Brewing The Best Decaf In America On The Coffee Sprudgecast

Coffee Sprudgecast

On the latest episode of the Coffee Sprudgecast, Zachary Carlsen brews BlendIn Coffee Club’s Colombia Los Nogales, the winning 2024 US Brewers Cup Championship coffee (which also happens to be their house decaf coffee!) Weihong Zhang of BlendIn Coffee Club in Houston, Texas, your 2024 United States Brewers Cup champion, took top honors in Rancho Cucamonga using a decaf Typica variety from Colombia, with a coffee he serves on bar every day. Pick up a bag of it online or in their cafe year-round. This is exactly what host Jordan Michelman did the evening Zhang was announced the 2024 champion!

The decaf underwent a decaffeination process developed by Oscar Hernandez of Finca Los Nogales in Huila, Colombia. After de-pulping, the green coffee is then decaffeinated using, in part, its mucilage, which helps “[avoid] off flavors and [enhance] complexity with floral and fruity notes,” Zhang told Sprudge in an interview with Zac Cadwalader.

Sprudge’s coverage of the 2024 US Barista Championship in Rancho Cucamonga is presented in partnership with Third Wave Water.

Zachary Carlsen replicates the brew process deployed on the Brewers Cup stage as accurately as possible (with a slightly different hand grinder and variety of Hario V60—listen in to find out more). The process is especially interesting due to its use of two water temperatures and a touch of water bypass at the end.