James Hoffmann, founder of Square Mile Coffee Roasters (London, UK) and the World Barista Champion in 2007, wrote in his Feb. 2, 2010 blog of his epiphany about decaf coffee which apparently happened in 2007. (Whew! Glad he's been "in the know" for at least the past 3 years!)
"I think we make a grave mistake alienating decaf drinkers with tonnes of pre-ground, nasty coffee brewed without much care. These are people who are buying coffee because they like the taste. We are supposed to love these people – they aren’t the ones suffering through awful espressos or instant coffee just to get their caffeine fix. And yet they are the people least catered to in the industry. A shame."
Couldn't have said it better myself, James. Thank you! And thank you to roaster Joel (formerly of Stumptown- West Coast, which is where James had his epiphany) for seeing the light and brewing that tasty, sweet, full bodied shot for James.
Read the whole blog, it's a good one: http://www.jimseven.com/2009/02/02/decaf/
I just stumbled onto your blog. As a coffee lover whose stomach recently decided it can't handle caffeine, I've been surprised at how neglected decaf drinkers are! I'm drinking Intelligentsia's decaf espresso right now (Black Cat) and it's quite good. My other fav is by a little Canadian company called Doi Chaang. There definitely are good decafs out there, but I've almost had to give up on drinking coffee at the local coffee shops. (And I've decided to almost never order decaf at a restaurant again!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for keeping such an interesting blog!