Decaf beans

For medical reasons I can only drink decaf for years now.

TL;DR I have found Frequent Coffee to be a true "decaf specialty" coffee. Really amazing flavors. S&W Roasting also gets some great ones sometimes, though they're more hit and miss.

Hoffman did as much an apples to apples comparison of decaf processes as is possible. I did the same tasting blind and agree with his ranking: EA / Cane processed is best for flavor preservation, followed by CO2, with muddy dusty swiss water in dead last.

The biggest problem with EA is the available beans are nearly all the same Columbia/Huila beans. Very little variety. Sometimes they'll do a little bit of a Mexican bean, and sometimes they'll get "exotic" stuff like a fermentation batch (Frequent and S&W are really good about snapping these up quickly).

It is really disheartening to see Swiss water used by so many specialty roasters I love, but usually it's a choice their bean suppliers are making for them. The company that does Swiss water processing has the African and South American been suppliers cornered with partnership deals.

I'll also sometimes go with a local roaster or a big name like Ceremony or Merit using EA processes to liven things up.

I'm annoyingly sensitive to caffeine (any caffeine intake after midday means I won't be sleeping until 3am). So I took part in James Hoffman's big decaf taste test a few years ago and you'd be surprised how different decaffeination methods tasted! I'll have to dig out my notes but there was one I remember that made the coffee taste like soil.

Try to do your own comparison if you can, but decaf doesn't have to be bad.

I've never had a good decaf, but I don't try them much, so I have no suggestions, sorry.

I love coffee, but I'm not one to choke down bad coffee because of some need for it. I dont think I love anything so much that I ever want the bad versions of it. Beer is a good example, I will turn down bud, coors, miller, I just don't desire to drink it. I would rather have a good one, or none at all. I try not to be snobbish though and will make an excuse that I'm not in the mood. I love good cheese but American is never worth it. The list goes on, and a lot of it comes from seeking out quality as I get older. Its hard to go back once you've had the good stuff.

That said, there have been times where a coffee is offered after dinner and I turn it down because I need to sleep, but I do want to drink it. If there is a good decaf that sounds like a perfect reason to have it around. I'm not above exploring that option.

My roaster of choice unfortunately doesn't offer any decaf options 😞 I've had to start spacing my caffeinated coffee mornings since my adhd meds don't really mesh well with caffeine. I started exploring decaf a couple months ago, mainly from whatever was on the grocery store shelf; everything I had tried was very uninteresting. I recently looked into specialty roasters that offered beans around the level I was used to and am currently going through a bag from Luminous Coffee. It's definitely much more flavorful and far more interesting than any mass produced beans I've picked up from the grocery store, but also very different. It has a particular taste that I'm thinking is part of the decaffeination process they use. I have my eyes on a few decaf options from Black & White Coffee Roasters that I'm going to try next.

I'm getting ready to make my late night flat white with Two Brothers Radiance Decaf. They're a local roastery I've been checking out recently, and I really like them! Aside from the Radiance decaf, I've also tried their Brewhouse Dark, which was exquisite, and I have a bag of Morning Drive ready to try soon.

I have found two suppliers of decaf whole bean coffees I like. Magnolia coffee co has a brazil decaf swiss water process and a decaf colombia sugar cane process. I also like Counter Culture Slow Motion. These are all medium roast.

I actually use a blend of half decaf beans and half Jagshead Coffee Roasters Torogoz blend for my daily latte. I find that full caffeine makes my heartburn worse. I like medium-light roasts though so these options might not line up with your tastes.

Decaf is the only way I have a chance to have more than a single cup of coffee a day anymore. My body just can’t handle the caffeine anymore. I’ve even had to decrease the size of my single cup a day.

Good decaf is a struggle for me to find and when I have it’s carried a premium even over already pricey coffee.

I guess what I’m saying is I’d like to drink good decaf but I may just be too cheap to chase the good stuff.

Fresh Roasted Coffee makes several tasty decaf and half-caf varieties. There's a decaf dark Sumatra variety that I've made many a late night espresso out of with great results. It comes and goes, though.

I've tried several of the lighter decafs since I have a friend who's all but allergic to caffeine, but he loves coffee; and of those, the Ethiopia is my favorite.

If you don't mind shelling out, there's a variety pack with 12 samples of various decafs here

I drink decaf almost daily because I LOVE a cup of coffee. But I also take meds for my adhd and they don't mix too well with caffeine.

I would love a coffee in the evenings but I haven't found a good decaf bean that I like (yet 🤞)

I wish there was a "bulk barn" style coffee bean shop where you could get small batch samples to try. A fantasy, for sure, as I know it's not economical.

I drink decaf every day. I'm drinking black decaf right now! Probably the purest sign of "I just like coffee" lol

I'll drink caffeinated when I have to drive 2+ hours, if I really need to focus on a task, if I'm traveling and need to stay awake, etc. I try not to drink it every day to avoid getting dependent/resistant to it.

My local roaster has a decent whole bean decaf, and I have a good coffee shop scene in town. Pretty lucky I guess ☕

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaffeination#Swiss_Water

Because GCE is saturated with the other water-soluble components of green coffee, only the caffeine molecules migrate to the GCE; the other water-soluble coffee elements are retained in the green coffee. The newly caffeine-rich GCE solution is then passed through the activated carbon filters to remove the caffeine again, and the process is repeated.

IDK. I don't particularly care what other people do with their pasttimes or pleasures. I enjoy and alcohol free beer every now and then, and if someone needs to avoid caffeine and wants to drink coffee, go for it.

ARROOOOOOOO!

May I ask how decaf flavor is compared to equivalent caffeinated beans? Is there much of a difference? The only decaf I tasted is a sample of Lavazza decaf that came with my espresso machine and it tasted horrible but I assume is the brand since the regular Lavazza beans also tasted awful.

There are roasters that really treat decaf well. My favourite one actually does 5 different decafs right now

https://www.goodkarmacoffee.de/c/shop/kaffee/koffeinfreier-kaffee

I don't know if they are prohibitively expensive for you because of sgipping, but give them a try. They do really great stuff.

Every decaf I've tried is absolute ass. I want good decaf, but every one I've tried is easily and by a huge margin far worse than any non-decaf.

It's like the beans are reconstituted from beef fart ash. And the shots pull totally differently.

If anybody knows of an actual good light-medium decaf bean for espresso in the Seattle area, please god let me know.

I love coffee but had to switch to mostly decaf a long time ago due to caffeine sensitivity.

I’ve tried lots of different decafs and for awhile Peet’s was a go-to for me. I switched to a local roaster a few years ago and I’ve been happy with the results.

I still notice a difference in the decaf blends, but it’s good coffee and it’s working for me.