You might have seen or heard that James Hoffman is doing one of his ‘world’s largest cuppings’ again. This time, however, he is taking aim at decaf and with good reason. Decried for many years as a terrible option that was really only suitable for people with a heart condition or pregnant women, decaf largely sat collecting dust in some cupboard below the espresso machine, often preground because why bother grinding it fresh, right?

Well, no more. This is not just because people are generally becoming a bit more aware of their own health and well-being, shunning long-loved staples like alcohol, sugar and caffeine, not, it’s also because decaf itself has gotten really good. Since I introduced our decaf options in the summer, we’ve had a really incredible selection of decaffeinated coffees that taste almost as good as regular ones. And I do say almost because like non-alcoholic beer, you do notice there is a difference, albeit a smaller and smaller one.

A roastery dedicated to coffee mindfulness

For this month’s decaf pick, I reached out to Calm Coffee Roasters, a newcomer based in London that was founded this year by William Whiting. Will, who used to be a civil engineer in his previous life used to always go to Borough Market in London during lunch to grab a coffee while daydreaming about becoming a roaster. One day, he mustered up the courage to walk into London institution Monmouth Coffee to ask for any job they had available.

In a British version of the American dream, Will then basically worked himself up from packer and delivery driver to roaster, getting through an incredible 1 metric tonne of coffee a week. When he and his wife welcomed their first child in 2023, they became more conscious about their caffeine intake and Will began thinking about a way to showcase decaf and low-caf coffees in a fun and approachable way. And so it was that in 2024 Calm Coffee Roasters was born.

Will doesn’t just choose excellent decaf and low-caf coffees but he also makes his own interesting blends that contain decaf and regular coffees. This way, he can really play with flavour, caffeine levels and origins, something that can really add a lot of vibrancy to the cup. I was really interested in getting Will on board for this box because I think people working primarily with decaf should really get a bit more attention.

The coffee that he will roast for us this month is a super vibrant and pleasing natural and sugarcane decaf processed Caturra from Elias and Shady Bayter at El Vergel in Colombia. I have worked with El Vergel before and featured one of its regular coffees, which is why this lot was particularly attractive to me. The coffee has lots of body and stone fruit in the cup, which makes it the ideal companion for those late afternoons when you don’t want to get a full dose of caffeine in your bloodstream. Let’s all be a bit more demure and mindful!

Grab the last few bags of this release on our decaf page or explore our other offerings by visiting our shop.

Pre-orders close on 15.12.2024 / Ships globally on 16.12.2024