Our coffee roaster uses Sugarcane Decaffeination for the decaf process! This method can also be referred to as the solvent method, or ethyl acetate method. In short, this method uses molasses which is distilled from sugarcane as a solvent. They ferment the molasses to create alcohol. First the beans are soaked in water and steamed to swell the beans, basically opening up the bean's pores to the process. They then go through an ethyl acetate wash where the solvent grabs onto the caffeine. It is then soaked and steamed again to remove the decaf and solvent, leaving the regular bean behind! It's an extremely safe and delicious way to make decaf, and it's most common in Colombia where they have sugarcane in abundance. The opening of the bean's pores explain why they look oily, because the oils are more easily ready to move toward the bean's surface even at lighter roast levels!.