresso as it brews for drip, so any recipe below works. Decaf beans are more porous, so if a shot runs fast, grind a touch finer.

Pour over

Kalita Wave 185

Coffee
25 g
Water
400 g
Temperature
204°F
Grind
Medium, 600 µm
Ratio
1:16
Bloom
60 g, 45 seconds
Total time
3:30

Pour in four even additions. If the bed drains early, grind finer.

Espresso

La Marzocco Linea, 20 g basket

Dose
19 g
Yield
42 g
Time
28 seconds
Temperature
200°F
Pressure
9 bar
Ratio
1:2.2

Pulled on the bar every day. Shorten the yield a gram or two for milk drinks.

French press

Bodum, 8 cup

Coffee
60 g
Water
900 g
Temperature
200°F
Grind
Coarse
Steep
4:00
Rest after plunge
1:00

Break the crust at four minutes, skim, then wait a minute before you plunge.

Coffee maker

Any drip machine, flat filter

Coffee
60 g
Water
1,000 g (1 litre)
Ratio
1:17
Grind
Medium, like coarse sand
Filter
Paper, rinsed
Brew time
5 to 6 minutes

Fill the basket evenly and level it. If it tastes thin, add a few grams of coffee before you grind finer.

The batch in your bag

Roast log

This batch

Roast date
September 2, 2026
Batch
#599
Profile
Light
Charge temp
394°F
Turning point
196°F at 0:35
Drop temp
405°F
Roast time
8:47
Machine
Bellwether Shop Roaster
140°220°300°380°460°Drop 405° 0:00 8:46
BeanDrumBellwether Shop Roaster

What you're looking at

Every bag we sell comes from a batch we roasted ourselves. This is that batch's record, straight from the roaster.

  • Roast date and batch: when it was roasted, and which batch of the year it was.
  • Origin and profile: the green coffee that went in, and how dark we took it.
  • Charge temp: how hot the drum was when the beans went in.
  • Turning point: cool beans pull the temperature down at first. This is the low point, right before they start climbing.
  • Drop temp: how hot the beans were when we let them out. Hotter means darker.
  • Roast time: start to finish.
  • The chart: the red line is the beans warming up, the dotted line is the drum around them, and time runs left to right.

Darker roasts run longer and drop hotter. Lighter ones come out sooner and keep more of the fruit.

Financial transparency

These are the numbers behind this bag: what the coffee cost us, what it costs to get it on the shelf, and where your money goes.

Green cost $6.45per lb, paid to the farmer

Every bag starts as green coffee. It's sourced and brought to Oregon. This is the farms price to us per pound, before we roast it. Roasting burns off about 16% of the weight, so a 12 oz bag starts as 0.89 lb of green.

Living income $1.89per lb at the farm gate, Tolima

What Bellwether and Heifer International worked out, with 38 farmers of a Tolima cooperative, that a smallholder there needs per pound of green coffee to earn a living income: a nutritious diet, housing, healthcare, schooling and savings, with the commodity market left out of the sum.

Our cost $9.11per 12 oz bag, all in

The green coffee for the bag, roasting labor and electricity ($1.20), the bag, valve and label ($0.55), handling ($0.45) and the breakfast program ($1.17). Before rent, the roaster loan, insurance or anyone's pay.

Feeds people $1.17per bag, to the SNAP Breakfast Fund

In honor of one of our donations, we give $1.17 towards the SNAP Breakfast. Two bags put a hot breakfast and a coffee in someone's hands.

On the shelf $21.00what you pay

What we sell the bag for, and what is left after the bag's own costs.

The rest of the family.

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