Decaf doesn’t have to be an afterthought. In short, can decaf be good? Yes. But there's a bit more to it than that. 

In coffee culture over the span of the last three plus decades, decaf has amassed a certain reputation. People still regularly say “death before decaf”, and it’s seen in a lot of cafes as being an afterthought, or something that’s offered solely because it has to be, with no real intentionality or expertise behind it. And while in some cafes that may be true, it’s becoming less true. Decaf doesn’t have to be an afterthought, it can easily be (and sometimes is)  the main event. 

Decaf can be just as good as your favorite specialty coffee, but you have to source high quality specialty green decaf, and you have to not only know how to roast it, but put the same kind of intentionality and time into development and roasting as you would a really expensive single origin coffee. 

A long time ago when decaf was first put on the market, some pretty harsh chemical solvents were used to decaffeinate the coffee - and that is understandably a turn-off for most people, myself included. Since then, however, decaffeination methodology has come a long way, and now there are really clean decaf methods that yield a really clean cup. The main four are Swiss Water Process, Mountain Water Process, EA/Sugarcane, and CO2. Any of those are properly safe to drink, and leave more of the bean structure and the volatile compounds intact, leading to a final product that can actually be really good.  

Decaf coffee, as good as the new methods are, is still at some level slightly damaged, and you can’t overlook that. On a basic level, in order to be decaffeinated, green coffee is heated in a steam bath and then a water solution (this differs a little bit depending on method) is used to remove the caffeine molecules. From experience, I would say it’s probably at 90% compared to caffeinated coffee, but there is still some small level of structural compromise, and you have to roast with that in mind. 

A big part of roasting any coffee is knowing the coffee you’re using and working with it. All coffee roasts differently depending on varietal, where it was grown, temperature, altitude, etc. and knowing that going in to develop the roast is critical to producing really high quality coffee. It’s even more important with decaf. We approach decaf knowing that it’s been through a different process, and that it’s more sensitive to heat in the roasting process, and adjust for that. Decaf or not, we want the coffee to be the best that it can be, and to highlight the characteristics and flavor profile that that specific origin has. When we go in to develop and roast decaf, we approach it with all of that in mind so that we can get the best decaf that we can. 

Coffee sourcing is a huge component of the final product. We source really high quality green coffee not only for our single origins, but especially for our decaf. Our decaf is actually one of the more expensive coffees that we purchase. Really good green coffee makes a huge difference in the final product, decaf or not. You can buy mediocre green coffee, roast it really well, and still be left with a mediocre end product. Or you can buy really good green coffee, roast it really well, and have a phenomenal end product. Sourcing the highest quality coffee that you can is so important. And that’s exactly why we do. 

We want any decaf that we release at Promenade to be comparable to any of our other single origins or blends. Decaf might be an afterthought for some, but here it’s a main event.  

All that said, the culture is changing! A lot of people who have worked in the specialty coffee industry for a long time can’t do the level of caffeine all the time that they once could, and are looking for decaf options that fit into that lighter roasted specialty coffee criteria. As it continues to change I think there will be more and more options for really good decaf, and more roasters changing and putting decaf more into focus on their roast development. 

Coffee is far more than just liquid caffeine, and so many people are looking for specific flavor profiles and a certain level of quality. That doesn’t have to stop at regular coffee, great cup profiles can come from decaf. So much so that if you want something tasty, you might reach for a bag of decaf instead of a bag off full-caf. 

Slow down, make coffee, & take a walk, 

Austin 

Promenade Coffee 

 

 

 

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