I like coffee, but my doctor wants me to drink mostly decaf, with one cup a day of the real stuff. (I have to admit that it does help my heartburn to do so, much as I hate the idea.) For regular, I have gone through a bunch of brands since Starbucks stopped selling their Ethiopia Sidamo some years ago, and have finally settled on Peet’s Big Bang as a reasonable replacement. But I haven’t found a generally available decaf that I like, and I was hoping that someone could recommend something appropriate. I take coffee with cream but no sugar, and I like my coffee to taste smooth. I fix each cup with a Clever coffee dripper, since I’m the only coffee drinker in the house. In the Seattle area, I have an embarrassment of choices, but just makes it harder to find the one thing I will really like best. I’m not wild about having make a special trip just to buy coffee, so supermarket brands are preferred, but around here that includes quite a few niche brands like Stumptown.
What would you all recommend?
I’m on the decaf wagon, too. Yeah, my heartburn and other issues also improve a lot when I avoid caffeine. Sucks, don’t it?
It looks like your taste in coffee is pretty much like mine. I do love Stumptown’s decaf, too, but they’re a bit pricey. We’ve settled on Lavazza decaf, which we buy from Amazon.
Another one we’ve had in the past that’s in the same flavor profile is Whole Foods’ store brand bulk decaf. I think their store brand coffee is called “Allegro”.
I had to switch to decaf several years ago due to an irregular heartbeat. I have been drinking Dunkin’ Donuts decaf, which is stocked at Kroger, Giant Eagle, and even Walmart here in Ohio. It is smooth and has very good flavor. It sells for about 5 or 7 dollars for a 20 ounce package at the grocery. Amazon has it for a little more. Most importantly, it does not taste like decaf.
I order my decaf from New Mexico Pinon Coffee. They have flavored and non-flavored (although it’s all pinon roasted), dark, medium and light roast. Order a 2 lb bag and get a second one for half price. Flat rate $10 shipping.
There are half-caffs out there that are pretty decent. You could switch to drinking two half-caffs and cut the amount of decaf you have to drink by at least one cup per day.
I started buying Folgers Half Caff earlier this year. It’s stocked locally and easy to find.
It’s pretty good. I miss full strength coffee, but am glad there’s other choices.
I also had to cut down on caffeine for heart issues: AFib in my case. So I buy Dunkin’ Donuts ground coffee, and blend it with three parts decaf to one part regular (usually Hazelnut). That way I can drink most of a pot if I feel like it, but I’m only getting a modest amount of caffeine in my system. Call it a “homeopathic” way to get my caffeine fix.
The only decaf I’ve had that tastes anything like the real thing is the Trader Joe’s house brand. I get the whole bean coffee and grind just enough for one pot at a time.
Check out George Howell coffee. They use the methylene-chloride method, which damages the coffee flavor the least. They are, however, a third-wave roaster, which is basically the opposite of a dark Starbucks roast.