San Francisco Roaster/Cafe Tour

Ted Stachura - Equator Coffee

June 14-19, 2012
Had the opportunity to visit and taste some great roasters while in San Francisco, June 14 - 19. Started off at Equator Coffee in beautiful San Marin county. They have just brought on a wonderful decaf Colombian from Los Cauchos cooperative in the state of Huila, Colombia. (Buy the roasted coffee here.) We happen to know the green coffee was sourced by Artisan Coffee Imports.  Equator is offering another single origin decaf with transparency -- decaf Bolivia San Ignacio Organic. TWO decaf coffees with direct trade transparency from one roaster. Talk about being on the cutting edge! (Intelligentsia, Stumptown, you're lagging.)

Eileen Hassi - Ritual Coffee - Valencia St.

In downtown San Francisco proper, it was a pure delight to tour some of the city's finest cafes on a warm, sunnny (not drop of rain in sight!) Saturday. First stop, Ritual, in the Mission District. Enjoyed the ambiance from the first step in the door. First rate baristas helped me with my order and it was fun to see Eileen Hassi and some of her dedicated and long-term staff at work installing the latest and greatest custom-designed and fabricated pour-over bar. (See photo inset and more in our Flicker photostream). Like Equator, their decaf espresso is from Colombia's state of Huila. Possibly a different lot than Equator's, but still the Los Cauchos cooperative.

Next, Sightglass Cafe. This is a very new cafe bristling with excitement, I thought. The double-loft, cavernous space has the roaster positioned prominently and centrally -- even in front of the espresso bar as you walk in! Ordered an iced coffee here, as the temperatures were in the high 80's and possibly 90 inside the store (no air-conditioning).  The barista had a bit of trouble tracking down the origin of the decaf espresso, but eventually discovered it was a blend of two coffees from Colombia. One from Huila and the other from Tolima. Visit or call Artisan Coffee Imports to learn more about the sourcing of these direct trade coffees from Colombia. In order to complete the sauna effect, I sat on the 2nd floor mezzanine where it was almost 100 degrees and I got to stare straight at the taxidermy owl that watches over the place (and is the namesake for the "Owl's Howl" espresso.)

Last stop was Four Barrel Coffee, Mission District again. Again -- no air conditioning, so another iced coffee for me. This time the Bolivian was on tap! Amazing -- among four top roasters in San Francisco, only two origins were to be found among the decafs -- the Colombian - Los Cauchos cooperative (Sightglass, Equator, Ritual) and the Bolivian San Ignacio cooperative (Four Barrel, Equator).

Four Barrel's unique bar features a REAL turntable and racks of LPs.

Great chatting with the Four Barrel roaster,Ryan, about trouble-shooting my roast profile for sample roasting decafs.

West Coast Cafes -- Stumptown's Decaf

Cupping @ Stumptown during SCAA

April 19, 2012
It was drizzling rain as I scooted out the door of the trolley-like train that had brought me into downtown Portland from the convention center this Friday morning. "Very appropriate," I thought, as I wound my way on the outskirts of Chinatown to third street. "I'm finally in Portland, OR, going to Stumptown's cafe and it's a perfect Portland rainy morning."

Inside the non-pretentious building the atmosphere was warm, welcoming and spacious. With high ceilings, and a long coffee bar, the cafe had the feeling of a large atrium. Near the back, the staff had set up a great selection of bourbons from 3 different continents for cupping. As I got started, other guests arrived for the cupping. A couple that had just opened a cafe near San Diego, and veteran roaster from Colorado who had been on the road for 8 weeks or so. Portland was just his latest stop.

The Stumptown staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. When I talked with the head trainer about decaf coffees, he generously pulled one of their bags off the shelf and gave it to me. "Cup it at home," he suggested.

James Hoffmann's epiphany about decaf coffee

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/