They didn’t know it was decaf!

Key Takeaways:

• We take coffee seriously, but we do love a surprise—like when decaf sneaks onto the tables of top coffee competitions!
• Golden Bean and the French AeroPress Championship have both been the playing fields for "surprise" decaf reveals!

As a quality-focused, zero-added-chemicals decaf process, we’re all about transparency at Swiss Water. But that doesn't mean we aren't above a fun surprise now and again. In fact, we love hearing stories about coffee tasters being given Swiss Water decaf and not realizing it wasn't a caffeinated coffee! And sometimes, we even sneak a stealth decaf onto the tasting table ourselves.

Golden Bean World Series Secret Entry

We always get a thrill seeing how our decaf roasts stack up to the best coffees in the world, from the best roasters in the world. So at the recent Golden Bean World Series held in November 2023 on the big island of Hawaii, our Panama Chiriquí Small Batch Series decaffeinated coffee was entered into the competition without the judges knowing it was a decaf coffee! Of the more than 50 specialty coffee entries judged by international experts, the Swiss Water decaf placed in the top 10. 

French AeroPress Surprise Decaf

And at the 2022 French AeroPress Championship, we did one sneakier. All competitors were given the same coffee with which to deliver the best AeroPress brew they could using their own unique, self-perfected recipes and brew methods. At the contest, hosted by La Claque Cafe in Nice, French coffee professionals and AeroPress enthusiasts brought their "A Game" to show off their skills with the unique and versatile coffee brewer. The big reveal? The coffee they were all brewing was a Swiss Water decaf, our delicious DR Congo Hala Small Batch Series decaf coffee.

And while we're confident all our decafs are amazing, we love to showcase the distinctly unique and delicious decaf green coffee offerings from our Emerald Micro Lots. Though our DR Congo and Panama Chiriquí coffees are just about out in North America (Europe customers, please inquire!) you’ll find an up-to-date list on our Offerings page at any time, from our Evergreens, Verdant Reserves, and Emerald Micro Lots lines.

If you’re a coffee roaster or a cupper, we can’t recommend enough the thrill of slipping one of these special coffees onto the cupping table and seeing eyes widen when you reveal to people they were actually drinking...decaf! 

Get in touch today if you'd like to sample one of our Small Batch Series decaf offerings or talk about setting up your own surprise decaf reveal.