Sometimes you want another coffee for the pleasure of it. The aroma, the warmth of the cup and a few minutes to yourself.
Dreamliner Decaf is our coffee for those moments. With notes of dark chocolate, biscuit and plum, it offers a sweet, rounded cup with much less caffeine.
Its journey begins in Colombia, with Café Lumbus—the company behind our Blackbird coffee, too.
The people behind the coffee
Café Lumbus produces, sources and exports speciality Colombian coffee, drawing on coffee-growing traditions that stretch back more than a century.
The company’s approach centres on relationships: working with producers, understanding their coffee and connecting them with buyers who value its quality. In a 2023 profile, the team described its commitment to recognising the growers and the care they put into their work.
Dreamliner comes through our direct trade relationship with Café Lumbus in Ciudad Bolívar, Antioquia. Its varieties include Caturra, Colombia and Castillo, and it begins as a washed Arabica coffee.
That starting point matters. Decaffeination is an additional stage in a coffee’s journey; the work of growing, harvesting and processing still provides the foundation for the finished cup.
First, a washed coffee
Before decaffeination, the coffee undergoes washed processing.
This means removing the cherry’s skin, flesh and remaining mucilage before drying the beans. The dried coffee is then prepared for the next stages of its journey.
For Dreamliner, there is one more important step before roasting: removing most of the caffeine while retaining as much of the coffee’s character as possible.
How sugarcane decaffeination works
Dreamliner uses the sugarcane ethyl acetate method, often shortened to EA decaffeination.
The name can sound technical, but the principle is straightforward. Ethyl acetate is a compound that can dissolve caffeine. For the sugarcane process, it is derived from sugarcane fermentation.
The green coffee is first treated with steam and moisture to make the caffeine easier to extract. It is then brought into contact with ethyl acetate, which draws caffeine out of the beans.
After extraction, the coffee is steamed to remove residual ethyl acetate and dried again, ready for roasting.
“Sugarcane” describes the source of the processing agent. It does not mean that the beans are coated in sugar or that the coffee has been sweetened.
Decaf still contains a small amount of caffeine, but the process removes most of it. What we look for afterwards is a coffee we enjoy drinking in its own right: sweet, balanced and full of flavour.
Roasted in West Sussex
Our roasting partner in West Sussex roasts Dreamliner to a medium level.
The aim is to develop its chocolate and biscuit character while leaving room for the plum note to show through. We want a rounded cup with enough depth for espresso and enough balance to enjoy as filter coffee.
Roasting requires careful control of heat and time. The final colour of the beans tells only part of the story; tasting the brewed coffee is what tells us whether the balance is right.
In Dreamliner, the result is comforting and versatile. Enjoyed black, it offers fruit alongside chocolate richness. With milk, it makes a smooth, satisfying flat white or cappuccino.
Why Dreamliner?
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was designed with passenger comfort in mind, from its large windows to its lower cabin altitude.
That focus on making the journey more comfortable felt like the right inspiration for our decaf.
Dreamliner is about enjoying the coffee moment at your own pace. An unhurried breakfast, an afternoon break or a cup after dinner: familiar pleasures with much less caffeine.
The name reflects the feeling we wanted this coffee to bring—comfort, ease and something to look forward to.
Make it your own
Dreamliner works well as espresso, filter, cafetière or AeroPress. Choose the method you already enjoy, then adjust your grind and recipe to suit the coffee.
Our coffee brewing guides provide practical starting points.
From Café Lumbus in Colombia, through sugarcane decaffeination and roasting in West Sussex, Dreamliner’s journey ends with a simple pleasure: a good cup of coffee, whenever you choose to enjoy it.