5LB Don Pablo Colombian Decaf - Swiss Water Process Decaffeinated - Medium-Dark Roast - Whole Bean Coffee - Low Acidity - 5 Pound (5 lb) Bag

I started drinking decaf (well, mostly decaf. I add a scoop and a half of regular to my half pot in the mornings) a year ago and it's been an endless waste of time to find an good yet economical decaf. I was using Starbucks Decaf Pike Place which is really good but expensive. After reading the reviews I decided to try Cafe Don Pablo Decaf. I have to admit I was a little leery because Colombian coffees usually fall short in delivering a well rounded smooth yet bold cup of decaf coffee. One of the reviews I read had a response from Don Pablo explaining "why" this bean is different i.e. altitude it's grown at, how it's decaffeinated etc...and I can say it is true, it is different. This Colombian is not the same as other Colombian roast and especially for a decaf. Another valuable tidbit of info. I discovered from reading the owner responses to customer comments that the temperature of the water you start out with makes a difference with decaf coffee. I've always heard that it's better to use cold water to get the freshest brew of coffee but I'm finding out that if it's too cold it actually weakens the coffee. I tested that theory and have included my personal findings below.I have a Hamilton Beach Flex Brew. I use the carafe, that I preset the prior evening, to be fully brewed when I wake up. After that I use the mesh filter basket (not a kcup style, rather the small mini basket) for single cups of coffee if I want more. I grind my beans fresh, enough for a few days at a time, storing the ground in an airtight mason jar and the unused beans in an airtight container in their original bag. My grinder is a Hamilton Beach Custom Grind and has 2 percolator; 1 drip and 2 espresso settings. I unintentionally ground the first round of beans at the 2nd espresso setting, the finest of the espresso settings. It was close to, if not, turkish grind, powdery. I made a single cup and the coffee using that extra fine grind and water that was cool but not like ice water. It had that weak and light roast cheap Colombian flavor, blach!. I decided to see if it, the extra fine grind, would taste different if made in the carafe rather than the single cup. It was better 1) because the water, having sat in the well of the coffee maker all night was now at room temp and 2) carafe coffee is always better than single cup. BUT, it still had that "off" taste from the grounds being too fine, but wasn't flavorless and weak due to the water being too cold.Next, I ground another batch using the grind I normally use which is the first of the two espresso grinds; so, not powdery but significantly finer than drip. Measured water to 8 on the carafe, added 1 1/2 scoops of regular (Starbucks Verona) and 4 scoops of Don Pablo Decaf. Set the timer, went to bed, and the morning carafe brew was GREAT! It was flavorful and not flat and had a very nice smooth yet well rounded and robust flavor. Later I tried it in the single cup mesh brew basket, 3 scoops of Don Pablo Decaf, cold water and it tasted a bit flat and weaker than the carafe brew. I made another single cup a few minutes ago using room temp water and 3 scoops of Don Pablo Decaf in the mesh brew basket and it was GREAT!I think that grinding it at drip grind would be too weak for me. I like a stronger cup of coffee so the espresso, not turkish, grind is good for that. I do like that this bean is "medium-dark" roast. If you're worried about it being too strong just use a more course grind. This "medium-dark" roast is not the same as Starbucks medium or dark roast. The beans are very dark and they are oily but not over roasted. I think some people who don't care for strong coffee will shy away when they see "medium-dark". You're missing out if you do. This is a really good coffee. I also love that it's not processed with chemicals. Starbucks is. I'm now paying half of what I was paying for decaf coffee.Just a note about creamer; I've read a lot of reviews for various single cup coffee makers, customers saying that they don't heat the water hot enough. I always warm my half and half for a few seconds to get the chill off so it doesn't cool the coffee off so fast. I've found this is effective whether I'm using the carafe brew or the single cup brew.**UPDATE: After writing this review I noticed that the bag says they recommend one well rounded tablespoon per 6 oz cup and their description of the grind they use matched the espresso grind I use. So, I measured my scoop against their description of a tablespoon and my scoop does make a well rounded tablespoon, not level but a nice rounded mound on top. I used the exact amount they recommended, 8 scoops to 8 6 oz. cups in my carafe (measured to the 8 line on the carafe) and it made a very robust and strong cup of coffee! I like it that way though. I mentioned above that I was using about 5 1/2 scoops and that made it a really good cup of coffee, smooth and full flavored but adding the extra 2 1/2 scoops really boosted the strength. I do use half and half so having a stronger cup of coffee is great for me.

We were at the Disney Food & Wine Festival last year where a local coffee producer in Florida had a seminar on using their coffee in a French press. We tasted it, and were sold on using a French press to make coffee in the morning. So, after we returned home from the Disney trip, we purchased a coffee grinder and a French press on Amazon so we could reproduce the great coffee we had at Disney World. We liked the coffee of this local maker, but can't get it back where we live in Illinois and shipping costs from Florida are expensive and do not make it worthwhile to order this on-line. So, we looked for alternate sources of coffee to go with our grinder and French press. Brands of coffee beans that we could find at our supermarkets here did not measure up to our experience in Florida, so, I looked on Amazon for a source for good roasted coffee beans and ran across this brand which had good reviews. We wanted to try a decaf, so picked this particular Columbian whole bean decaf coffee for a taste test.Sure glad we did. Nice packaging, and when we opened the top, the wonderful coffee aromas just wafted around the room. It smelled so good, we had to get the grinder out and make a carafe to drink. Grinding you own coffee and then using a French press to make your coffee is a lot of trouble but the taste experience is worth the trouble. Plus, you have to boil a pot of water to pour over the ground coffee in the French press. Then you have the cleanup afterwards that takes some time. But all this work is worth the great taste you get in the end.We will definitely be trying some of Don Pablo's other regular coffees down the road.

After reading that many people received "very freshly" roasted products even when ordering from Amazon, I purchased a 2 pound bag via Amazon in late January 2017. It arrived very very promptly, but I was disappointed to find that the "fresh until" date was November 2017, not January 2018. My understanding is that the "fresh until" date is 12 months after the roasting date. If I am wrong - please correct me. Under this assumption, my beans were roasted between 2 and 3 months before my purchase. Perhaps confirming my impression about this, the coffee beans did NOT exhibit a shiny oilyness that I have experienced with other freshly roasted beans.Even so, this product makes a decently nice cup of coffee, but not anything I'd call great. I also find that I need to use more coffee per brewed cup than I would have expected, and I find that the instructions to grind the beans finely, finer than I otherwise would have done, is correct. (Bear in mind that I add a bit of whole milk and sugar, which one reason why I like to brew a strong cup.) I do not mind using the extra beans, as the price is very good to begin with, and it is worth using a bit extra to achieve a richer flavor.In order to receive fresher beans, I may contact the roaster directly and try ordering directly from them (as at least one other reviewer recommended). Shipping costs will be higher than via Amazon (Prime), but ok.My recommendation to the Amazon distributors would be to guarantee freshness by providing a roasting date, or at least a "guaranteed to be roasted after" date along with the conditions of sale. Otherwise I will not order coffee this way again - it is just not worth having 2 pounds of thse beans that I'm not entirely thrilled with.********************* UPDATE 6 APRIL 2017 ************************I added a star to my prior review -- now 4 stars.I've ordered directly from the manufacturer a few times and have been very satisfied with the freshness of the product received. The beans exhibit a more distinct oily sheen to them.I've struggled to find a DECAF coffee that I've really enjoyed and this has been a good discovery. I've been drinking this coffee almost exclusively now for the last few months - but note the caveats that follow. This bean/roast has a distinct flavor that is smooth, not burnt or smokey, and on the "floral" side of the taste spectrum (IMO). It is very pleasant, but despite the fact that I make a very strong brew (as I stated earlier, I grind it rather fine, and then I do add milk and sugar), I'm still left "wanting something with a bit more punch." So now I do three additional things to give it that extra punch:#1) I blend together 1 part Dark Roast Decaff (from another source) to 2 parts Don Pablo Columbian Decaff.#2) I add a pinch of salt to the grinds before brewing (one pinch per cup)#3) I have a Mr. Coffee Drip brewer (nothing fancy) and I let the hot water steep in the grinds for about 2 minutes before I let the water flow out of the brewer and into the carafe.It still does not quite achieve coffee nirvana (I miss the taste of a good caffeinated coffee) but its darn good to me. My wife likes a more mild coffee and doesn't really like this. So this is all very subjective.Comments welcome.

Smelled so freshTasted so deliciousGreat tasting real coffeeWe will order again soon

Really smooth coffee! One of the best I have had in a long time.