coffee guide – dragonsandflowers

a bright orange hand peeling back sticker on decaf coffee bag

Decaf coffee marketing is pretty archaic. For all the developments the coffee industry makes technologically and culturally, this niche might as well be in the stone age!

Coffee marketing in general aims to provide several critical values in a single package. On average, a coffee bag will boast its environmental sustainability, ethical sourcing commitment, and/or specialty bean cultivation. Where decaf coffee marketing often stumbles is its missed opportunities. When today’s approaches are not spouting tired catchphrases, they’re failing to stress the physical or mental health benefits.

Falling back on clichés may be easier, but they won’t make your business stand out from the competition (and may even turn buyers off entirely).

How can you improve your decaf coffee marketing to raise awareness or clinch more buyers? I’m going to share a few tips on how to promote your coffee business, from my perspective as both a coffee marketer and a passionate decaf drinker.

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Coffee Marketing Tips (and Predictions) for Ten Growing Industry Trends

April 12, 2022April 13, 2022 Ashe

What new standards do you think the coffee industry will have over the next ten years? Working on coffee marketing over the next three months seems like a tall order in the pandemic.

If we can rely on anything, it’s the fact that coffee comes in waves. First wave coffee was as simple as could be, focusing on introducing this plant to a mainstream audience. The second wave completed the deal and turned coffee into an everyday beverage. Third wave is what Western coffee drinkers – particularly those interested in the specialty space – are most familiar with, focusing on environmental sustainability and cultural growth.

The fourth wave of coffee is still in the air, but current trends are already setting the stage. I’m going to look at ten coffee trends set to become standards over the next ten years and what that means for the cards in your deck – your coffee marketing strategies.

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onyx coffee lab decaf la serrania banner

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Decaf, Decaf Everywhere: Onyx Coffee Lab’s Decaf La Serrania

October 13, 2021October 13, 2021 Ashe

It’s always good news when a favorite roaster brings in another decaf.

Being a strict decaf coffee drinker can leave you disappointed when browsing roasters. We often get the short end of the stick when it comes to portfolio variety. A token decaf bag is the standard (and still not always guaranteed). Two bags is a nice surprise! Three bags is very rare. Anything more than three might as well be a blue moon, and you should savor it just as much.

I check back with my favorite roasters every few months to see if they have anything new. While most roasters keep a consistent rotation of their default decaf bag, some shake things up by cycling in new ones a few times per year. Onyx Coffee Lab gives me plenty to love as a decaf drinker, keeping their portfolio dynamic with new decaf and half-caf options. While I still can’t drink the latter (yes, I’m that sensitive), I’m glad it exists.

If you’re as eager to try different kinds of decaf coffee as I am, check out my Decaf, Decaf Everywhere series (which has a variety of specialty and non-specialty options). I recently took a look at a Washington coffee roaster that slipped my notice, as well as revisited another favorite roaster of mine.

Why is Colombian coffee so good and a regular favorite on my review lists? Let’s see why Onyx Coffee Lab and this origin have earned such a positive reputation:

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Decaf, Decaf Everywhere: Kuma Coffee’s Peru San Ignacio Decaf

March 8, 2021June 25, 2021 Ashe

This bag nearly drove me mad…but not in a bad way.

To start off, the first few attempts at brewing this coffee went sour due to my accidentally buying the wrong filter from Melitta. Take it from me…just because it looks like a pourover filter doesn’t mean it’s a pourover filter. Secondly, I could’ve sworn I’d already written a review on it! It was just so good it didn’t click to me I hadn’t crowed about it to all and sundry. Well. Coffee is nothing if not an event and Kuma Coffee sticks out in my mind for nearly every reason in the book.

So…was it worth all the trouble? Let’s find out! If you haven’t read my past specialty decaf coffee reviews, check out my Decaf, Decaf Everywhere series in the directory. I recently reviewed Methodical Coffee’s Decaf Cauca, a tart and fruity delight that I (surprisingly!) preferred drinking black.

Without further ado:

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Decaf, Decaf Everywhere: Methodical Coffee’s Decaf Cauca

March 1, 2021August 21, 2021 Ashe

I am living proof that coffee newsletters are a very effective marketing tool in the long-term.

Several months ago, near the beginning of the year, I signed up for Methodical Coffee‘s newsletter as a reminder to try out their decaf. In-between other specialty coffee bag purchases they would crop up in my email’s promotions tab with new coffee bags or behind-the-scenes peeks. I wouldn’t end up buying it until several months later.

While ‘now’ is a more preferred word than ‘later’ in the rapidfire world of business, it stands to reason a good business encourages customers of every single stripe. The ready-to-buys. The not-quite-sures. The ‘I totally want to buy this, it just keeps slipping my mind in a sea of marketing competition’s.

I’m eager to get down and dirty with this lovely single origin decaf coffee bag and all the interesting journeys it took me on. If you haven’t read my previous entries in my decaf coffee series Decaf, Decaf Everywhere, check out my directory.

In the meantime, let’s take a look at Methodical Coffee and see if their bag lives up to its build-up:

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Coffee Processing Styles and Terminology (Plus Flowchart) — Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine

December 11, 2020 Ashe

Led by zeitgeisty processing methods such as anaerobic fermentation or carbonic maceration, new ways of developing flavor and removing fruit from coffee seeds seem to be emerging every day. Even…
Coffee Processing Styles and Terminology (Plus Flowchart) — Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine

Need a little help with your coffee processing terminology? There’s a graph for you!

…and me, to be honest. I’m learning something new about this drink every day, up to and including the word ‘demucilaged’. Don’t ask me how that’s pronounced. Coffee remains a sensitive creation that takes no prisoners the moment it’s plucked off the branch. Check out this insightful post and increase your knowledge (and appreciation) on the hard work that goes into this product.

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Decaf, Decaf Everywhere: La Colombe’s Luna Azul

December 4, 2020October 6, 2021 Ashe

It’s kind of tough to advertise flavor notes, isn’t it? We just have so much variety in our tastebuds.

I’m sensitive to complex flavors myself. I adore being able to get several notes in one cup and can even find myself disappointed if a drink is straightforward (not even bad, just…simple). I also have a massive sweet tooth. The science behind our tongue is a fascinating subject, involving subtle taste receptors located in different areas of the muscle to sort bitter from savory and sweet from salty. That doesn’t stop some people from having overpowering or underwhelming tastebuds, granting them sometimes contradictory experiences with the same product.

Diversity is one of the many beauties of the human condition…so imagine my shock when my mother tried La Colombe’s Luna Azul without knowing its flavor notes and nailed every single one. I had to double-check my phone to make sure I was reading it right! While I’ve long since accepted I can try out a new coffee and not quite get the flavors it was promising, La Colombe has clearly narrowed down its beans’ personality to a razor edge.

If you haven’t read my previous specialty decaf reviews, check out my Decaf, Decaf Everywhere series.

Let’s see what makes this coffee special:

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Help, this coffee is so bitter! — Coffee with the Queen

November 30, 2020 Ashe

It’s the holiday season and, if you are anything like us, that means coffee! Lots and lots of coffee. Coffee at home, coffee at the office, coffee with friends and loved ones. Good coffee, okay coffee, and bad coffee… that, dear readers, is where we start today, with those painful-to-swallow (though sometimes vital) undesirably bitter cups of coffee.
Help, this coffee is so bitter! — Coffee with the Queen

It’s the omnipresent conundrum! How do you take out the harsh taste and leave nothing but the good stuff?

One of the most common complaints I hear is how bitter coffee can be. Even from regular drinkers. It’s not all that surprising, since the most affordable and accessible coffee is often the stale, low-quality products at the grocery store. Should one get their hands on a freshly roasted specialty bag, it can still be lessened by burning the beans with scalding water or leaving the grind on the counter for hours. While I love adding whole milk and brown sugar, it’s not needed to keep your cup balanced.

It’s only once I started drinking freshly roasted and freshly ground coffee that I started drinking black cups willingly. For me and my sweet tooth? That’s huge. If you struggle with bitter or stale cups, I can vouch for the tips listed in this post. That is, save for adding a pinch of salt. I’ve never tried that and now I’m curious…

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Decaf, Decaf Everywhere: PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. Huerta Del Rio Decaf

November 20, 2020June 25, 2021 Ashe

Do you blank out when asked about your favorite coffee origin? It’s all right. I did, too.

It’s a common enough reaction when a cheap coffee bag advertises its convenience or its smoothness more than where it comes from. Whether or not origin is worth knowing about is another source of contention depending on the kind of drinker you are. More casual drinkers might dip into a cafe once in a while. Others may brew daily for a morning caffeine boost. Yet more might use coffee as a warm and cozy pick-me-up, not unlike a mug of tea.

No matter where you land on the coffee aficionado scale, this is a topic you’ll want to brush up on. Learning about coffee origins and what, precisely, they offer each harvest has been one of the most enjoyable and illuminating parts of my journey.

What makes Mexican coffee so good? We’re going to get another showcase on what this origin, and region, have to offer with PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. If you haven’t read my previous reviews, check out my directory for all things specialty decaf coffee.

I’m excited to talk about this bag, so let’s go:

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Decaf, Decaf Everywhere: Bicycle Coffee Co’s Water Process Decaf

November 10, 2020June 25, 2021 Ashe

Roasters are between a serious rock and a hard place right now. Just look at all the sales and discounts going on.

If I’m not seeing a small roastery offering a large discount after signing up for their newsletter, I’m seeing a medium-sized roastery offering a free shipping and special sales code combo. While all businesses will dip into sales from time-to-time to incentivize new and repeat customers alike, these past several months have veered from canny to desperate.

Which sounds preferable: maintaining the same prices and approach for a dwindling audience or offering a slew of discounts on a ‘some money is better than no money’ philosophy?

I want to try these discounted coffees for more than one reason: save myself some money while helping keep businesses afloat. Bicycle Coffee Co. is exemplary of this pandemic marketing savvy, with several discounts stacked on top of one another, and with charming packaging design, to boot. Better yet? They offer Mexican coffee, an origin I’ve been very eager to try. If you haven’t read my previous posts in the series, check out my directory for some insight into today’s best decaf specialty coffee.

Let’s see what this roastery has to offer:

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