Sandra’s Best Decaf Bean Discovery Testimonial

Having switched to decaf coffee several years ago, I was on the hunt for a decent decaf bean.  I learned quickly how incredibly hard it is to find a good decaffeinated coffee beans for use at home.  Many are bitter, over roasted, and/or completely lacking in flavour.  A couple of years ago, I ‘stumbled’ on something in tiny Ste Anne de Bellevue, Quebec on Montreal’s west island.

We were on our way home from buying fancy gift baskets, pretty tissue paper and bags for Peches, and, for old time’s sake (I went to school in ‘Ste Anne’), turned into Ste Anne de Bellevue to have a meal before the aprrox. 3 hour drive home.  Upon wandering into the local ‘health food store’ to have a gander, I noticed they had those cylinders of different coffee beans that you could bag yourself.

The shiny, oily, dark decaf beans winked at me.

I did a tour of the shop, stopped in front of the Santropol Salvaterra Decaf and ‘boldly’ took enough for maybe 3 cups and we drove away!  Did I regret that when I tasted my coffee the next morning tucked in at home west of Clayton.  I should have bought 3 pounds!

There was no bitterness, and, for me a distinct wonderful mocha overtone.  Bonus, Santropol is also organic and fair trade certified.

I scrambled to find out where we could get these decaf beans close to Ottawa and the closest was in a small grocery store in Old Chelsea.  So for a couple of years now, either Lise or I or both of us have made the trek up to Old Chelsea and brought back several bags at a time to keep me in morning bliss.  We mentioned the coffee to some friends in Almonte and gave them samples of the beans and… started bringing more bags back for them as well each time we ‘made a run’ as they agreed that it was the best decaf they too had tasted.  So, recently, almost out of beans and no time drive to Old Chelsea in sight, we took the plunge and ordered the minimum of 20 – 1 pound bags direct from the Santropol coffee roaster in Montreal.  We now offer you what I have found to be the best decaf beans ever, complementing our select cafeinated line of La Brulerie choices from a local roaster in quartier Hull of Gatineau, that was highly recommended to us by our own customers of Peches and we have been carrying for quite awhile now.

Drop in for a free sample of Salvaterra decaf beans, try them, and, if you like this coffee as much as I do, we will keep bringing it in to the shop on a regular basis.