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.