I get that ‘decaf’ taste if I over extract. Too hot of a brew or too much time. Just last night I did decaf in an aeropress, 30 seconds at around 90°C (I let the kettle go longer than usual and was too lazy to cool the water down to ideal temp) and it brought out that undesirable flavor.

Whereas brewing the same beans at 75-80°C for 1-2 mins I don’t get that flavor profile at all.

If you are new to brewing decaf I recommend under extracting it. Generally all decaf are much easier to extract. So this usually means lower temps, coarser grinds or less water. I didn’t believe it until I tried it and now I love decaf even more

Ever since I read that comment, I gave decaf another go and have been very pleased. Been drinking one cup of coffee in the morning and a cup of decaf each night.

Ive had the best and most consistent experience with Illy decaf espresso ground coffee (in the round blue and silver aluminum cans) and roasted to order decaf green beans from my local roaster, also espresso grind. Brewing in an aeropress for around 30 seconds and 75-80 °C

I haven’t had any good experiences with pourover decaf in those single serve pourover packets, tried maybe 20 different brands from specialty gourmet decaf to cheap 7 eleven finds.

Edit: I also tried taking the ground decaf out of those single serve pourover packets, and brewing in the aeropress but that didnt improve the flavor. So the beans and decaf process has to be a factor, and not just the brewing process.