This coffee is part of our custom decaf program where we take our own high quality lots and send them to the Swiss Water Decaf plant for decaffeination. While you cannot know for sure how a decaf will turn out, picking our own lots allows us to at least know a coffees cup quality prior to being subjected to the decaffeinating process. The coffee is from two Nyamasheke cooperatives, in the Southwestern portion of Lake Kivu, one of the most amazing growing regions in Rwanda. Here, there is access to farms at very high altitudes, all the way up to 2000 meters. Hundreds of small farmers contribute to this lot, bringing their coffee from hillside farms to the washing station located on the valley floor. This was a great coffee as a non-decaf, and we're very pleased with the resulting Swiss Water processed lot. Cupping Score = 86.2 Grinding the coffee gives off a caramel and cocoa smell, with bready notes as well that are pretty typical for decaf coffee. They're not offensive, and actually together with the caramel/cocoa, allude to chocolate muffin, and wheat breads. This aspect is played up in the wet aroma, a sweetness in un-baked pastry dough comes to mind, and with a dried banana accents. City+ roasts exude flavors of bittersweet cocoa powder and date sugar, a green herbal to barley malt accents, and rustic rice syrup sweetness in the finish. There's a nice citric acidity too, an element that is missing in a lot of decafs and one that adds structure in the cup. Full City roasts are laden with layers of cacao-like bittersweetness, a subtle peet note, and a cinnamon stick accent up top.The finish shows some decaf notes, bread and cereal flavors found in aroma, as well as tannins, but it's the dark cocoa and rustic raw sugar flavors that are at the core. Full City roast is recommended here for brewed coffee, and a nice starting point for espresso. Pulling a shot of our Full City roast yielded inky bodied espresso with a surprisingly bright acidity, lemon juice notes, bittersweet cacao nibs, and roasted barley accents in the finish.