Fruddled Gruntbugglies

Tag: decaf

  • Zeke’s Tell Tale Decaf

    Zeke’s Tell Tale Decaf

    Written on

    in

    • Beans: Tell Tale Decaf (blend)
      • Roaster: Zeke’s Coffee (Baltimore, MD)
      • Origin: “Smoky Italian roast and lightly roasted Central American”
      • Roast level: Medium/Dark (6/8)
      • Roast date: unknown (batch #25000567)
      • Purchase date: 6/15/2025 from Zeke’s at Baltimore Farmer’s Market
        Freeze date: 6/20/2025; Thaw date: 7/10/2025
        First cup: 6/17/2025 or 6/18/25; Last cup: TBD
      • Process: Water processed decaf
      • Tasting notes: none noted on bag
    • V60 with Ode grinder (2 cups):
      • 40g coffee / 600g water (1:15)
      • Ode: 4
      • Water at 90°C
      • Size 2 V60 cone
      • Pour 80g to bloom and agitate; at 0:45, pour to 300g; wait for some draw-down (try to keep cone mostly full but not overflowing); pour to 450g; draw down a little more; pour to 600g; swirl — finishes 03:20-03:30

    I had brewed 2 or 3 cups of this before freezing it last month, but didn’t get around to typing up any notes until now. I believe that the local grocery store carries this blend, but we bought this bag directly from the roaster at the Baltimore Farmer’s Market. It’s the first decaf from Zeke’s that I’ve tried. I like this a lot — it is very roasty and well-balanced. Not much to add to that, as it’s not a particularly complex coffee, but I will add notes for brewing a single cup once I’ve done it again.

  • Gracefully Colombian Decaf

    Gracefully Colombian Decaf

    Written on

    in

    • Beans: Colombian Mountain Water Process Decaf
      • Roaster: Gracefully Coffee Roasters (Baltimore, MD)
      • Roast level: Medium
      • Origin: Colombia
      • Roast date: 02/12/2025
      • Purchase date: 02/21/2025 at Gracefully Curbside Cafe (2601 N Rolling Rd Ste 104, Windsor Mill, MD)
      • Tasting notes: milk chocolate, caramel, citrus
    • V60:
      • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
      • Ode: 4 to 4+1
      • Water at 92-95°C
      • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover (60g pulses) – finishes around 03:30

    This is another pretty good decaf. It’s definitely on par with the offerings from Brewing Good and Rise Up, and I’ll likely cycle through these (depending on availability/freshness; Rise Up can be hit-or-miss around here) until another local competitor comes along. The grounds draw down fairly slowly, though not as slowly as the Brewing Good decaf. I brewed most of the single cups in a size 1 V60, and double cups in the size 2. We’ve taken a long time to go through this bag, and as of this writing, it’s over 6 weeks past roast date and starting to degrade a little bit. I brewed most of the early cups at grind 4 and water at 95°C, but more recently, I noticed some slight bitterness, so I backed off to 4+1/92.

  • Brewing Good Decaf Ethiopia

    Brewing Good Decaf Ethiopia

    Written on

    in

    • Beans: Decaf Ethiopia,Sidama
      • Roaster: Brewing Good Coffee Company (Savage, MD)
      • Origin: Ethiopia (Arroresa, Sidama)
      • Roast level: Medium
      • Roast date: 1/26/2025
      • Purchase date: 2/9/2025 at BGCC in Savage Mill
      • Process: Washed; Varietals: Heirloom; Grade: 2; Elevation: 1850-2200 MASL
      • Tasting notes: Gentle brightness, medium body and sweetness, notes of spiced plum, crisp apple, almond, vanilla, and caramel
    • V60:
      • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
      • Ode: 2+2
      • Water at 95°C
      • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover with 36-40g bloom water – finishes 04:00-04:05

    This is very different from the Ethiopian light roast that I bought at BG at the same time. It is a smooth medium roast with no hint of acidity. Definitely not as complex as the light roast, but nice body and overall a very drinkable decaf. The beans have one of the slowest draw-down times of anything I’ve brewed with the V60, but none of the cups have tasted bitter or over-extracted. The recipe also works well doubled, but with the slow draw-down, I had to be careful not to overflow the size 2 V60. I’m sure I’ll eventually buy more of these.

  • Foxtail Decaf Colombia

    Written on

    in

    • Beans: Decaf Colombia from Foxtail Coffee Co. (Winter Park, FL)
      • Roast level: Medium/Dark (4/5)
      • Roast date: 10/11/2024
      • Purchase date: 10/21/2024 at Foxtail Coffee in Mount Dora, FL
      • Process: Washed
    • V60:
      • 20g coffee / 300g water (1:15)
      • Ode: 5
      • Water at 90°C
      • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover with 40g bloom water – finishes 03:15-03:30
    • AeroPress:
      • 14.8g coffee / 210g water (1:14.2)
      • JX: 20 (2 rotations)
      • Water at 90°C
      • Prismo with metal + 1 paper filter (rinsed with insta-hot tap water)
      • Pour all water at once / Stir back to front 7x / Steep until 02:45 / Stir 7x again / Press slowly

    This is a rather coarse grind setting for this particular recipe, but the beans draw down very slowly, which seems to balance things out. Fairly smooth cup with little to no bitterness. Very roasty/smoky tasting, which I guess is to be expected given that it’s a darker roast.

    3/19: These beans aged well, as the last few cups were really smooth and tasty. I used up the last of the beans with the above AeroPress recipe, deliberately making it on the strong side, and it was a really excellent cup. Who needs caffeine, anyways? 😆

  • Rise Up Organic Decaf Coffee

    Written on

    in

    • Beans: “Organic Decaf Coffee” from Rise Up Coffee Roasters (Easton, MD)
      • Roast level: Medium (3/5)
      • Origin: Ethiopia (Yirgacheffe)
      • Roast date: 9/24/2024
      • Purchase date: 10/9/2024 at Green Valley Marketplace (Elkridge, MD)
    • V60:
      • 19 to 19.2g coffee / 300g water (1/15.6 to 1/15.8)
      • Ode: 4
      • Water at 95°C
      • Recipe: Single Cup V60 Pourover with 40g bloom water

    This was my first time brewing decaf coffee with the V60. I brewed it using the same settings I would start with for any other medium roast, and it turned out well-balanced and bright. Most of the decaf I’ve had over the years has been akin to brown, vaguely coffee-flavored water, so I was pleasantly surprised. I bought this mainly for my better half, but I may occasionally sneak a cup for myself if I find myself wanting coffee later in the evening. We’ll probably freeze some of the beans to try to keep them fresh for longer, as I doubt we’ll go through them as fast as I go through a typical 12-to-16 ounce bag. I’m sure I’ll buy these again.

    11/21: I froze what we had left of these on around 10/19-10/20, and took them out at the beginning of this week. They seem to have survived the freezer just fine, as the above settings produced another good cup (from what I could tell from the sip or two I took of it). That said, I think if we buy 12 ounces of decaf beans at a time, we should have no problem going through them fast enough to avoid having to freeze them. It’s good to know that we can, though.