San Diego’s Frequent Coffee Just Made History With a Record-Breaking Decaf Score
Decaf doesn’t get nearly enough respect – but that might be about to change. San Diego-based specialty coffee brand Frequent Coffee has just earned a 94-point rating from Coffee Review for its Red Bourbon Wilton Benítez Decaf, the highest score ever awarded to a decaffeinated coffee in the publication’s history.
That’s not a small thing.
Coffee Review is one of the most authoritative voices in specialty coffee, and this milestone is being felt across the entire industry.
A Coffee That Speaks for Itself
The Red Bourbon lot is produced by Wilton Benítez at La Macarena farm in Cauca, Colombia – a region known for producing exceptional, expressive coffees.
What makes this particular lot stand out starts in the processing: a highly controlled double-anaerobic fermentation with yeast inoculation, followed by sugarcane ethyl acetate decaffeination, a method prized for preserving the coffee’s natural clarity and structure.
The result is a decaf that doesn’t taste like a compromise.
Coffee Review’s Kenneth Davids described it as a “soaringly complex, exhilaratingly citrusy decaf cup” – recognizing its bright citrus and floral character and balanced structure. Once roasted by the Frequent Coffee team here in San Diego, those qualities come through in the cup in a way that challenges every assumption about what decaf can be.
What This Means for Decaf as a Category
Frequent Coffee co-founder and Head Roaster Mark Gano put it well: “For a long time, decaf has been treated as an afterthought. This shows what’s possible when the same level of care is applied at every stage, from farming and processing to roasting. We’ve always believed decaf can be super fun and complex, and this moment is a reflection of that.”
The recognition doesn’t stop at the score.
Frequent Coffee was also featured among a small group of roasters highlighted in Coffee Review’s April 2026 tasting report for pushing innovation within the decaf category – part of a broader industry shift toward higher-quality, traceable, and more expressive reduced-caffeine coffees.
Get Your Hands on a Bag
The Red Bourbon Wilton Benítez Decaf is available now directly through Frequent Coffee. Whether you’re a longtime decaf drinker or someone who’s never given it a serious shot, this is a pretty compelling reason to try.
