cafehopeful Senior Member Joined: 18 Nov 2003 Posts: 19 Location: houston Expertise: Just starting
Posted Fri Nov 21, 2003, 2:07pm Subject: Decaf revisited
Every rating site seems to have a coffee as their top rated. It is subjective and so I'm sure I'll end up trying most of them myself, but I'm curious about the Black Cat, the California Expresso from California Coffee Roasters and any of the decafs from Whole Latte Love.
Anyone ever try more than one of these to compare? Decaf is always so much different than regular, but I'm only interested in the decafs.
jim_schulman Senior Member Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 3,772 Location: Chicago Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Sun Nov 23, 2003, 11:37am Subject: Re: Decaf revisited
The Black Cat Decaf is unique in that Intelligentsia is having the Swiss Water plant in Canada decaffeinate the exact same beans they use in the regular Black Cat. In the samples I had, it was hard to distinguish the two unless drunk side by side.
Most roasters buy decafs from the decafing plant, who, alas, usually buy less than great beans. This, more than the loss in decaffeination, accounts for the taste deficit.
Fortunately this is changing. I'd particularly like to mention Royal Coffee Importers in this respect, who are having some of their best Single Origin coffees decaffeinated in Mexico. These are sometimes labelled "Royal Select" decafs by resellers (Royal doesn't sell diret to the public), and are usually a great cup.
I buy it green and roast it myself; Sweet Maria's and Coffee Wholesalers sell it that way. Coffeewholesalers also sell them (laballed "natural water process") roasted at an excellent price.
I use a blend of 50% Harar, 15 - 25% Columbian, 25 - 35% Sulawesi. Email them, if you set up a weekly order (after trying it of course), they may deal on mixing it up for you.
jim_schulman Senior Member Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 3,772 Location: Chicago Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Sun Nov 23, 2003, 6:15pm Subject: Re: Decaf revisited
???
All the coffees they label "natural water process" are from Royal. The processing plant happens to be in Mexico, but that's not on the label; and the Mexican decaf they sell is not one of these, neither is it suitable for espresso.
I've never tried the their Emerald Isle blend either caf or decaf, but the decaf version is also made from these coffees.
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