Introducing Crema Wave Decaf

It didn’t take long for our Whole Latte Love Crema Wave espresso blend to become one of our most popular coffees. We love it for its creamy mouthfeel (partly thanks to its namesake crema), honey sweetness, and its ability to stand up to milk in a latte or cappuccino. Since its release, we’ve expanded the Whole Latte Love coffee lineup with two more blends (the lively Buzzopolis and the deep-noted Beaned Up) as well as several sweet and complex single origins. I’m stoked that with the introduction of Crema Wave Decaf, we’ve found the final piece of the puzzle: a counterpart to our best-seller, meant to be enjoyed at any time of the day.

I’ve long thought that decaf drinkers are the biggest coffee fans of all; they’re in it for the love of coffee, not just a caffeine hit. And yet, I’ve seen decaf too often be treated like an afterthought. We wanted to give decaf coffee the attention it deserves, so we took our time to craft this blend and roast profile, matching the flavor of the original Crema Wave as close as possible.

How is it Decaffeinated?

Many coffees are decaffeinated using chemicals like ethyl acetate (sometimes synthetically) or methylene chloride. For Crema Wave Decaf, we wanted to use a natural process of decaffeination, so this coffee is decaffeinated with the Swiss Water® Process. Swiss Water’s process is proprietary, but uses only water to remove 99.9% of the caffeine from the coffee beans. It’s a complex and fascinating process:

The Swiss Water® Process

First, a solvent is created using green coffee and water — they call this G.C.E, or Green Coffee Extract. Then, the soon-to-be-decaffeinated coffee is soaked to both clean the coffee and make it porous. Now that the beans have “opened up” a bit, the G.C.E. and the actual green coffee are then circulated for hours, and this is when the caffeine actually comes out of the coffee and into the solvent. Amazingly, this water-only process removes just the caffeine, not the volatile compounds (that’s the stuff that gives coffee its flavor and aroma). Even better, the G.C.E, now carrying the caffeine, is itself decaffeinated using a proprietary carbon filter system. This way, the solvent can be reused, making this not only a chemical-free process, but an efficient and environmentally friendly one to boot.

Flavor Profile

So, how does it taste? While it tastes remarkably close to the original Crema Wave, it’s important to remember that caffeine is a bitter compound. The lack of caffeine will have an effect on the taste just by its sheer nature, but fear not. It tastes awesome. I pulled some shots for a tasting with a few team members, and not only was the crema still plenty intact, but the sweetness was too.

Espresso Recipe

• Ratio: 1 : 2.25
• Temperature: 92°C / 198°F
• Dose: 16g to 18g
• Yield: 36g to 40g
• Time: 20 to 25 seconds

Pour-Over Recipe

• Coarse grind
• Ratio: 1 : 15
• Temperature: 90°C / 194°F
• Dose: 20g
• Water: 300g
• Total time: 2:15 to 2:30

If you’ve ever watched me taste coffee on any of our YouTube Livestreams, you’ve seen me interpret coffee flavors in my own way, and I’ll do that here too. As a decaf coffee, the body, texture, and sweetness of Crema Wave are unchanged, and the honey and almond flavors we’re used to are also still present. But, the bitterness is significantly reduced. In place of bittersweet chocolates, I’m tasting milk chocolate, nougat, caramel. I even caught a hint of cherry cordial and macadamia nut. In a latte, these flavors only add more creamy sweetness, cutting through milk in a similar way the original Crema Wave does, but with less bitterness.

Crema Wave Decaf can also be brewed as a filter coffee which will allow some acidity to shine through. The body still has some weight as a drip coffee, so if you take your coffee with cream and sugar, the flavor will still cut through quite well. This Swiss Water® Process coffee is a versatile decaffeinated addition to the Whole Latte Love coffee lineup, and I’m excited for you to try this late night (or anytime) delight our team worked so hard on.

Photography by Grace Walker

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