Philip Ashby
Decaf coffee can really suck. However, when you don’t want the caffeine, but are still jonesin’ for a cup of coffee, it’s a must. Even if it doesn’t quite taste the same.
Caffeine is flavorless, so why does coffee without it often taste so bad? One reason is decaffeinating coffee isn’t cheap, so some roasters opt to use inferior beans to balance out costs. The process itself can affect flavor, too.
There are a few ways to decaffeinate beans, some of which use chemicals like methylene chloride. Colectivo Coffee, along with many other quality roasters, goes chemical-free, using a water process that extracts the caffeine using good ol’ H20.
I stopped in at Colectivo, 25 S. Pinckney St., to give its water-process decaf a whirl. On the menu that day was a brewed decaf Sumatra Highlands. At first sip, it was clearly recognizable as a Sumatran coffee. The full body and juiciness were there in the mouthfeel, especially up front.
My disappointment — and it’s a common one for decaf — was that while the brew strength seemed fine, the flavors tasted watered down. With the herbal and spicy qualities of the Sumatran bean, there were more tea-like qualities than usual in a cup of joe. Still, for a buzz-free option, it was pretty good.
