We have reached a conclusion in our search for the perfect decaf using Brazil Mogiana Decaf. Roast # 4 and 5 used a modification of Kris’s recipe to City -. Very drinkable mild low acidity with the chocolate flavor that I prefer, but not with the robustness (toasty) flavor I like without milk. Roast #1 which is darker City to City + is great for milk drinks. None of our roasts score four stars, but we are tough graders. What does rise to a four-star level is a blend of 10 to 15% roast 1 (City) with 85 to 90% roast # 5 (City-). I will continue to refine the blend ratio but although not a 5 star this will be our go-to Decaf for now. We will drink the blend for black and the Darker roast for milk drinks. Thanks to all who helped with this thread. We will certainly try other decaf beans and if you have a favorite let us know and we will give it a try and add to this thread.
Great Thread!
I don’t have any of the Brazil Decaf on hand, but will try a Sumatra MWP and a Bali Hai SWP with your profiles and see what I get.
Thanks, everyone, for sharing
I roasted two 400g roasts of an Ethiopian Sidama Natural Decaf.
I dropped the first one at 436F and the second one at 411F.
I got impatient and tasted the first one the next day and was surprised that I could taste a lot of the berry notes that I normally taste from a lighter Ethiopian Natural roast. Especially considering how late I dropped it. It got away from me.
I waited a few days and the berry/fruity notes were noticeably diminished. A few more after another week, I tasted it again and was very pleasantly surprised the cup. It had a nice spice note up front and some of the berry/fruity notes were back. overall I would give it a 3.5 to 3.7 (out of 4) rating. I don’t think that the average coffee drinker would be able to tell it was a decaf. It did have a little aftertaste that is one that I attribute to decafs. But if I hadn’t been looking for it, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.
The light roast was grassy and is still grassy after almost 2 weeks. Not a very pleasurable cup.
I ordered 5 pounds of the Brazil Mogiana mountain water process decaf and roasted it this afternoon with @cupagil’s brazil decaf roast #5. It is resting.
I also ordered 5 pounds of Brazil Mogiana Swiss Water Process decaf and roasted it with the same recipe. I am interested to see if I will be able to taste a difference between the Moountain Water and the Swiss Water process. I roasted both of these to 417F. I also roasted a Columbian EA decaf using the same recipe.
What a deep rabbit hole. 
Bill:
Interesting, I’m finding the longer roasts are tasting better on the decafs the last one dropped at 432 was very good. I also am learning that they need a longer rest before cupping to detect the real flavor profile. I just ordered a Peruvian SWP decaf and I will be interested in how it roasts/cups. This may be a bottomless rabbit hole.
Gil
So thei morning I brewed a cup of the Mogiana MWP dropped at 417 roasted less than 24 hours ago (because I couldn’t wait)
And it was excellent. I know that it is going to change as it rests. It will be interesting to see the way it changes.
Here is a link to the profile:
I let my wife taste it (the decaf is primarily for her (and my love of rabbit holes))
and she liked it so much that she threw out her 75% decaf and had me brew her a new cup of this. She adds a lot of frothed milk to her coffee.
My wife likes the lighter Brazilian Decaf as well and has added creamer to her coffee for as long as I can remember with this decaf she is drinking it black, as well in a Cappuccino in the evening. I prefer the little darker roast (425 drop) and am going to try even darker on my next batch. In the past, I have had success with a blend (ranging from 20% to 50%) to get both the sweetness and roasty flavors. Talk about rabbit holes.
This brings up a question about post roasting blending that I have been thinking about:
Rather than blending the beans after roasting and then grinding and brewing a new cup for each blend, Wouldn’t it be more efficient to brew a cup of each of the roasts that you have and then blend the brewed coffee?
And then after you have found a blend ratio that you like, then blend the beans.
I haven’t tried this, but it seems like it should work.
Oh, I just looked. I hadn’t seen your Brazil decaf #9.
Now I understand you post about ‘longer roasts’
I’ll have to try that one too
Bill:
Interesting thought. I don’t know why it wouldn’t work and it sounds more efficient.
Will have to try it.
Gil
Because my OCD/engineering mind never rests 
I think that this could be accomplished by using what we have in the kitchen: measuring spoons.
As an example:
Brew 2 cups of coffee, one light and one dark.
Determine which is closer to your desired end result. (let’s say dark)
Take one tablespoon of the dark and put it in a shot glass.
Add one teaspoon of the light and add it to the shot glass
Taste it
If it is good, then we have a 1 to 3 ratio. (1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons)
If we were to just add a teaspoon at a time to our full cup of dark until we get the desired flavor, we would quickly lose track of the ratio because we are sipping away the base and the ratio is no longer accurate.
Can you imagine trying to explain what we are doing to a non coffee aficionado? 
Interesting through Bill, but I think you’d need to ensure the brewing process is as close to identical as possible 
For me I simply just dump the roasted beans together and ground them, then brew. But that’s just me…
They probably suspect the worst already. Have noticed the look you get after they say, “you roast your own coffee?”.
The reaction I get is “that’s so cool… I didn’t know you can do that” and then “can I get some?”
By the way, I don’t roast decaf but I find this thread really interesting to follow, the journey the two of you are taking
At that point, I usually will tell them that it only takes around 15 minutes to roast a batch of beans. Most people believe that it takes much more time than that.
Then I double down and tell them that changing the roasting time 15 seconds longer or shorter can change the way the roasted beans come out. As i watch their eyes glaze over, I smile internally and think: mission accomplished.
The latest update in our continuing quest for a great Decaf. Brazil Decaf #11 (the Mogiana MWP) beans roasted to 428 degrees F is very close to a bullseye that I rated a solid 4 star. Maybe I will try a slightly darker roast using the faster tempo roast to try to squeeze out a little more roastie flavor but this is very good.
I used the same profile on the Peruvian Chanchamayo SWP Decaf (Peru Decaf #1) and it cups well with a more herbal and spice flavor but a nice simple change of pace everyday decaf.
Hi Gilbert,
I have several friends that have been told by their doctors that they shouldn’t drink caffeinated coffee.
So, I am back to working on Decaf roasts again and went and looked at your latest profiles.
You have changed your approach rather dramatically:
Very low pre-heat, pretty long roast. It looks like you are dropping around 430F with the Brazil Mogiana.
What are the results that you are seeing with this approach that you like?
This past week, I roasted 5 decafs to experiment with. I was roasting with a 536F pre-heat, but changed my recipe to only pre-heat to 500F. for the next experimental roast.
Most of my decaf roasts for 500g are in the 9 minute range with the exception of the Sidamo Natural Decaf that took 11 minutes with the same recipe.
I brewed a cup of the Columbian EA, post blended with 5% Columbian Huila (not decaf) roasted dark, and 5% Sumatra Gayo Natural (also not Decaf) So, basically a 90% decaf. The cup was very good.
Good body, lots of Chocolate, some spice and some fruit notes. It was pretty complex, but very enjoyable.
The Columbian EA was a Dark/Medium that I dropped at 425F. The Sumatra Gayo Natural was a medium roast. It is the fruitiest coffee that I have roasted to date. A little bit goes a long way in blends.
I am still waiting on the other roasts to rest a bit more before brewing and blending.
I am changing my roasting style a little and blending in some smaller percentages of darker roasts even in my caffeinated roasts. My non coffee nerd friends seem to like that better.