What is Intelligentsia Organic Decaf House Blend?
A water process decaf carrying the same two certifications as the best-documented coffees in the range.
Decaf is where most specialty roasters stop trying. Intelligentsia put their House Blend name on this one, certify it organic, run it through Direct Trade and use water process rather than a solvent, which is four decisions more than a decaf usually gets.
It is $18.50 for 12 oz, a dollar over the caffeinated House Blend, whole bean or ground with a subscription. Tagged Comforting on roast, apple and raw sugar on flavour, Mexico on origin.
Intelligentsia Organic Decaf House Blend Taste: What It Actually Tastes Like
Apple and raw sugar on their Comforting profile, which is the House Blend flavour tag at a slightly rounder roast.
Decaffeination costs a coffee some of its aromatics whatever the method, so the sensible target is a cup that reads normal rather than one that competes with the caffeinated range. Roasting it Comforting rather than Bright is the right call for that.
Water process is the method to want. It uses no solvent, which is both a flavour argument and the reason it is the more expensive way to do it.
How fresh is it when it arrives?
Roasted in Chicago and shipped direct, in two sizes with a subscription.
The 12 oz bag is the sensible choice for a household. A 5 lb bag opened on a counter is losing ground for weeks, and a subscription answers freshness better than bulk buying for anyone drinking a bag a fortnight.
Whole bean holds far longer than ground and costs the same, so it is the default unless there is no grinder in the house.
Where the coffee comes from
Mexico named, organic certified, Direct Trade, and decaffeinated by water process.
Direct Trade is Intelligentsia's own programme rather than a third-party certification: they publish the terms and stand behind them instead of paying an outside body to audit. It promises more than most seals and is harder for a buyer to verify independently.
Organic certification is the independent half of the pair: an outside body audits it against a published standard, which is exactly what Direct Trade is not. Carrying both is stronger than carrying either.
Mexico is the natural origin for a water process decaf, since the best known plant of that kind is there and Mexican coffee suits the gentle profile that survives the process.
Intelligentsia Organic Decaf House Blend vs Intelligentsia Decaf Black Cat Espresso
Against the caffeinated House Blend, this is a dollar more and shares the flavour tag.
Both are tagged apple and raw sugar. The caffeinated one is $17.50, roasted Bright and blends Brazil with Honduras; this is $18.50, roasted Comforting, Mexican, and carries organic and Direct Trade where the original carries neither.
Against El Gallo at the same $18.50, that is a caffeinated organic Direct Trade Mexican blend for a pour over. This is its decaf counterpart in almost every respect.
There is no other decaf in the range, so within Intelligentsia this is the only answer to the question.
Intelligentsia Organic Decaf House Blend price per kilo: how it compares
About $46.08 a kilo in the 5 lb bag, a dollar over the caffeinated House Blend.
A dollar is a small decaf premium. Decaffeination is a real cost and most roasters pass on more of it than that, so this is priced closer to the caffeinated range than usual.
The 5 lb bag is $130.00 and the 12 oz is $18.50. Against a supermarket decaf it is several times the money, and the difference is water process, two certifications and a named origin.
Who should buy it (and who should not)
Right for anyone who drinks coffee in the evening or cannot take caffeine; wrong as a substitute for the caffeinated blends.
Buy it if you want decaf that has been treated as a real coffee: water process, organic, Direct Trade and a named origin. Very few roasters certify their decaf, and this one is priced within a dollar of the caffeinated equivalent.
Take the caffeinated House Blend if caffeine is not the issue, because decaffeination always costs a coffee something. Nothing here changes that; it just handles it better than most.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Intelligentsia decaf decaffeinated?
By water process, which uses no chemical solvent. It is the more expensive method and the one most specialty drinkers prefer, both for the flavour and because there is nothing to explain about what was used. The beans are organic certified Mexican coffee.
Is the decaf organic?
Yes, and Direct Trade as well, which is unusual on a decaf. Most roasters treat decaf as a line item and skip the certification. This one carries the same pair as El Gallo and Illumination, the best-documented coffees in the range.
Does decaf taste worse?
Decaffeination costs a coffee some of its aromatics whatever the method, so the sensible target is a cup that reads normal rather than one that competes. Intelligentsia roast this Comforting rather than Bright, which is the right call: a rounder profile hides the loss better than a bright one.
How much more is the decaf?
A dollar. The caffeinated House Blend is $17.50 for 12 oz and this is $18.50, which is a smaller decaf premium than most roasters charge. Per kilo it works out at about $46.08 in the 5 lb bag against $42.55 for the caffeinated version.
Is there caffeine left in it?
Water process removes the great majority but never all of it, which is true of every decaffeination method and every decaf coffee. Anyone avoiding caffeine for medical reasons rather than preference should treat any decaf as containing a trace.
What does the Organic Decaf House Blend taste like?
Apple and raw sugar on Intelligentsia's own flavour tag, which is the same profile as the caffeinated House Blend, roasted to their Comforting rather than Bright profile. Mexican origin, which suits both the water process and the gentler roast.
