After a thread a week or so ago I decided to add some decaf coffees.
This is Black and White’s Hambela Natural, an ethyl acetate decaf grown and processed in Ethopia and then decaffeinated in Germany.
This is a very young coffee, roasted last week, but I am impatient. I used a pretty typical V60 recipe. The drawdown was a little long even accounting for a long bloom, over 4 minutes, so I’ll need to grind a bit coarser going forward. Extraction is pretty close, so to compensate for the quicker brew I’ll go up a hair on temp from 92 to probably 94.
The coffee itself has bite from its youth, but interesting flavor notes are showing. Cocoa, cranberry, tart cherry. Not a lot of natural sweetness, but I think that has more to do with the age and me needing to refine my brew. I’m not sure it’s remarkable enough that I’d favor it going forward over their standard decaf, but we’ll see. Black and White, in its usual style, does have a funkier decaf among its rotating options that I haven’t tried.
Thank you for the update! I super enjoy your note descriptions; it sounds like a great roast and one I’ll definitely be picking up soon. I’ve been craving some tartness! I was honestly considering their Gummy Sharks as well- I super like the name’s they use for their beans 🤭
An update for the Luminous decaf - I think the previous batch of beans I had purchased were compromised in some way. I’m going to assume it was on my end; I repurchased them since they had a bogo deal a week or two ago and decided to give them another try. It’s a night and day difference. Super sweet, a lot more body, and dynamic notes similar to a caffeinated cup. I would definitely recommend them if you’re looking for a sweet decaf sometime!