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#2 Weekly coffee Thread
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this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2026
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Coffee
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At the moment, I unfortunately have to space how often I have caffeinated coffee. I had been exploring decaf options (mainly from the grocery store), aaand, expectedly, the experience is very far from the gesha and other premium roasts I previously enjoyed for my pour over. It's still nice to perform the ritual and have something warm to drink with breakfast, but I had been missing the dynamic, delicate, and distinct notes in a cup.
I decided to research and order some decaf beans from a specialty roaster! I settled on Luminous Coffee and, on the 30th, ordered a bag of their Colombia EA Decaf LYCHEE PEACH CO-FERMENT. It shipped and was delivered super fast! I absolutely love the bag and the kangaroo pouch holding the info card. I usually wait a few weeks after the roast date to start using beans in a pour over, but I also like trying them at different times to see how the flavors evolve.
On the 4th (5 days after roast), I opened the bag and ground up some beans. Very unique sensory experience from start to finish. The whole beans had a strong peppery/spice-y aroma along with a bit of... funkiness? Ground, highlighted those smells even more. It wasn't off-putting, just not something I've ever really experienced from coffee before. I could describe the smells as sharp.
Now- the taste, soooo different than anything I've had before. Buttery, peppery, and a sort-of acidic sweetness (really hard for me to articulate). I can fully see how it all can translate to lychee, but it was just so strange. The peppery aspects were expected. I usually prefer anaerobic processing for that little tingle, but it was more present here than any others I've had. The butteriness was completely new to me, and I'm curious if that's part of the decaffeination process or an innate aspect of the beans.
Starting next week, I'll be going through the bag as my main morning coffee; I'm super curious how the experience might differ now that the beans have rested more!
I feel your pain. It’s a struggle to find good decaf. Even amazing third wave roasters usually fall very short. My usual is Counter Culture’s Slow Motion, which is good, but it’s kind of boring.
I want some decaf in my next Brandywine purchase. Their manipulation in all four or five of their coffees I’ve tried has been really artful and they have a broad product selection. I’m hopeful it will be better than most.
Is Luminous better enough than what else you’ve tried that I should try it myself?
Yess, there's been my complaint with most decafs I've tried - very linear and not dynamic. I had my second cup of it this morning with the beans at their peak. It was a much more balanced and enjoyable experience; the flavors had calmed, were a lot nicer, and weren't as off-putting... more crisp than buttery and peppery 🤭 It is a very sweet cup though and definitely very different than any caffeinated coffee I've had with a similar taste profile. I do think, just for the experience of how unique it is, it might be worth ordering a bag! I'm still not sure if the flavor characteristics are from the decaf process 🤔 I think there's one or two decaf roasts from Black & White Coffee Roasters that use a similar process, so I'm going to order one of those to see (taste)!
I’m glad you wrote that. Black and White is local to me. I’ve had some of their decaf before and they’re one of the specialty roasters that disappointed me. However, that was several years ago and apparently in the past two years they’ve moved to EA decaffeination. I picked up a bag of their Sugarcane Decaf today and just had my first cup. It was roasted in mid-July, so it’s nicely rested.
It’s a medium plus roast, so I brewed at 90C. Otherwise a pretty standard V60 technique: 40 second bloom, 250g water to 15g coffee. Drawdown was okay, roughly 3:30, I’ll go a bit coarser next time.
It’s night and day better than the last time I had their decaf. Surprisingly nice acidity, distinct cocoa notes, some sweetness. I like their tasting notes. Maybe a bit thin for the flavors in the cup. They rate it a roughly four of ten on their clean to funky scale. Which… maybe? It’s not very funky, but it does have a lot of rich classic coffee flavor.
I’ll certainly be picking up some of their more boutique decaf next time I’m near somewhere that carries it. The Sebastian Ramirez coferments can be a bit too fruity for me but I’d like to try the Ethiopian natural process that’s currently on their website.