Quality is in the cup

Ann Arbor, MI -- good to be back. My nose, mouth and entire body found the week of intensive cupping and the sensory tests nearly overwhelming. The Q Grader course was worth it however -- thanks to great instructors and a uniquely diverse and fun bunch of people who made up the class. Main learnings -- 1. one must rely on the cup, not certifications, grades or descriptions given by others. 2. learning to accurately score what one cups correctly is going to be a challenge. Takes lots of calibration opportunities. I'm pretty good at awarding a coffee when it's good. What's tougher for me is "dinging" a coffee when it's not living up to specialty grade.

My feedback on the course -- there should have been more "drills" on specialty vs. non-specialty coffees, and then the test. Line up 3 cups of Colombians that score 78-79 and 3 more that score 80-81, score them and discuss. Then do the same with Indonesians, East Africans, Centrals, etc.

4th Day of the Q Grader Exam

Long Beach, CA. SCAA headquarters (also CQI headquarters). Just finished the 4th day of the Q Grader exam. There's 10 of us in the class, an instructor (Kelly Amoroso) and an assistant instructor from Korea, Paul Kim. We're all exhausted at this point in the week. It's as tough as they say -- I'll have to re-take several parts. But well worth it -- I'll be a more educated and confident cupper regardless of whether I get the certificate this time around.

Great decafs profiled in Sept/Oct. issue of Roast

Have you checked out the Sept/Oct issue of Roast magazine? Page 76-78 you'll find the reprint of Coffee Review's evaluation of "signature decaf blends." I especially like the "roaster's notes" on each of the top 3 coffees: Nelson Valverde on his Decaf South American Blend; Patrick Grzelewski on his Decaf Redline and Terry Patano on his Organic Decaf Jackie Oh (gotta love that name).

The nice thing about these three coffees is the range of processes and certifications. Two use the water processes, and one uses the direct solvent method (sometimes called the precision method). I think this shows that no one process has a monopoly on "great tasting decaf" -- it all depends on the quality of the bean from origin. Also, one of the top 3 is organic and at least is trying to be fair-trade (see notes in the article about that), showing that one does not have to give up taste in order to achieve the other requirements of these certifications.

I've bought and brewed all three of them now. Good stuff in the cup with each one.

Doctor's Order: Reduce Caffeine

Here's my new slogan: Behind every coffee drinker is a decision to reduce caffeine intake. The coffee industry needs to take more note of this undeniable truism. The question isn't "if", it's "when" for any regular coffee drinker. At some point in their coffee drinking life, each coffee devotee will discover for themselves, or a health practitioner will tell them -- "try reducing the amount of caffeine intake." The next question that consumer has to answer is, "will I switch beverages, or will I go to decaf coffee?" If they haven't been getting any marketing messages about the delightful taste, variety and excitement their cafe, roaster and barista has to offer in the decaf line-up -- guess what? They will probably switch to vitamin water, herbal tea, or tap water.

A large employer in my community, like large employers across the USA, recently had this advice in their employee "Wellness" newsletter: 'Curb Caffeine to Reduce Stress:
Stimulants such as tobacco and caffeine can rev up your nervous system, which increases stress. Also, the addictive nature of some stimulants could leave you anxious until your next fix.'

Wake-up and smell the coffee -- market your decaf or you will be losing market share.

Green Coffee Grading and Decaf

At the SCAA show in Anaheim (April 2010) I was able to take the Roasters' Guild's "Green Coffee Grading" course. It helped me learn about the various types of defects. It's almost like a "processes at origin" course on it's flipside - they are primarily talking about and showing you throughout the class what happens when those processes at origin are not done well.

As we witnessed the kind of stones, little sticks, "blacks", "withereds", "pre-matures" and other defective beans, my thoughts turned to what must be going into a lot of decaf coffee in North America. Each defect found in a 300g sample downgrades the quality of the coffee, and therefore the price. That's why more often than not, it's the cheap, low quality coffee (with blacks, whites, sticks, brokens, etc.) that is getting thrown into the brutal decaffeination processing plant, and then the giant roasters at commodity coffee production plants throw it into a wicked 7 minute blast roast. It's no wonder most decaf in the US tastes miserable!

The power of the word - what decaf method is it?

Here's another rave related to Coffee Review's July article on decaf coffees. I appreciate the non-inflammatory language the author found to use when he had to describe the different decaffeination processes. Given that there are basically four different decaffeination processes in use today (water, super-critical CO2, methylene chloride and ethyl acetate), and all of them are allowed by the FDA with no controversy, it seems safe to say that none of the four are "unhealthy." So it's helpful that Ken Davids uses the term "synthetic solvent" instead of "chemical" to describe the methylene chloride processed coffees. It seems obvious to me that when the water (and CO2) process marketers were designing their campaigns, they cleverly chose a word that had some negative baggage, "chemical", to describe their competition. Over the years, they and many others have used this term a lot and it's been successful. Three cheers for marketing! One should never underestimate the power of it.

But when others who are not marketers for the water-process brands use the term "chemical process" to describe methylene chloride and ethyl acetate processes, it irks me. A more objective, less negatively charged term, such as synthetic solvent, should become the norm and the standard amongst specialty coffee professionals.

Not only that, I propose that the industry move away from defining the decaffeination processes by the solvent used, to something that helps the consumer understand how brutal the process is on the coffee bean. When brevity and amount of material that remains in tact are the focus of the descriptor, the potential for negative baggage quickly shifts to the other foot. The most "precision" process is the super-critical CO2, followed by a tie between methylene chloride and ethyl acetate. The water processes could be described as "brutal to bean and very long" (sometimes days, I understand). So "soaked" might be the appropriate term, versus "precision."

Top Rated Decafs - Gotta Get 'Em!

The top rated decaf coffees in this month's Coffee Review are Cafe Valverde's "decaf South American blend", Metropolis' "Decaf Redline" and Doma Coffee's "Jackie Oh Organic Decaf". I've bought and tasted the second (Redline) and the first (South American blend) is on it's way. Need to get on-line and get some of that "Jackie Oh" next!

Metropolis' Redline does hold up nicely to both espresso extraction and drip brewing. I agree with the flavor notes the Coffee Review guys shared -- sweetness comes in the form of caramel and dark chocolate, and there's an aromatic woodiness and fruitiness mixed in. What separates it from other decafs is the mouthfeel -- it's round not flat.