Origin Story
Same Counter, Different Hour
Village Blend has been on our counter since 1979. Now it's on your counter at 8 PM. Swiss Water Process decaffeination removes the caffeine and nothing else — same chocolate, same nuts, same caramel, zero compromise.
| Processing | Washed, Swiss Water® Process decaffeination |
|---|---|
| Roast Level | Medium |
| Decaf | Yes — Swiss Water Process |
Roast Notes
Medium roast — the same pocket we've been landing since the Ford administration, now decaffeinated with Swiss Water Process. The decaf step happens before roasting, using nothing but water, temperature, and time to gently remove caffeine while leaving the origin character intact. What arrives at the drum is still Village Blend — still chocolate, still nutty, still balanced. The roast does what it's always done: caramelizes the sugars, softens the acidity, and delivers the coffee you know, minus the caffeine
There’s a particular kind of disappointment reserved for decaf drinkers. You order a decaf at a restaurant and the server sets down a cup of something that tastes like warm cardboard water with a faint memory of coffee. You buy a bag of decaf at the grocery store and brew it at home, and your kitchen smells right for about twelve seconds before the cup reminds you that something is missing. Not just the caffeine. Everything. The chocolate. The body. The reason you wanted coffee in the first place. We’ve been roasting Village Blend since 1979, and for most of those years we didn’t have a good answer for the decaf drinkers who walked through our door. Then Swiss Water Process got good enough that we stopped making excuses and started making this.
Swiss Water Process is not the decaf your parents drank. No chemical solvents — methylene chloride, ethyl acetate, any of the things that make people nervous about decaf. Just water, temperature, and time. Green coffee is soaked in pure water until the caffeine and flavor compounds dissolve out. The caffeine is filtered away through activated carbon. The flavor-charged water — now saturated with everything that makes coffee taste like coffee, minus the caffeine — is used to decaffeinate fresh batches of green beans. By the time those beans reach our roaster, they’ve lost 99.9% of their caffeine and none of their character. The process is so gentle that even the Swiss regulatory authorities — not known for approving things casually — have certified it organic-compliant.
In the cup, Village Blend Decaf does what it’s supposed to do: taste like Village Blend. Milk chocolate opens the aroma, warm and immediate. Roasted almond follows. Caramel threads through the middle, sweet but not sugary. The body is medium, smooth enough to drink black and sturdy enough for cream. The acidity is balanced rather than bright — nothing pokes, nothing challenges. The finish is clean chocolate with a whisper of vanilla. If you’re tasting blind, you’re not guessing decaf. You’re guessing what time the roastery opens tomorrow.
“If you’re tasting blind, you’re not guessing decaf. You’re guessing what time the roastery opens tomorrow.”
Roast level is identical to the caffeinated Village Blend — medium, right in the pocket where caramelization peaks and acidity softens. The decaf step happens before roasting, on the green bean. By the time the coffee enters the drum, it’s the same raw material our roasters have been working with for forty-six years, just without the caffeine. The roast does exactly what it’s always done. No special handling. No adjusted profile. No asterisk.
Brew it however you brew. Auto-drip for a pot after dinner that nobody will side-eye. French press if you want the body to feel like a real cup. Pour-over if you’re alone and paying attention. Espresso if you want a decaf shot that pulls like the real thing — chocolate-covered almond, no sourness, no apologies. I drink this on auto-drip most evenings because there’s a roastery to run tomorrow and lying awake at midnight composing tasting notes in my head is not how I want to spend the hours between now and then.
Village Blend has been on our counter since 1979. Village Blend Decaf has been on our counter since the moment Swiss Water got good enough to meet the standard. Same blend. Same roast. Same counter. Different hour. Some things are worth waiting for, and a decaf that doesn’t taste like decaf was one of them.
