Which decaf to get?

Kelsey

Morning sickness: complete.

I'm now being begged for coffee multiple times a day (requests which I'm refusing!) so it's time to grab some decaf.

What does the hivemind think about the various decaf options out there?

Muscles

Brazil Daterra Estate - Opus Exotic  :thumb: http://www.beangreen.com.au/product-info.php?pid172.html Great on it's own and great in a blend with Colombian SWP

UNM

I' ve tried the cs decaf wow and beangreens decaf (columbian?). Neither really does it for me(only keep decaf for number 2 daughter), but roasting the beangreen one 30 sec into 2c gave something I consider drinkable.

beanflying

My vote would be avoid decaff. They are only caffeine reduced so consider 2 single shot piccolo's a day rather than 2-3 standard decafs. Vote 1 for flavour and DeCaff SUCKS

Vinitasse

on 1326688519:

My vote would be avoid decaff. They are only caffeine reduced so consider 2 single shot piccolo's a day rather than 2-3 standard decafs. Vote 1 for flavour and DeCaff SUCKS

Actually... the Swiss Water Process (a 100% chemical free process at that) results in coffee that is 99.9% caffeine free (quite an effective reduction)  I have had great success with the Swiss Water Process Premium Espresso Blend and have impressed quite a few people who thought they were drinking full octane coffee Just my 2 cents worth    :angel:

Divey

on 1326690089:

Actually... the Swiss Water Process (a 100% chemical free process at that) results in coffee that is 99.9% caffeine free (quite an effective reduction)  I have had great success with the Swiss Water Process Premium Espresso Blend and have impressed quite a few people who thought they were drinking full octane coffee Just my 2 cents worth    :angel:

Is that the same decaf which is offered by Ministry Grounds.  :question: :question:

mycuppa

There are 2 leading brands of chemical-free decaf available on the Australian market. I won't discuss the EA options as we have not used them for over 4 years. 1. Mountain Water from a Mexico plant. and 2. Swiss Water from a Canadian plant. Both are quality products and tend to source premium grade greens for conversion. Yes, that's right........the converters actually have professional buyers who evaluate and procure high quality greens. Decafs from MW and SWP are available as SO's and in pre-mix blends. My personal opinion is the Mexican Chipas in the Mountain Water is pretty good (nice, even screen size) and the Colombian in the Swiss Water is good (rich, smooth, creamy). Have used the SWP Premium Espresso blend for a while (it contains beans from up to 4 or 5 origins at times, including Kenya, PNG, Indonesia, etc.) I find the nature of the Premium Espresso mix SWP just that little more difficult to roast due to the large variations in screen size (some of the beans are dreadfully small/tiny) - however, saying that the PE does come up superb in the cup when roasted well - as you would expect given the significant investment by SWP in sourcing the best beans. Most of the MW and SWP decafs are good - the key is in the roasting..........not the bean.

Brett H

on 1326675921:

Brazil Daterra Estate - Opus Exotic  :thumb: http://www.beangreen.com.au/product-info.php?pid172.html Great on it's own and great in a blend with Colombian SWP

Great informative post yet again Jeff, many thanks! Marc and I have swapped notes on these BeanGreen offerings above in another thread and I am enjoying a 60/40 Daterra/Colombian as a regular due to the demands from the pregnant lady (who knew she could learn to like coffee)! Roasted separately is probably best but I've not tried pre-blending and may be completely wrong.

Muscles

Yes thanks Jeff, it's reassuring to know that decaf does not equal dreggs....   (wifes comment, not mine from when she first viewed decaf greens) Brett, I blended post roast too. I let the wifie try them separately first and make comment... Colombian SWP = no comment (think she was too used to it and always happy with it) Daterra Opus Exotic = "oh, this is nice, is this new?" When blended 60/40 = "oh, this is definitely the best coffee you have roasted yet, what it is?" I had previously wondered why the lack of variety in decaf greens and I guess the market is just not there, makes me think I should have bought more of the Daterra now but alas I have to get my stash down before ordering more greens....

mycuppa

No problem guys. At any time, there are perhaps a dozen different decafs available in SO for roasters via the brokers plus a few FTO decafs. This gives a few possibility for custom blends, but alas it's very difficult to be creative and excited when the customer base has such poor general opinion or belief in decaf. There is a limited range due to the expensive costs involved in the decaf process. The market is limited and the unfortunate situation is customer perception amongst both traditional and decaf drinkers is that just about all the decaf available is low-grade, 2nd-class, passed-over, lost-dogs home crud - which is simply not the case. As I said, it's all in the roasting...and just as importantly the handling (not letting the beans get 3 months old sitting in a bag or hopper which more often than not is the cause of poor tasting decaf at the extraction end, not the roaster end)..............it's not the beans.....but that's a story for another day.

beanflying

It's the tendency toward an ashy or smokey tone I don't like either. Nothing wrong with the beans going in just the result out from what I have tasted/tested. Not sure of the individual results on Decaff but the figures I had seen were still 10-20mg/cup against a more standard of 1-200mg for standard? I also question the science of total removal from the systems of coffee based caffiene to then see pregnant ladies drinking tea or coke by the bucket and ignoring the caffeine contents of those. The media induced in a lot of cases fear campaigns on new health threats or benefits of item x,y & z in our diets has a lot to answer for. All things in moderation I reckon. Rant off now  :stir

Koffee_Kosmo

When I had to go on Decaf  "on doctors orders" I was roasting the Columbian Mountain Water Decaf Green Beans - from the KK shop Found them taste wise, just as good as non Decaf but had to be consumed quickly because they did not hold the flavour as long in time after roasting KK

Bottom Line

The best decaf I have had has been the CS decaf WOW. Roasted very similar to other beans other than pulling a couple of degrees prior to second crack. Only had two people pick that it was decaf. Also tried the FTO blend. Not very good at all. Couldn't drink it. Saw somewhere on this forum Jeff saying that the decaf is less moist. So I changed the profile with the view of reducing the loss of moisture. BANG!!! Not bad now. Wouldn't write home about it but enjoyable to drink. Some roasters I have spoken to show a display of disgust of decaf. Had one say "the first roast (in a drum roaster) is always unpredictable and can be the worst. So that is when I roast decaf". I think would have a lot to do with the quality of roasted decaf out there. Also as KK has said I have found the flavour seems to disappear quicker than normal beans.

C-man

I buy Mexican SW decaf from Clandistino Roasters up here I speak with Jackson the roaster, he always gives me as fresh as possible, sometimes straight out of the cooling bucket. They drink good starting from day 3 but only last about 2 weeks after that. he says that is because they roast them darker thus loosing some of the structure of the bean. So far I have only tasted the Mexican and I am pretty impressed with it, fruity and chock-let smells unreal in the bag too. If there is better I would like to know about them as a roasted bean at this stage.

Divey

I have only ever bought one decaf and that is the Mexican Water Decaf and I reckon it sensational.  :thumb:

kevinjspark

I have tried a mexican organic mountain water processed last time. I have bought it from ministry grounds It was pretty good cup with nice body cutting thru milk and sweet finish For me, i preferred it to decaf wow blend from cs