I have had a pre-conceived notion from years ago when I first started drinking coffee in the early 70's, that decaffeinated coffee tastes bad. I wanted to see if my beilef had any basis in reality. I also wanted enough coffee to really give it a chance, so I bought 2lbs of the Planadas Decaf on my first adventure with whole-bean decaf. I also wanted to know if I really loved coffee just for the caffeine. So, when the beans came, they were only a few days after roasting, and probably needed some time to outgas CO2 before I tried brewing with my espresso machine to avoid uneven extraction, but I tried the same recipe I use for all my coffee beans - a Lungo at 18g/45g in 25-30sec at 92C in a straight 9-bar espresso machine in the afternoon, knowing that it would not interfere with my sleep, and was able to get consistent results after a bit of dialing-in the grind size.
In a word, the flavor is EXCELLENT.
Comparing it to the labeled flavors of fruit, leather & mild chocolate, I can say my palate agrees with that description. There is a light acidity on the front of the palate like dried fruit with a mild a chocolate &/or brown-sugar note on the back of my tongue. I do not taste the leather in the description, probably because I have very limited experience of how to describe coffee flavors. My Lavazza Super Crema has no acidity and is a darker roast than the Planadas, unlike the Mother Tongue Turihamwe Women's Group Ngozi, Burundi - a much lighter roast, which was so strong at first with it's dried &/or fermented fruit taste up-front, that I wasn't sure if I liked those flavors. It took a couple of days for me to appreciate the clarity of the Turihamwe. It is now my morning go-to. The Planadas has quite a bit less acidity than the Turihamwe, and a bit less body than the Super Crema, but is smoother on the palate than either. If the decaffeinating process removes some of the great coffee flavors in this bean, I could not tell. I am now a firm-believer that truly remarkable tasting coffee does not have to include caffeine.
As far as the caffeine goes - am I addicted to it? Yep. I MUST have caffeinated coffee in the morning - but NOW, I can enjoy fantastic coffee all day long without bouncing off the walls. Thank You Farmers Union!
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