San Diego's Frequent Coffee Is Making Decaf Worth Seeking Out
The knock on decaf has always been the same: muddy, flat, something you tolerate rather than enjoy. Mark Gano is tired of that story. The San Diego-based roaster launched Frequent Coffee with a specific goal—proving that removing caffeine doesn’t have to mean removing character.
“For decades, decaf has often been treated as an afterthought,” Gano explains. “We wanted to prove it can be just as expressive, complex, and thoughtfully produced as any high-end specialty coffee.”
Processing Before Decaffeination
The secret lies in treating decaf beans the way top roasters treat their most prized single origins: starting with exceptional green coffee and applying intentional processing methods before the caffeine comes out.
Frequent’s expanded lineup, announced in January 2026, features coffees produced through carbonic maceration, thermal shock processing, yeast inoculation, and anaerobic fermentation—techniques typically reserved for competition-grade lots. Then comes decaffeination via Swiss Water or sugarcane ethyl acetate (EA), both chemical-free methods that preserve the flavours built during fermentation.
The thermal shock process is particularly striking. Cherries get immersed in hot water briefly, opening pores in the parchment and silverskin, followed by rapid cold washing that cleanses and instantly cools the beans. The temperature swing develops flavour precursors before any caffeine removal happens. The result: fruit-forward, floral decaf that drinks nothing like what that word usually promises.
Colombia and Nicaragua Lead the Way
Gano sources from regions and producers known for experimental processing. The Colombian coffees come from El Vergel Estate, Finca El Paraíso, and Los Nogales—names familiar to anyone following auction results and micro-lot releases. Origins include Tolima, Cauca, Huila, and Pitalito, each contributing distinct terroir to the final cup.
From Nicaragua, Frequent offers carbonic-macerated decaf sourced through the Gold Mountain Coffee Growers network in Jinotega. The anaerobic conditions create complex fruit notes that survive both fermentation and decaffeination intact.
Built in San Diego, Shipping Nationwide
Gano transitioned to coffee after 15 years running a construction company. He roasts at the California Roasting Collective in San Marcos, drawing on mentorship from local veterans including Chris O’Brien of Coffee Cycle and legendary roaster Chuck Patton.
Frequent sells exclusively online, shipping whole bean and ground coffee nationwide. The packaging—bold colours, playful names, shinier labels for special editions—signals that decaf doesn’t have to take itself too seriously while the coffee inside certainly does.
Why This Matters
The specialty coffee world has spent years perfecting single-origin Geshas and competition-winning naturals. Meanwhile, decaf drinkers—including anyone who loves coffee after 3pm, pregnant or nursing individuals, those managing anxiety or heart conditions, and people who simply prefer to skip the stimulant—have been largely left out of the conversation.
Frequent Coffee argues there’s no reason for that divide. With the same attention to processing, the same careful sourcing, and the same obsessive roasting, decaf can deliver layered flavour expressions that rival any caffeinated counterpart. The expanded lineup proves it: pink bourbon thermal shock from Colombia, carbonic-macerated beans from Nicaragua, and more in rotation.
For anyone who’s settled for disappointing decaf because the alternative was nothing, Frequent offers a different answer. The caffeine may be gone, but the coffee finally tastes like it never left.