So on the advice of my homoeopath I'm giving caffeine a break for a couple of months. I've managed a month so far but I have tired of the taste of Kicking Horse's decaf bean and I'm wanting to try and find a better, fresher substitute until I can get back to the good old caffinated beans.

So what are folks recommendations for a fresh decaf bean sourced in central Vancouver, the only one I can think of is Origins on Granville. Any others?

49th Parallel has an Epic Espresso decaf
JJ Beans has a decaf bean as well

Elysian Room has Intelligentsia decaf black cat (though its not local roasted).

I've only tried the black cat decaf. Not bad, but prefer caffeinated.

I'd suggest going to the shops, trying a cup of decaf and then decide if you want to buy the beans.

Since I switched to fresh roasted (ie. coffee that has been roasted less than 2 weeks ago) I find that caffeine doesn't upset my stomach like some brands did.

Hey Adelemac,

thanks for the info, I hadn't realised 49th were doing a decaf version of the Epic, that is great news! Will be sure to try it first though as you suggest.

I am cutting the decaf along with alcohol, dairy and wheat to see if it has been causing a skin complaint. I hope very much that neither booze or caffeine are to blame; if they are I do not foresee a long term abstinence from them...

the 49th P decaf is very good as is the Origins decaf- harder to find - I get it at the roaster on granville island. both are about $15 pound.

Do you know the opening hours of the Roaster down there? Or do they just follow regular hours like the rest of the market. I looked at their home page and nothing is mentioned there.

One of the plus sides of the Vancouver fringe festival is that some shows take place in Origins, so even if the play sucks you can enjoy the smells and sights in there I confess the first time I caught a show there despite it being very good my attention kept wondering to roasting equipment!

The market is open 9 am to 7 pm, but I'd give Origins a phone call to see if they are open the same hours (note: in January the market is closed on Mondays for cleaning, according to their website).

and let us know what you think of their decaf beans

I had a pretty lousy experience with the last batch of decaf Epic I got from 49th Parallel. I am used to decaf not having any of the usual visual indicators of freshness and quality during the shot, but the coffee I received pulled like the ancient supermarket beans I sometimes buy to break in grinders. Channeling all over no matter how finely I ground, and not especially nice in the cup. It was bad enough that I was going to spend some time and take videos to post here, but the remainder of the coffee was given to the person it was bought for (I only have decaf when a friend who can't drink regular comes to stay).

Hey there! I've bean impressed with Re-Entry Espresso's regular espresso roast. The are on Main. They also do a decaf which is quite popular.

I keep meaning to visit Re-entry as I live near there. I'll be sure to go and check it out.

Also I tried the decaf from JJ Beans the other night (on Commercial), very pleasant indeed, nice crema and body without any of the bitterness I've experienced from decaf beans in the past.