Decaf Gaining Respect - New York Times & Counter Culture

We're gaining ground here, folks. Today's FRONT PAGE of The New York Times Dining & Wine section blares the following headline, "Decaf With Pedigree and Flavor."

Peter Giuliano, director of coffee and an owner of Counter Culture Coffee, (Durham, N.C.) shares the state of the art beautifully, “We have a special obligation to the decaf drinker. Those guys are the true believers. They’re not drinking coffee because they need to wake up. They’re only drinking coffee because they like the taste.”

The NYT author did a good job selecting some of the best craft roasters for their opinions. Blue Bottle Coffee, Intelligentsia, Four Barrel, Peet's, Port Rico, Stumptown and others are all quoted. For their taste test though, the Times picked a weird assortment. They should have worked with Artisan Coffee Imports or Ken Davids at Coffee Review to get a really great selection of decafs.

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/

Coffee to Help Haiti

Today's post is not so much about decaf as coffee and economic development. The coffee industry can play a significant role in economic development of all coffee growing regions. We've seen it work in Rwanda and now Burundi. If you're not familiar with it, check out the work Dan Clay and others do through the PEARL project at Michigan State University (http://www.iia.msu.edu/pearl/index.htm), partially funded by USAID (http://www.usaid.gov/). Tim Schilling, based at Texas A&M University, is also involved. http://agnewsarchive.tamu.edu/dailynews/stories/AGPR/Sep1107b.htm

Now is the time to start bringing this kind of economic development to Haiti. A project that would support and strengthen specialty coffee farming in Haiti's rural areas should be a part of the long-term planning that the big donor agencies, including USAID, are trying to put together. Coffee may not be the only valuable export crop that could be supported in Haiti's rural, mountainous backlands, but it has been successful in the past. Development workers I know who work in former coffee growing regions say any assistance in this area would be welcome. http://www.haitianartisans.com/

I'd like to encourage David Farmer, Dan Clay, and folks from the Clinton Foundation to sit down with the grassroots organizations at work in rural Haiti and start pilot projects to re-establish coffee in Haiti.

Where's decaf on the menu?

I had the opportunity to do an interview with a cafe owner/operator at his cafe this AM. He knew something about what I do, so was prepared when I got there to explain how decaf coffee is a tiny fraction of his business. This is typical of many cafe owners and roasters I talk to.

So I we looked carefully at his menu boards -- (the great chalkboard kind, which I love). I asked, "so it seems no where on the boards does it mention decaf -- not even a mention that you've got the house blend brewed?" He agreed -- not there. As we discussed other parts of his business that have more demand than decaf coffee, it was the cafe owner, not me, that kept coming back to the insight -- "but at least "organic" is listed on the menu". "At least tea is listed as an option on the sign." Not surprisingly, we both agreed it will be worth it to see if modest promotion, such as putting decaf on the menu boards, makes any difference in demand.

The cafe owner, (who by the way, is a wonderful guy), then explained how teas are more convenient than coffee. He can have 100-150 teas in stock. The beverage is brewed one cup at a time, (instead of batch brewed), so there isn't the waste one gets with brewed coffee. Also, no grinding required. The dear little dried tea leaves can be placed directly in hot water for steeping. This got me thinking, are there ways to adopt any of this "convenience" to the coffee world? Imagine having dozens of coffees in one cafe - including decaf, of course.

Health Benefits of Coffee

I heard somewhere last fall that the National Coffee Assoc. (NCA) had recognized that it should be pushing the health benefits of coffee more effectively in the press. I think they're executing pretty well now. I've seen articles popping up all over, including the Wall Street Journal on Dec. 30, 2009. ("Good News on the Daily Grind", Health Journal, Dec. 30, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703278604574624032849271284.html)

The interesting thing to me is that the articles mention that many of the good qualities do not seem to be related to the caffeine and many of the NOT good qualities of coffee are related to the caffeine. But so far, I have not seen an article evaluate whether decaffeinated coffee is practically a health boost drink. The crumbs are leading that direction, though...

Are decaf coffee drinkers tired of limited choice?

Dear Fellow Decaf Drinkers:
Is anyone else tired of walking into an inviting cafe only to find that their choice for a decaf coffee will be limited to one "house" option and that the folks behind the counter have no idea what the origin is. "It's a blend," they typically state.

The limited choice is just my pet peeve, I guess. The real issue is, do I get a coffee that tastes great? Since I'm what they call a "dual drinker", I know that the "regular" crowd can please their palatte whether they're craving a dark roasted Indonesian or a light and citrusy Ethiopian. And, that "house coffee", if it's regular and at a place that calls itself a "cafe", has a reasonable chance of tasting OK. Not so for a decaf drinker! Too often I'm reminded that we are an after-thought, a necessary evil to many cafe-owners.

Especially that cafe with the green, round label. NO decaf served after the morning rush! How absurd! Can we not think of alternatives like offering only SPECIALTY coffee drinks -- like the made to order espresso drinks or pour-over coffee?

The root of this problem -- cafe owners who just aren't thinking about their after-thoughts.

~ Ruth Ann