Decaf Reviews

Evaluated as espresso. Sweet-toned and quietly complex: pungent fir and dark chocolate dominate, with top-note hints of lemon and flowers. Mouthfeel is smooth if slightly lean; cleanly rich, straightforward finish. At best in two parts milk, where the chocolate softens and rounds to fill out the milk nicely, complicated by continued suggestions of lemon and fir.

Deep, rich, balanced when hot. Fresh-cut fir, milk chocolate and an apricot-like fruit in the aroma; in the cup the chocolate turns crisper and more cocoa-like and the fruit more lemony. Softly round acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor fades in the finish, though the pleasing chocolate note persists.

Sweet-toned aroma and flavor: caramel, dark chocolate, aromatic wood and a hint of fruit. Soft but distinct acidity and a round, silky mouthfeel. A richly sweet short finish gives way to a slightly papery astringency in the long.

Softly roasty aroma with hints of aromatic wood and molasses. Smooth, balanced and chocolaty in the cup with complications of orange and fresh-cut wood. Simplifies in the finish with the wood note lingering.

Sweet, rich, almost fermenty fruit character. In the aroma dark chocolate, molasses, raisin and a hint of fresh-cut fir. In the cup backgrounded acidity, syrupy mouthfeel, continued raisiny chocolate and pungent fir notes. Simplifies as the cup cools.

Nut and fresh-cut wood dominate the delicate aroma, softened by a hint of chocolate. In cup and finish the cocoaish chocolate becomes richer and more explicit, though a faint woody flatness (probably decaffeination-related) continues to haunt the cup. Attractive, lightly syrupy mouthfeel.

Bright, sweetly tart. Distinct orange-toned nut in the aroma. In the cup, delicate acidity, leanish but smooth mouthfeel, and continued rich orange, cocoa and nut notes carrying into a flavor-saturated finish that turns rather woody and simple as the cup cools.

Delicately rich and fruit-toned. In the aroma distinct cocoaish chocolate complicated by fresh-cut fir. In the cup soft, wine-like acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel, and continued fruit-inflected chocolate. A very slight sourish note (probably decaffeination-related) turns up as the cup cools, compromising an otherwise long, resonant finish.

Poised and balanced aroma with hints of sweet wood, cocoa, raisiny fruit. Gently rich acidity, lightly syrupy mouthfeel. In the cup quiet sweet; the cocoaish chocolate intensifies, supported by a hint of the rich, carnal aroma of night flowers. Clean finish; the cocoa note intensifies in the long.

(As brewed in a Keurig B70 Platinum single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce a 6-ounce serving size): Muted aroma of orangey fruit, caramel and wood. Lightly syrupy mouthfeel and simple flavors: nut, raisin and caramel. Muted sweetness in the finish fades rather quickly to a mildly astringent nut-like character.

Straightforward aroma with hints of wood and citrus. In the cup bright-toned, medium in body, with a sweet orangy character. A mild, rather papery astringency dominates in the finish.

Gently sweet aroma with hints of wood and molasses. Delicate but well-balanced in the cup, with medium body, soft mouthfeel, and flavor notes of aromatic wood, fruit-toned chocolate, and a citrusy quality reminiscent of sweet lemony tea. Some sweetness persists in the finish, though it fades rather quickly.

(As brewed in a Keurig B60 single-serve brewing device using a "K-Cup" capsule to produce a 6-ounce serving size): Straightforward, roasty aroma with a note of dark chocolate. In the cup, charred wood dominates along with a faint cocoa-like quality, and rather lean mouthfeel. Roastiness continues into the finish, with mild astringency and some sweetness developing in the long.

Sweet-toned, soft aroma with wood and molasses notes. In the cup medium body, very soft acidity, with flavor notes that in their sweet wood and fruity herb character distinctly resemble date. Clean, sweet, rather fast-fading finish.

An almost miraculously fine decaffeinated straight-shot espresso. In the nose crisp, elegant: leather, aromatic wood, hints of chocolate and yellow-fleshed fruit - peach or papaya. In the small cup syrupy mouthfeel, with intensified fruit, fresh-cut aromatic wood, butter, caramel, cocoa. The finish is balanced, sweet, deep, long. Predictably sweet and chocolate-toned in milk, though perhaps a bit too delicate.

Sweetly pungent, nut-like in the aroma with hints of raisins and night flowers. In the cup medium in body with syrupy mouthfeel, very sweet in structure with continued pungent moist earth and grapefruit notes. Continued hints of raisin and night flowers. Cleanly rich, long finish.

A sweet-toned, gently acidy, lyric medium-roasted coffee struggling with the dampening impact of decaffeination. Orange, white wine, and temperate fruit notes, pear perhaps, almost succeed in soaring over a decaf woodiness.

In the aroma deep-toned with moist earth and fruit tones that suggest molassy fruitcake or banana bread or a fruity dark chocolate. The candied fruit, molasses and moist earth complex carries into the cup, riding richly over a slight flatness introduced by decaffeination. Sweet, long, rich finish, very slightly astringent when hot but impressively smooth as the cup cools.

Crisp, elegant espresso with dry berry and floral notes. Shows a hint of sweet, tomato-toned acidity in the aroma along with caramel and flowers. In the small cup surprisingly full-bodied with cedar, dry berry and a continuing shimmer of flowers. Clean, rich finish. Masters milk with a delicate, dry-chocolate-toned authority. The floral notes survive with startling clarity in milk, persisting far into the finish.

Balanced, versatile blend. Sweet-toned aroma with fruit and chocolate complications. In the small cup smooth and close to syrupy in mouthfeel, sweet and gently pungent with a pronounced cedar note and hints of prune and semi-sweet chocolate. Rich presence in milk - perhaps more cedar and mint than chocolate but roundly sweet nonetheless. Very slightly rough finish in both small cup and milk.