Hi Everyone,

I know that there are fewer decaf espresso drinkers out there, but for those of you who do use decaf, which roasters / espresso do you find work the best? From what I am able to gather, one of the bigger downsides to using decaf is that you get much less crema due to the decaffeination process, whether it be water or chemical.

I have used Ceremony decaf house blend to some degree of success in the past. I recently tried Redbird decaf espresso and didn't have a lot of success with it, especially as compared with their regular espresso blend. This week I am trying Madcaps Las Serranias decaf blend and although it seems pretty good flavor wise, it also doesn't produce a lot of sustained crema.

As an aside note, I saw another post which refereed to the Deep Cello roasters as a good roaster to try as they sell good sized samples for a cheep price. One of the coffees they make is called 'Speedbump' and is a "low caf" coffee. I put in an order to try it in hopes that it will be a good combo of low caf and good crema, but we shall see.

Did you have a chance to try speedbump? Id love to know what you thought.

Kelly Deep Cello.

Yes, I tried it and liked it. Granted I only got a sample so I didn't have that many uses before I ran out, but I intend to order it again. I would love to know of other low caf beans out there in the market that might be a good compromise between caffeine and crema production.

Since I only drink decaf occasionally (probably averages to about 4-5 shots a week), I like to get the freshly roasted bulk coffee from Whole Foods (the Allegro Espresso Bel Canto or Organic Mexican). I can always find coffee that is just one or two days post roast and I can buy small volumes that I'll finish in a couple days.

While the consistency is not as great as specialty roasters (sometimes the coffee seems over-roasted to me), my biggest issue with decaf is that its "staleness curve" is fast and pretty discrete - it will be good for a couple days and then all of a sudden the extractions suck. Since I can buy small volumes frequently, and since if it looks like a bad batch I just won't buy it (it's sold it bulk), Whole Foods is a good choice for my decaf.

I haven't had it in a while, but I always enjoyed Counter Culture's Decaf Espresso Rustico.

My wife is a decaf drinker (which is a pain in my morning routine because I hand grind her beans) and we've tried a few different decaf options before she settled on her favorites. For milk drinks (she likes cappas) she by far prefers the Decaf Swiss Water Process Blend from Compass Coffee. This is our "house" decaf at this point and there is always some on reserve in the freezer.

In the low caf category - we found speedbump from Deep Cello to be phenomenal. As a straight shot or in an americano this is a favorite in our house. Doesn't hold up as well to milk drinks but has a fantastic flavor profile and richness in an americano. I tried a sample when I was ordering some Nostromo and my wife was "ordering" americanos until it was gone. I also find it to be a great option for evening drinks for me (although... time of day never really has much impact on my caffeine intake )

I'm curious about the crema production from the Compass Coffee? Is it a large amount and does it persist or fade quickly in the cup?

Also, I'm curious about she doesn't like about the SpeedBump as a milk based drink. Did the flavor not come through or did she not like the flavor that did come through?

Thx.