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.

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[–] [S] 2 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I ended up grinding as coarse as I ever have for pourover, 6.1 on an Ode 1 with gen 2 burrs, and targeting a 3:45 total brew time with a V60 using the standard Hario filters, 40 second bloom. I’m getting a pretty balanced cup. The cocoa is still there as the backbone. Those tart red fruit notes dropped down to a low roar but they’re still present. Not a ton of sweetness, but what’s there is the best accent. B&W lists peach as a flavor note, which I can see, but to my palate it’s more floral.

As a natural process coffee I’d expected it to be a bit wilder. It’s subtle. Drinks a little more like a dark roast than I’d expected. It’s out of character from what I usually get from B&W (I bought a coffee they call Gummy Shark at the same time that is wild) but solid as a rock.

I’ll keep adjusting this until I’m out, but all in all I consider this a win.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    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!

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    I did pick up my first two coffees from Luminous and I’ve tried them both, one EA decaf coferment and one natural process, both from Colombia. I appreciate the recommendation, these are excellent. Easy to brew, too, they practically leapt from the grinder finished.

    The buying experience, the overt maximalism, is really interesting. At $65 for 400g of coffee I was worried I was buying more show than I wanted, but the coffee is excellent, so the pizzazz feels like they threw all their weight behind something that was already great. I’m kind of floored; I might be grossly uninformed but I’ve never seen anything else like it.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    Yess! The whole drop shipping orders/process is a bit atypical, and their brand identity is very bright and loud, but I honestly couldn't agree more- their decaf process is the best I've tried yet. It's as close I've tasted to higher end caffeinated roasts and my go to right now. I'm super happy you've enjoyed them!!

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