People have requested that we offer a pre-blended espresso, a decaf counterpart to the Espresso Monkey blend. Working under the codename of the "Donkey Blend" (don't ask how all these ridiculous names started ---I think it was George's fault) we came up with this. It is intended to be used several ways. As an all-decaf espresso blend I wanted it to work well under a wide variety of roasting conditions, in terms of both lighter Northern Italian type espresso roasts (the equivalent of a Full City to Vienna Roast) and the darker Southern Italian type roast (roasted to a French roast). I also wanted a good espresso from both air and drum roasters, and I wanted good crema. This is a lot to ask from a decaf, but I think this blend works very well. While origin tastes are muted in decafs, I think the bittersweet roast tastes from this blend are very good. My second focus was having the blend not have too much character so that it can be used as a base blend for a "low-caf" espresso. This means it should work well as 50-75% of your blend where you add other caffeinated coffees to give more aromatics and flavor: my choice would be a Ethiopian Harar, or a Central American (see our Blending Basics article for more). Why do we call this Donkey Blend? Frankly, I can't remember .. it just is...

Decaf Brazil is a mild cup, and one of its best uses is for decaf blends (espresso, or to add body to darker roast drip-brewed decaf mix). But it can offer an interesting straight roast if you target the right roast level. It adds body and is a good "backdrop" in terms of roast taste. A backdrop coffee fills out the background of the cup and does not interfere with your "highlight" coffees, the ones that are going to be the exclamation point of your cup character. If you like a very soft espresso cup, you will enjoy this Brazil as a straight decaf espresso (its a bit too mild for me). This Cerrado-region coffee is a traditional Brazilian dry-process coffee. WP means Water Process decaf, a direct contact method that uses water filtration to separate the caffeine from the coffee without using chemical solvents.

This Brazil decaf cups nicely, showcasing typical Brazil notes of nut skin with well balanced acidity and dried fruit sweetness. Roasting this coffee to FC brought out bittersweet cocoa and roasted peanuts in the dry aroma. More dark chocolate and sweeter nuts were released at infusion, culminating into macadamia nut, dark molasses, and cocoa nibs on the break. This is a surprisingly sweet cup, with a profile consisting of raw sugar sweetness, dried apricot and peach, and macadamia nut. There is a slight dryness up front, but not an unpleasant one. More like that of black tea. This is a really nice cup on its own and would also make a great backdrop to an espresso blend.

This originated with two really nice wet-processed coffees from the current crop, a Yirga Cheffe cooperative coffee and our Suke Quto lot from Shakiso, farther south. We knew these two would compliment each other, and tried them out blended and unblended before sending them direct from our warehouse to the Swiss Water plant for their filtration decaf treatment. We are really happy with the results! We were happy too with the physical results, because our last lot of Ethiopia Swiss Water Decaf (which was a great cup actually), was fractured in the process. But they were so cool, they actually bought the coffee from us, and the next lot we sent worked out perfectly. The problem is the water activity level in the coffee. The one we sent was quite low, and when it was rehydrated in the decaf process, it split. We notice some end splitting on a few beans in this lot, but it doesn't affect the roast dynamic or the cup. I know that, because the cup is really outstanding! (I don't give 87 points to many decafs).

The dry fragrance has floral hints, nutty roast tone, and a graham cracker sweetness. The wet aroma from the light roast is very sweet as well, dripping in honey, with a touch of citrus. Darker roasts have a deep caramel sweet scent. I know this might sound like odd praise, but this cup has no detectable "decaf aroma," that typical and ubiquitous scent from most decafs that mark them as something, uh, "different." I think it is at it's zenith in terms of brightness, sweetness, and has maximum "origin character" at City + roast level. The cup flavors are very balanced, and the acidic brightness more mild than the non-decaf lots. In other respects, it is so similar to the ingredient coffees: honey and caramel sweetness, jasmine-like floral flavors, ripe orange notes, graham cracker. The body is not thick, but has a creamy mouthfeel. I had nice results throughout the roast range. Listen carefully to the roast, track the smell, target City+ roast level, and remember that surface color on a SWP decaf can fool you! It is actually greener than most decafs, but still colors to a darker color than the resulting taste of the coffee would suggest. This Yirga Cheffe - Shakiso blend is definitely one of the most aromatic, delicate and sweet decafs we have had in recent memory.

We have been so encouraged by taking charge of our own decaf program that we just can't stop. Many roasters buy decafs that are spot coffees, essentially off-the-shelf stock available from an importer or coffee broker. Just as our Farm Gate program allows us more involvement in selecting coffees at the farm or mill level, working in a more direct way, selecting coffees for decaf from our own stock ensures traceability. And the results have been great. This new blend is from two Farm Gate coffees, Rwanda Impala Cooperative from the Shanga-Nyamasheke area of Western district, and Ethiopia Hana Bosoke Cooperative from Illubabor. (I clipped the name to make it flow better, my apologies to Illubabor). While you cannot know for sure how a decaf will turn out, I had a pretty strong feeling that this would be an ideal blend, and result in a sweet and bright coffee. The results are beyond my highest expectation. I could not believe the coffee was decaf, and it is amazingly sweet in the cup.

The Shanga Babor blend has a dry fragrance from the ground coffee with molasses and cane sugar sweetness, raisin-plum-fig-peach fruit; it has no trace of the typical decaf-y smell. Amazing. The wet aroma has the same complex fruit mix, with almond oil on the break. In addition to a nice, syrupy body, the sweetness is the first thing that impresses with this cup. Their are similar fruits in the sapid taste as in the aroma: peach, apricot, plum, raisin. While there is a brightness in the cup, it pertains more to roast level than acidity, as the Full City roast seems very moderate in flavorful acids. The finish has a dark brown sugar overlay on the fruit tastes, with sweetness extending long into the aftertaste. The cup flavors really embody both the Rwanda and Ethiopia flavors well. As with other decafs, the external coloring of the bean during roasting is difficult to judge. Use the sounds and smell of the roast as well as sight to determine roast level! Decaf espresso from the FC+ roast is unreal. (That's how we say "really great" in California-speak).

Papua New Guinea occupies the Eastern half of the island it shares with the Indonesian province of Irian (no sizable coffee production comes from Irian). There can be a huge range of cups from Papua New Guinea, and the so-called Plantation coffees represent the cleaner character of the coffee produced on the island... more like a good Central American than part of the Indonesian profile. This coffee is from Goroka but originates in the Eastern Highlands area toward Kainantu. WP means Water Process decaf, a direct contact method that uses water filtration to separate the caffeine from the coffee without using chemical solvents.

Decafs can be a bit odd in the aromatics, but the oddness disappears in the cup. That is true with the Papua New Guinea, a slight woody note in the dry fragrance, but it also has a sweet caramel scent. The wet aroma has maple notes, and some mild mulling spices. The cup flavors are in line with the aromatics; a nice caramel sweetness, apple and cinnamon/allspice notes. The body has a nice thick weight to it. It's not incredibly complex, but a nice, balanced coffee that is a good middle-ground crowd-pleaser.

While we lack information on the exact origin of this decaf, this is a more than ample representation of how origin flavor profiles can be preserved during the decaffeination process. WP means Water Process decaf, a direct contact method that uses water filtration to separate the caffeine from the coffee without using chemical solvents. And the retention of those chemical solvents is exactly what has allowed this particular offering to retain "Colombian" flavor attributes while shedding nearly all of its caffeinated compound.

We found this coffee to be fairly balanced at a FC roast level. The dry fragrance hinted at Mexican hot chocolate, graham cracker, and mulling spice. Spiced chocolate continues to permeate in the break, and is rounded out by cinnamon and canned pumpkin. There is definitely sweetness to be found in this cup, but it is mild, like a lightly sweetened black tea. Cocoa, toasted nut, and bergamont are all characteristics of this coffee. While this Colombia decaf is on the "mellow" side of the acidity spectrum, the mild sweetness and inherent Colombia flavor profile all add up to a really nice decaf coffee.

A good Mexico decaf coffee is an uncomplicated, straight-forward cup. This lot of decaf coffee stood out on the cupping table, but we honestly don't know a lot about it's origin. It had a solid sweetness in the aroma and cup, and a clean taste. While we prefer to know the origin of our coffees or arrange direct purchasing, we still look for opportunities to obtain nice coffees, even if they come from an indirect route. It's supposed to be about cup quality, in the end. Anyway, this is from the Oaxaca state, rated as an HG (High Grown, Altura) coffee and organic certified. This coffee originates from a pooled wet-process lot and is then decaffeinated using the water process method in Mexico.

The dry fragrance and wet aromatics are nutty and fruited, with suggestions of almond, raisin and caramel. There's a bit of that typical "decafy" aroma when you add water to the grinds, but it's rather sweet and pleasant with a raisin bran cereal scent. This was a standout in cupping alongside other decafs, with a clean, crisp, bright note in the cup, hinting at a good HG green coffee. Lighter roasts have a lemon zest, light body and a short, clean finish. There is a grain-malt sweetness, and a bit of Earl Grey tea character. It works best at City+ roast to uncover these sorts of flavors; but it also does quite well with a Full City + or even a light Vienna roast treatment, turning pungent at the darker levels. Mild, balanced and pleasant. It's a nice decaf, and works well for decaf espresso too. It's a nice, straight-forward, crowd-pleaser coffee, something I would definitely recommend for after-dinner service.

This is the Swiss Water Process decaf blended from two top coffees we stocked: Finca La Maravilla and Finca La Soledad. For lack of any great ideas, the name morphed into La Maridad! We think the results from this custom decaf batch are excellent. With decaf (and really with all green coffee) we remember the old term GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out. If you send mediocre commodity coffee to the decaf plant, what can you reasonably expect to get back? Yet much decaf offered on broker's lists is reject lots, or (most likely) bulk containers sent direct to the plant without even basic cupping quality control. This is a different case. Soledad and Maravilla are great farms we have offered for years, and with a good crop we had enough supply to send them Oakland to Vancouver to Swiss Water.

The fragrance from the dry grounds has a unique bittersweet chocolate, spice, dried fig, and a hint of hickory. Adding hot water, the cup is a bit funky with raisin, fresh dark currant and humus; but decafs are nearly always funky in the wet aroma. The cup is complex, with a bright side and a more brooding side. The alto notes are grapey, "tartaric" in brightness, with grape skin at the finish. There is a caramelized sugar sweetness in the light roasts, turning toward chocolate as the roast level reaches Full City+. Dark fig and raisin dominate the fruited character in the cup, and there's a unique aromatic wood/hickory note in the aftertaste.

This Honduras lot is from the Carruchil Cooperative, located in a southwestern municipality of Chinacla, La Paz. Though not grown at dizzying altitudes, Chinacla is located along the Montecillos, a mountain range boasting several coffee producing municipalities, with altitudes in this particular region averaging just over 1300 meters. It's been a while since we had a Honduras coffee as a decaf, but this is a great candidate, similar to our Mexico decafs, because of it's mild balance and moderate acidity. I think this lot came through the process very well; an approachable Central America character, classic, quaffable. It jumped out on the cupping table and actually brews (in this case in the Technivorm) even better than it cups. It's not going to break any records for high cupping scores, but it's definitely a surprisingly sweet decaf coffee that you'll want to drink!

The dry fragrance has some of the typical, slightly fruity, decaf aromatic. That said, the dry aroma is still quite sweet with hints of macadamia nut and cacao. The sweetness sharpens when you add hot water, with a brew scent that is hazelnut, dry-roasted peanut, caramel sauce, and almond skin. The cup has the same flavors as hinted to in the aromatics, sans the typical decaf flavor. There's lots of white nuts and caramelized sugar sweetness, and also a slight dryness to the finish (a la almond skins). The profile shifts nicely as the cup cools, with dried apricot emerging, caramel-toned sweetness, and a malic (apple-like) brightness. The body is moderate but suits the overall flavor theme. It's a crowd-pleaser with classic Central America balance between the acidity, body and clean cup characteristics. It's not overly complex, very straightforward really, and a pleasant coffee you don't have to think about too much. For decafs, I think that is a good thing!