I'm going to visit my wife's sister in a few weeks. Her husband has a super-auto which kinda sucks but is still better than *$. Over the last couple years every time I take beans and he has really liked some of the stuff I've brought him. He has enjoyed Black Cat, Zoka's Paladino, Dancing Goat, and Ambrosia from Caffe Fresco. Problem is, last time I was there I came into the kitchen with him and to both our horror his wife had mixed the beans I brought him with some *$ decaf beans she bought at the store. (I almost cried)

Apparently, they usually mix decaf and regular beans to end up with half-caf in the hopper. To avoid this travesty in the future... I was hoping to find a good regular/decaf combo so I can bring them a pound of each and avoid the murdering of good beans...

Any recommendations for half-caf?

Do they buy decent coffee by themselves or only when you give it to them?

Pick any great roaster that has a decaf espresso and a 'regular' one. Intelligentsia has both in their Black Cat lineup. I'm sure if you mix them together 50/50 you will get something far tastier than the crime against humanity you described above. I don't think it will be in the league of good coffee unbounded by caffeine constraints, but it should be fine.

I doubt your friends would be interested, but in all honesty, I think the right recommendation is "drink half the coffee and call it a day."

I'd suggest getting one pound of Redline Espresso and one pound of Decaf Redline.

All - Thanks for the recommendations.

Bluecold wrote:Do they buy decent coffee by themselves or only when you give it to them?

This is an evolutionary process. They used to drink starbucks only... after a visit or two to my house he has realized how much better what I serve is and is opening his eyes. His wife, however, claims she can't tell the difference. So they drink good coffee sometimes and swill other times

shadowfax wrote:I doubt your friends would be interested, but in all honesty, I think the right recommendation is "drink half the coffee and call it a day."

Agreed! And I think those of us who drink good coffee tend to be satisfied with a bit less (although it's all relative). But at the end of the day, I don't really care how much they drink. I like to share great coffee whenever possible -and when I'm there - I want to drink it So it's somewhat selfish, but I want to make sure when I'm in town there is good coffee and I know that for that to happen there needs to be a mix of regular/decaf beans.

Dodger1 wrote:I'd suggest getting one pound of Redline Espresso and one pound of Decaf Redline.

Thanks for this - Redline is in my rotation at home so I know that I like the regular beans.

Thanks!

Counter Culture has a half-caf that is sold at Whole Foods around here. It is the coffee I settled on when I had a super auto because it tasted better than anything else I tried with that machine. I have never seen it on the retail site though.

karmacafe wrote:Counter Culture has a half-caf that is sold at Whole Foods around here. It is the coffee I settled on when I had a super auto because it tasted better than anything else I tried with that machine. I have never seen it on the retail site though.

Thanks David - I'll email them to see if I can find any information. Sounds like it would be a good bet if I can get it.

Just make sure when you "mix them 50-50" that it's after brewing.

I've had most of the good decaf "twins" mentioned here from Intelligensia, Metropolis, Redbird, Water Avenue's El Toro etc. and not once has the decaf's optimal grind or dose been the same as for its caffeinated brother - and seldom even close. Most decafs need a much finer grind for good extraction and balance, so mixing the beans prior to the grind and brew will compromise both versions, over-extracting one and under-extracting the other. No wonder the result isn't nearly as good as either done separately.

So here's a good application for that double-spouted PF; just split separate decaf and regular shots back-to-back.