Is there a drinkable decaf coffee for espresso out of the big brands - something that is not specialty coffee? I remember drinking a decent kimbo shot but it was years ago and i'm not sure I remember it correctly.

I picked up the decaf from Espresso Vivace. I really enjoy it. It's a darker roast in the northern Italian style that David Schomer's Espresso Vivace is known for roasting. The decaf process is Swiss Water, which, is still my favorite due to the ultra low caffeine content allowing my espresso drinking to go later in the day.

I'd recommend finding a roaster with a Colombian sugarcane (EA process) bean. I've really enjoyed those greens as espresso and decaf.

I like Sey decaf field blend, Wokshop Coffee, La Serranta Decaf Espresso, Noble Blend, Decaf World tour, and Noble Blend Decaf Sidana,

You have to grind finer and time is longer with Espresso.

Milligan wrote:I'd recommend finding a roaster with a Colombian sugarcane (EA process) bean. I've really enjoyed those greens as espresso and decaf.

I prefer these as well. In fact, of the green decaf that I have roasted, the EA from Colombia and Mexico have looked and smelled better before roasting too. They say the process is gentler to the green than Swiss Water. I don't know if that is true or not but from what I have seen it does seem to be the case.

I've been getting more into Decaf and Sightglass Hunky Dory has been really great especially since I'm local to the Bay Area and can just pick it up from their shop. They use a blended washed and Swiss Water method for decaffeination and offer beans roasted for espresso and for filter. I've been brewing mostly with Stagg[x] and I can't tell the difference between this and a normal caffeinated coffee (although my tastes might not be refined enough so take that with a grain of salt).

I tried SG Hunky Dory a few weeks ago also. It was OK. I need to try it again and dial it in a bit more than I did with the first bag of beans. Decided to try out Linea Big Calm Decaf this week. We shall see...