Sweet Maria's Decaffeinated Coffee Offerings

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• Definitions of terms and numbers
• Roast Pictorial Guide
• Flavor Quality Analysis graphs

Decaf Coffees

Follow this link for more information on decaffeination processes. For more information on the Natural Decaf (Ethyl Acetate) process, here is an article. For more information on CO-2 Process, check this out.

Good news or scarey as heck? Geneticists are working on a plant that will grow coffee with no caffeine content, thus needing no processing to remove the caffeine as all decaf is currently. Is this good? It means no factory process to remove caffeine. It also could mean contamination between natural unmodified trees and modified ones. Coffee is very complex in terms of it's chemical makeup: it has over 800 compounds contibuting to the flavor, more than any other beverage. Can you turn off one genetic attribute and not affect others? We shall see the results from the current research work (being conducted in Hawaii).

The Decaf Processes: Green coffee is decaffeinated before roasting. This process changes to color of the green coffee: it varies from light brown (Natural and CO-2) to very dark brown ( MC and Swiss Water Process -SWP- decafs). We are listing a new, exciting decaf coffee as WP -Water Process ... new because it comes from a source other than Swiss Water and exciting because the cup quality is superb.

Decaf coffee roast faster than non-decaf coffees. Part of the differences in how a decaf roasts are due to the physical changes the coffee has experienced in the decaffeination process. But in an air roaster it is also affected by the smooth surface of the bean, which allows more air to flow around the coffee without transfering the roaster heat to the bean. This smooth appearance is due to the fact that decaffeination removes much of the thin chaff silverskin from the outside of the coffee. As a plus, decaf produces little chaff that will collect in your air roaster chaff collector.

Because of the darker color of decaf coffees, especially the very dark SWP ones, it is difficult to roast decaf by judging the color. It's best to pay attention to the sound of the cracks and the roast aromas. It takes a few roasts to understand these sights and smells, but its a fun process and even if the coffee comes out a bit too light or too dark, it will still be freshly home roasted! And that beats most store-bought coffee any day!

Decafs can have a lower 1st and 2nd crack temperature, and can progress faster between the cracks. You can also see oils emerge a few days after roasting a decaf despite the fact that you did not reach 2nd crack (the usual reason you would see oils emerge). This is because the bean structure of a decaf is more fragile after the process, and the cell walls in the coffee tend to rupture at a lower temperature, allowing oils to migrate to the surface. As with all coffees, oils stale when exposed to oxygen, soit is preferred that your coffee is not oily on the surface ... but for darker roasts and decafs it is unavoidable.

Our Decaf Coffee Offerings: (You will need to read the reference page to interpret terms and numbers used below

Costa Rica Coop Libertad WP Decaf
Country:	Costa Rica	Grade:	SHB	Region:	Central Valley	Mark:	CoopLibertad
Processing:	Wet-Processed, then water process decaf	Crop:	Sept 2007 Arrival	Appearance:	.4 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen	Varietal:	Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5)		3.6	Notes: It used to be that water-process decafs were generic coffees; you really couldn't verify that the original source coffee was a good cup ... or even specialty coffee at all! It was possible for large roasters to send their own lots to Swiss Water for decaffeination, but that was impossible for everyone else. So often the source lot was bought by the decaffeinating facility, and their goal was to cut cost. Now we have been able to buy coffees that we cup as regular non-decaf lots and verify the quality, then re-cup after decaffeination to see the effect of the process. That's the case here with this lot from Coop Libertad in the Central Valley growing region. It really has appropriate Costa Rica cup character: This comes through very well after the Water Process decaf in this cup.The cup has bright aromatics, both dry fragrance and wet. There's a sweet roasty note, honeyed with a hint of light mollasses. The cup is bright, sweet and floral, suprisingly delicate for a decaf. It has honeysuckle floral notes, a small ampount of sweet citrus, and a very clean finish. Quite a classic Central cup profile, considering it has to endure the indignity of the decaf process, I am surprised at the elegance of this cup.
Wet Aroma (1-5)		3.5
Brightness - Acidity (1-10)		8.6
Flavor - Depth (1-10)		8.5
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)		3
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)		8.5
Cupper's Correction (1-5)		0	Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium-Bold intensity / Outstanding clarity and brightness, crisp cup profile
add 50		50	Roast: City to City + is ideal. See the notes above about brightness and acidity.
Score (Max. 100)		85.7	Compare to: Brighter and (therefore) bolder than other Panamas. Almost Kenya-like brightness! See my Best of Panama travelogue for pictures of the 1800+ meter plot where our coffee comes from.

Costa Rica
Coop Libertad WP Decaf •

$5.80

$11.02

$25.23

$48.14

$89.32

Colombia MC Decaf - Huila Tolima
Country:	Colombia	Grade:	Excelso	Region:	Tolima Region, Huila	Mark:	Tres Lunas
Processing:	Wet Processed, then MC decaf.	Crop:	March 2008 Arrival	Appearance:	0 d/300gr, 16-18 Screen	Varietal:	Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5)		3.6	Notes: This is a lot from the Tolima district, Huila department. In recent years we have been buying some remarkable coffees from this region of South Huila department, and in fact our most recent Cup of Excellence coffee is from the same area. So what we have here is a great coffee, sent direct to the German decaffeination plant KVW for their Methyl Chloride (MC) process and then returned to us. While there is often the strong possibility of a coffee going "flat" at the decaf plant, losing all its origin character, it always helps to start with a great coffee. Traditionally, brokers bought decaf from the plant, coffee supplied from lower grade "stocklots" by the decaffeinator themselves. The results were never very impressive. Now we are able to designate high quality lots, and get these kinds of results. In fact, this is one of the brightest, most lively decaf Colombia lots we have ever had, and I dare say it keeps pace with fine quality non-decaf Colombia offerings. The fragrance of the dry grounds is noticeably sweet and bright. The wet aroma has a bit of citrus and floral component. The cup has sweet orange, and is very lively, especially when you consider it is a decaf. Some of my tests roasts were too light for this type of brightness; City roast tasted too sour. At City + and darker the fruited notes were in much better balance. The body is light, and this suits the crisp character of this coffee. It rates well among other quality non-decaf Huila lots, and that's impressive in itself!
Wet Aroma (1-5)		3.5
Brightness - Acidity (1-10)		8.6
Flavor - Depth (1-10)		8.5
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)		3
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)		8.6
Cupper's Correction (1-5)		0	Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium Intensity / Crisp citrus notes, clean sweet cup.
add 50		50	Roast: City+ for the cup I describe, FC if you want to tone down the brightness a bit
Score (Max. 100)		85.8	Compare to: This Huila Tolima cups like a fine Huila: it seems to have forgotten that it was sent to Germany and decaffeinated.

Colombia
MC Decaf - Huila Tolima •

$5.80

$11.02

$25.23

$48.14

$89.32

Ethiopia Dry-Process Sidamo WP Decaf
Country:	Ethiopia	Grade:	Four	Region:	Sidamo	Mark:	Water Process Decaf
Processing:	Dry-Processed, then WP Decaf	Crop:	January 2008 arrival	Appearance:	.4 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen	Varietal:	Shortberry and Longberry types
Dry Fragrance (1-5)		3.7	Notes: It seems inevitable that a name we put on a coffee is going to be this complicated; why not just make up fanciful names like Abyssinia Delight or African Trader or ... well, I would rather just stick to the facts, and in this case the facts are: Dry-processed coffee from the Sidamo region, processed for decaf using the Water Process (WP) method. Now that's confusing. This is still very much a Sidamo and that's the beauty of this coffee. It's bright, aromatic, spicey, fruited. We started with an exceptional lot of Ogsaddey Dry-process Sidamo, which is a bright, fruited cup, highly aromatic, and we end up with something that can be described exactly the same way. This decaf Sidamo has all the top-end bright notes and floral-fruit flavors endemic to a really good Sidamo. I has medium body, nice aromatics of fruit, wild-honeyed roast tastes, with a long finish. There are orangey citric notes, and a bit of syrup in the finish. There is a unique spiciness in this cup, similar to the blend of mulling spices used for hot apple cider. If I cupped this blind I would not suspect it was decaffeinated!
Wet Aroma (1-5)		3.6
Brightness - Acidity (1-10)		8.6
Flavor - Depth (1-10)		8.7
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)		3
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)		8.4
Cupper's Correction (1-5)		0.5	Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild-Medium intensity / Great aromatics, fruited notes
add 50		50	Roast: City+ to Full City+: works best as a lighter roast for brewed coffee. Note that this coffee seems to roast rather quickly, and seems to pass from 1st to 2nd crack more rapidly than other decaf lots. Why? I dunno. It's great decaf, period
Score (Max. 100)		86.5	Compare to: Highly aromatic, fruited decaf cup. For more info on the Water process and other decaf methods, see my article: http://www.sweetmarias.com/health.eco.html

Ethiopia
Dry-Process Sidamo WP Decaf •

$5.40

$10.26

$23.49

$44.82

$83.16

Kenya AA Auction Lot WP Decaf
Country:	Kenya	Grade:	Auction Lots	Region:	4 growing districts (see description)	Mark:	Auction Lots
Processing:	Wet-Processed, then Water Process Decaf	Crop:	February 2008 Arrival	Appearance:	0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen	Varietal:	Selection 28, 34
Dry Fragrance (1-5)		4	Notes: Water process decafs have really performed amazingly well, and some of the brightest coffees, Ethiopia Yirgacheffes and Kenyas, have been among my favorites. Here is an Auction lot Kenya that has retained it's punctuated, bright character, which would be considered something of a miracle with the older water decaf methods. Normally, a Kenya decaf would come from a bulk lot, but in this case it is from top tier Auction Lot coffees, and I think it shows in the cup. But Kenya Auction coffees come in small lots, so to have enough to send to the decaf plant, 5 had to be combined. We initially had this as a peaberry lot - now it is just the regular beans - same coffee, same farms. They are: Tassia Coop from the Ruiru district, Giogio from Thika region , Fairview Farm from Kiambu area, Chania Coop from Thika, and Ndumberi from Kiambu. The dry fragrance is a bit odd (as are many decafs; they can be a bit incongruous with the cup flavors); it has a "canned fruit" aspect, but has nice orangey notes with strong caramel sweetness. The cup has a key lime brightness at City to City + roast, turning to a more ripe citrus sweetness at FC roast. And with a little more roast, the cup has a better balance between the bright notes and caramel sweetness. But C+ is where it's Kenya character is at it's best; unrepentantly bright! In both roast levels, there is a good malty note, and a complimentary spice; corriander and mild anise hints. When I recupped I felt the fruity citrus note was much more of a sweet Meyer Lemon than the more aggressive Key Lime I found initially, but this pretty much describes the range of brightness you can expect here. Mouthfeel is light and refreshing, appropriate for this bright cup, and there is a sweet floral aspect that is suggested in the wet aroma, and reappears as the cup cools.
Wet Aroma (1-5)		4.5
Brightness - Acidity (1-10)		9.4
Flavor - Depth (1-10)		9
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)		3.2
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)		9.2
Cupper's Correction (1-5)		0	Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium-to-bold intensity / Extraordinary aromatics, sweetness, complexity.
add 50		50	Roast: City - City +: The coffee works at all roast levels, but with proper rest the complexity is at it's acme a bit lighter. At this lighter level, the coffee won't look as pretty as it does at FC+, more surface texture and patchy coloration.
Score (Max. 100)		89.3	Compare to: Classsic super-high grown Guatemala. It reminds me of the El Injerto pure Bourbon.

Kenya AA
Auction Lot WP Decaf •

$6.20

$11.78

$26.97

$51.46

$95.48

Nicaragua Dipilto WP Decaf
Country:	Nicaragua	Grade:	SHG	Region:	Dipilto	Mark:	Proodecoop. Dipilto
Processing:	Wet Process, then WP Decaf	Crop:	Nov 2007 Arrival	Appearance:	0 d/300gr, 17 screen	Varietal:	Typica, Caturra
Dry Fragrance (1-5)		3.4	Notes: This lot of coffee is from the Dipilto region in Nueva Segovia, northern Nicaragua. Dipilto is the region where some of the best, brightest and sweetest Nicaraguas have been coming from, and many top 10 Cup of Excellence lots are Dipilto-region coffees. This was a lot sourced from Proodecoop cooperative in Esteli, then decaffeinated using the water process method, and since I cupped it as non-decaf I know this originated with a good, verified specialty coffee here. Then it is sent off to the decaffeinator in Mexico for the water filtration decaf method. (See links in the header to explain the differences and similarities in processes). You can send great coffee for decaffeination, and it comes back terrible, and the reverse rarely happens (to my knowledge). What you hope for is a coffee with 80% of the original character ... and we have definitely acheived it here. This cups like a good, solid specialty coffee from Nicaragua with light body and clearly defined brightness. The fragrance and aroma are nutty at C+ roast level, with fruit hints, and lightly malted notes. I get a wisp of a pleasant woody note in the cup flavors, and the finish has a kinda oaky quality. It finishes with a sweetness typical of Dipilto coffees, and the light body compliments the overall mildness of this lot.
Wet Aroma (1-5)		3.5
Brightness - Acidity (1-10)		8.4
Flavor - Depth (1-10)		8.5
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)		2.8
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)		8.4
Cupper's Correction (1-5)		0	Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity / Sweetness, brightness
add 50		50	Roast: City+ has the best cup here.
Score (Max. 100)		85.0	Compare to: Good Nicaragua Dipilto character for a decaf, with nice body.

Nicaragua
Dipilto WP Decaf •

$5.30

$10.07

$23.06

$43.99

$81.62

Panama Carmen Estate WP Decaf
Country:	Panama	Grade:	SHB	Region:	Volcan, Paso Ancho	Mark:	Carmen Estate, 1550 to 1750 meters
Processing:	Wet-Processed, then water process decaf	Crop:	Sept 2007 Arrival	Appearance:	0 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen	Varietal:	Typica, Caturra, Catuai
Dry Fragrance (1-5)		3.5	Notes: Carmen Estate is a small farm located high on the hillside above the large, well known Finca La Florentina. In fact, La Florentina used to buy the coffee cherry from all the surrounding farms to augment their own, but this was done for more than increasing the volume. The fact is, La Florentina is down in the flat valley and Carmen Estate roughly another 500-600 meters higher up. Carmen is on a very steep hillside with southern exposure, and due to the high altitude, the coffee has greater density, better acidity, a more piquant cup. So in a way, Florentina was getting some better cup quality with Carmen in the mix. But the farm was passed down to the new generation of the Franceschi family, namely Carlos Franceschi Aguilar (Carmen was his grandmother) ... and he realized that they had a better coffee on their family farm then something to blend with lower-grown coffees. He built an independent mill for the Estate down in the valley using the latest equipment, and began a program to care for the trees using new techniques. This decaf is water-processed from the 1550 to 1750 meter elevation band of the farm (not our special 1800+ meter coffee). The aromatics in the cup are true to the non-decaf Carmen estate coffee, floral and fruited hints, bright, lively. So the surprise for me isn't the delicate notes, preserved through the decaf process; it's the body. I think this has more body than the regular Carmen lots I have cupped, oddly enough. There is a toffee-like sweetness in the cup and it finishes with an excellent, balanced bittersweetness. As it cools the toffee turns candy-like, with Toblerone-like nut-chocolate-toffee notes. It's a very appealing decaf cup.
Wet Aroma (1-5)		3.5
Brightness - Acidity (1-10)		8.3
Flavor - Depth (1-10)		8.5
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)		3.7
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)		8.4
Cupper's Correction (1-5)		0	Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium-Bold intensity / Outstanding clarity and brightness, crisp cup profile
add 50		50	Roast: City + is ideal.
Score (Max. 100)		85.9	Compare to: More balanced than the non-decaf Carmen, with good body an sweetness.

Panama
Carmen Estate WP Decaf •

$6.60

$12.54

$28.71

$54.78

$101.64

Papua New Guinea Kimel WP Decaf
Country:	New Guinea	Grade:	PB	Region:	Eastern Highlands	Mark:	Kimel Plantation
Processing:	Wet Processed	Crop:	Nov 2007 Arrival	Appearance:	.4 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen	Varietal:	Typica
Dry Fragrance (1-5)		3.4	Notes: Papua New Guinea occupies the Eastern half of the island it shares with the Indonesian provice of Irian (no organized coffee production originates 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. The Organic PNG coffees have the more natural, rustic cup character. The plantations are larger farms that have their own coffee processing wet mills, so they are able to control all the variables of production better than the small farm "coffee gardens." Kimel is offered broadly in the US now via the brokerage Royal, and is a solid coffee. But some lots have cupped very "green" and underdeveloped in character, others can be flat and uninteresting. This is the first time the coffee has been available as a water-process decaf lot, and the results are quite favorable. It's a very balanced cup, with good dense body, but also bright floral and fruit hints in the cup. There's a touch of cedar, brown sugar sweet notes, root beer, anise, and a lingering finish that has sweet basil qualities. It's actually quite nuanced for a decaf, and the aftertaste is outstanding.
Wet Aroma (1-5)		3.5
Brightness - Acidity (1-10)		8.4
Flavor - Depth (1-10)		8.5
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)		3.2
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)		8.6
Cupper's Correction (1-5)		0	Intensity/Prime Attribute: Mild intensity /Sweet cup with balance, interesting nuances
add 50		50	Roast: City to City + acheives the sweetness and bright notes.
Score (Max. 100)		85.6	Compare to: A bright, sweet and clean PNG, unique and not much like its Indonesian cousins (Sulawesi, Sumatra, Java).

Papua New Guinea
Kimel WP Decaf •

$5.80

$11.02

$25.23

$48.14

$89.32

Sumatra Lintong Nihuta KVW Decaf
Country:	Indonesia: Sumatra	Grade:	One	Region:	Lintong	Mark:	Nihuta
Processing:	Wet Processed	Crop:	April 2008 Arrival	Appearance:	.4 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen	Varietal:	Typica (Sumatra), Catimor
Dry Fragrance (1-5)		3.5	Notes: KVW is the German decaffeinator using the MC process under the strictest guidelines (much more so that US-processed decafs). This is a unique decaf lot because it starts with specific Sumatra Lintong, that already has some interesting defined character of its own. And as a decaf coffee, this Lintong maintains these unique roast flavors, just as in non-decafs the Blue Batak or the Lake Tawar have rustic sweetness that is so different from classic Mandheling coffees. The dry fragrance is caramelly, almost like butterscotch, with a interesting chocolate biscotti quality. The wet aroma has a deep-toned sweetness, molasses and caramel candy notes. The cup is (again) very carame lly, with medium body (I anticipate something thicker, but it does have a certain dense texture to it). The acidity is low, and there's a certain earthy and woody quality, the later reminding me of sandalwood. As it cools the sweetness turns to a medium malt syrup, and just a touch of sweet hay smell. In the lighter roasts, the finish has a lingering toasted grain note, while darker roasts develop some milk chocolate.
Wet Aroma (1-5)		3.3
Brightness - Acidity (1-10)		7.8
Flavor - Depth (1-10)		8.5
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)		3.9
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)		8.4
Cupper's Correction (1-5)		0	Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / Caramel sweetness with rustic notes.
add 50		50	Roast: Full City to Full City +.
Score (Max. 100)		85.4	Compare to: A silky, heavy body cup with extremely low acidity. Blend with a Ethiopia Decaf 50-50 to make a balanced Moka Java type blend.

Sumatra
Lintong Nihuta KVW Decaf •

$5.60

$10.64

$24.36

$45.92

$86.24

Sweet Maria's Decaf Espresso Blend
Country:	Brazil, Mexico, Sumatra + ...	Grade:	Top Grade	Region:	Variety	Mark:	SWP Decaf and Natural Decaf
Processing:	Wet-processed, Dry-Processed	Crop:	2008 blend	Appearance:	1 d/300gr, 16/17 scr	Varietal:	Varies

	Dry Fragrance:	-	Notes: 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).
	Wet Aroma:	-
	Brightness- Liveliness:	-
	Body- Movement:	-
	Flavor- Depth:	-	Roast: As with all decafs, remember they roast faster and have the propensity to get away from you and end up darker than you expected. So attend to the roaster and stop the roast manually if possible to get it just right. Roast preference with espresso is up to you. I personally prefer the lighter N. Italian roast -just a bit mire than a Full City.
	Finish- Conclusion:	-
	Score:	-	Compare to: Good, balanced, fruity- sweet espresso!
			As espresso: Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium / fruited, sweet

Sweet Maria's
Decaf Espresso Donkey Blend

$5.60

$10.64

$24.36

$46.48

$86.24

South America: Bolivia | Brazil | Colombia | Ecuador | Peru

Decafs: Water Process, Natural Decafs, MC Decafs, C0-2 Decafs

Robustas: India Archives: A - COL | COS - F | G - K | L - P | R - S | T - Z | 2005-2006 | 2004 -2003 | 2001-2002 | Pre-2000
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