My wife drinks decaf and I am about to roast my first decaf on my new Bullet. I have looked at those shown on Roast World, but don’t know if they are good or bad and of course, there aren’t too many. I am going to roast a Costa Rica La Pradera SWP Decaf. I will do a 400-gram batch, to begin with, Does anyone have a recipe that they are really excited about that I should start with? It would be nice if my long-suffering wife was really pleased with the results of my latest passion, roasting coffee. She did give up part of her laundry room for the roastery, so she deserves great coffee.
Gil
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Same story here. Note my real end temp was higher a second before the graph ends (205 C). Good espresso or filter coffee. I’d go darker if you only want milk drinks.
This is a 225g/half pound batch.
Paul:
Thanks, here is what I ended up doing. (Roast World - Cup, grade, and analyze your coffee roasts in depth) FC was 9:00 Min;
My objective was Full City which I got. I haven’t cupped it yet but looks good. The guy who roasts our decaf now does a 50/50 blend of Full City and Full City + . So I have the FC done I think the next batch will be the +. Appreciate your profile I will give it a try for an evening non-milk coffee.
Gil
Looks like the link doesn’t work, getting an error that it might be “broken” or “removed” as it’s “not available” 
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O.K. We have cupped the Costa Rican La Pradera SWP Decaf and the first roast (Full City)turned out pretty much as described in Sweet Maria’s description “Balanced, Bittersweet Chocolate, a touch of acidity” They mention raw sugar and walnut which I didn’t taste, but overall a very simple straightforward pleasant coffee. Considering it was my first roast of this coffee and first decaf I am really pleased. More importantly, my wife is happy. I don’t know if it’s needed but I’m going to try a Full City + and after cupping will consider a blend of the two.
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That’s all that matters… the happy customer, your wife in this case
On further thought, after additional tasting my first roast of this Decaf the full city seems to be “roasty” enough and I think my next roast will be a lighter roast to try to bring out the “raw sugar and walnut” Sweet Maria talks about with the possibility of a blend of the two roasts. Another step in the never-ending search for perfection.
Perhaps I’m a little late for you but I occasionally roast decaf for a neighbor who cat sits for us and we also occasionally enjoy an evening flat white. This basic recipe turns out really well and translates across beans from different origins. It starts with 500 gm charge. Hope it helps.
Geoffrey:
Not too late, this is a work in progress. It appears the link is broken and I couldn’t find it in roast world under decaf. Had the same problem when I tried to post my recipe and had to go to “Share” under actions on the profile page.
Thanks
Gil
This should be a sharable link. We enjoy decaf roasts at this level of development. It’s easy for my decaf roasts to “get away” at the end and become oily at drop temperatures (above 420 or so) that do not do get oily with caffeinated beans.
We tasted the second roast of this decaf which was dropped at 425 (City) vs 438 on the first roast (Full City). My hope was to get some of the more subtle flavors with a lighter roast but the result was higher acidity which comes across as a slight lemon hint. The bittersweet chocolate has not developed so it’s very drinkable but not as good as the Full City. I’m going to taste a blend of roast 1 and 2, but my next roast will be Full City +. I think this coffee is better at a darker roast, we will see what we get at the next level of darkness.
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Well roast #3 the full city plus for the La Pradera Costa Rico Decaf was a bust, basically roasted all of the flavor out of the coffee. No.1 with the drop at 438 has a nice bitter sweet flavor with a light level of acidity a very nice breakfast coffee which will be my go to recipe for this coffee.
I have been roasting decafs weekly/biweekly for a long time. I have not seen a on size fits all decaf profile but I will give you my thoughts: Do not go really hot at charge, I mean this relatively, the beans will not hold up to it except for the rare super dense bean. I do not recommend a long roast either so I will always have a total roast time under 12 minutes. The absolute best tip I have received was from a good local (Seattle) roaster who said the trick is to always go light. I have taken that advise very seriously and always roast city/city+. My experience with darker roasts is that they do not have the same fresh and clean taste characteristics as the lighter decaf roasts. JUST MY EXPERIENCE:). For reference, I roast my caffeinated beans to city+/medium consistently so I am not a dark roast lover anyway. I will say this though, if roasting decaf beans to dark turned out to make the best flavor for a decaf i would be doing that. I really like having decaf at night. I am including a sample roast, its 10 min total. This roast may or may not work for that Costa Rican bean you have.
KP:
Thank you for the TIPs. From the advice and results so far your recommendations seem to fit the “conventional wisdom”.
Gil
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I will also say that the decaffeination process makes a big difference. I used to only buy swiss water process. I recently went to Coffee Bean Corral and ordered a SWP, MWP, and an EA process decafs. I roasted each of them similarly and tasted. It was a great way to get a feel for the difference in taste and roasting experience.
KP :
Do you have a favorite bean that gives you the best flavor in a decaf?
Gil
I’m fond of the Coffee Bean Corral Brazil Decaf Mogiana, Mountain Water Process.
Note: I don’t drink decaf straight, I just use about 30% mixed with whatever caffeinated coffee I’m drinking.
-Gray
O.K. the search continues after trying Jeffrey’s recipe with the Costa Rica La Pradera SWP Decaf bean. Definitely on the light side, cups with subtle bitter sweetness and low acidity. Very drinkable but without the more chocolaty toasty tones and aftertaste I like. So the next tasting will be a blend of my first recipe for this bean and Jeff’s recipe to see if the best of both will emerge. I have to face the possibility that this bean just doesn’t have the flavors I’m looking for but will give it a full range of roasts to be sure.
On order, gets good reviews.