[JohnA]

I agree with everything that Rick Helms said above. I searched many decafs and settled in on a Guatemala SWP at a medium roast. Since my wife needed to cut back on her caffeine intake, recently. I started doing a medium Mexico Chapias 50% and mixed it with a 50% Guatemala SWP Decaf at a medium roast, now I have her and myself at 75% decaf and 25% caffeinated. I honestly can't tell much difference now.

[costaricacoffee]

experts defending decaf? what is next?

[RichHelms]

There is an interesting article in this month's issue of Roast Magazine on decafs. The decaffeination process costs money so by definition decaf coffee is more expensive. But many decaf drinkers are not INTO coffee so want it cheaper. The result is companies start with cheap beans.

Sometimes in the evening we want a decaf. I found an excellent Columbian decaf. Definitely not cheap, not quite as good as the same bean made as a regular but a nice cup of coffee.

So to the original question "Is decaf coffee poorer quality?" The answer is usually yes.

[Spyder]

I'm not a roaster by any definition, but I'd have to say it highly depends on the bean origin being used and the process used to process them. We use ONE decaf for drip/espresso and it works well for both. Has great taste too! I don't like the fact it's roasted a bit darker than the rest of what I like to use, but it must be the nature of the beast. Taste is so convincing most customers take a sip and ask me "are you sure this is decaf?"

We have an increasing amount of customers that want half caff/half decaf and to each his/her own.

The only negative part of decaf for me is that it degrades quite a bit faster than the rest of my stock. For drip not so much of a problem, but for espresso it might make it to the 9-10 day point MAX then just flattens out and this is regardless of storage/extraction methods.

[RichHelms]

Decaf beans also roast much faster. I have to use a milder roast profile with less heat.