From the vibrant neighborhood of Ocean Beach in San Diego, a new coffee company called Frequent Coffee is making waves by focusing on high-quality decaffeinated blends. Launched this summer, the company offers five decaf options, including three signature blends and two adventurous single-origin coffees, as well as a half-caff and three fully caffeinated blends.
Mark Gano, Frequent Coffee’s Co-Founder and Head Roaster, aims to elevate the decaf coffee experience in the United States. “I love strong coffee, but I also value good sleep,” he explained to Daily Coffee News. “As I searched for better decaf, I found a real gap in the market for truly exceptional decaf options. We decided to create a decaf-focused coffee company to fill this void.”
Gano left his construction business after 15 years to pursue coffee full-time, with longtime friend and marketing expert Jakob Bechgaard as his partner. Gano has leaned on established local coffee professionals, including Chris O’Brien of Coffee Cycle, Chuck Patton, a renowned roaster, Mehmet Sogan of Memli Coffee Lab, and others, for advice and collaboration during the company’s inception.
Roasting at the California Roasting Collective in nearby San Marcos, Gano is constantly experimenting with new decaf options between production runs. The beans are packaged in boldly colored bags with playful names to catch consumers’ eyes. Special-edition coffees receive fancier labels that highlight unique post-harvest processing techniques or exceptional cup characteristics.
“The packaging is meant to look colorful, fun, and unpretentious – something that grabs your attention and conveys, ‘this looks exciting.
“We want our coffee to be memorable, both in taste and emotion,” said Gano. “The packaging is meant to look colorful, fun, and unpretentious – something that grabs your attention and conveys, ‘this looks exciting.'”
Frequent Coffee’s decaf beans are currently sourced in small quantities as Gano seeks geographic diversity and assurances from suppliers that the coffees were initially purchased at fair prices. He is eager for more decaf-sourcing opportunities as the business expands. “We aren’t yet producing enough to have an entire container of decaffeinated beans,” said Gano, “but soon, that might change, and then the sky’s the limit.”
Frequent Coffee is poised to redefine the decaf coffee experience in San Diego and potentially beyond. What do you think about their mission? Are there any other decaf options you’ve found that impress you? Share your thoughts below!
Questions & Answers
Where can I find high-quality decaf coffee in San Diego?
Frequent Coffee, a popular spot in San Diego, regularly turns out high-quality decaf options.
What makes Frequent Coffee’s decaf coffee stand out?
Frequent Coffee uses a gentle decaffeination process to preserve the coffee’s original flavor and aroma.
Information sourced from industry reports and news outlets.
