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Five Lies About Decaf You Probably Believe

November 6, 2017 By Michael 6 Comments

There have been few beverage categories as vilified as decaffeinated coffee, and for no good reason. Decaf drinkers, after all, might be considered true coffee purists, who drink coffee not for it’s stimulating effects but its delicious flavor. We’ve found a shocking number of people believe these five lies about decaf.

Decaf Tastes Bad

In fairness, most decaf is pretty terrible. But that’s probably not the fault of the decaffeination process. Most decaf is made with cheap, commodity-grade coffee that, quite frankly, was pretty terrible before it was decaffeinated. Modern decaffeination techniques are pretty sophisticated. Programs like Cafe Imports’s Origin Select Decaf have proven that if you start with excellent, specialty-grade coffee, decaf can taste fantastic.

Decaf is Made With Dangerous Chemicals

Decaf is usually made with chemicals that have scary names, like Ethyl Acetate or Methylene Chloride, but don’t worry, your cup of decaf isn’t going to kill you. Ethyl Acetate is a naturally-occurring ester of ethanol and acetic acid. It occurs in fruit, wine, and is often used in perfume. Any residual Methylene Chloride is completely burned up in the roasting process. Still not convinced? Water-process decaf, while more expensive and less efficient, can be certified organic.

Decaf is Caffeine-Free

The decaffeination process removes the overwhelming majority of the caffeine from coffee, but a 8 oz. mug of decaf can still have up to 5 mg. of caffeine. If you’re really sensitive to caffeine, you might want to consider switching to a naturally-caffeine free beverage like chamomile tea.

Baristas Never Drink Decaf

Baristas at quality-minded cafés have to taste a lot of coffee throughout their shift, which means by the time their break rolls around, the thought of any more caffeine can be physically repulsive. Likewise, professional coffee tasters usually spit when doing quality control, but a lot of caffeine is still absorbed. So don’t be surprised if that cup of coffee your barista is quietly nursing between rushes is actually decaf.

Dark Roast Has Less Caffeine

Okay, this myth isn’t about decaf, as much as caffeine levels in regular coffee, but it’s very prevalent (and odd-numbered listicles get more clicks for some reason). Although roast degree affects levels of organic acids like citric acid and malic acid, caffeine levels are not affected.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: decaf

Opinion: the Coffee Industry Needs Geishas

August 15, 2016 By Michael 5 Comments

geisha

It wasn’t that long ago that good bourbon was pretty cheap, at least here in Kentucky where I live. The 80s and 90s were not kind to the bourbon industry, which left a lot of really great whiskey maturing in oak barrels. Back in those golden years you could pick up a teenaged bourbon for less than a decent bottle of wine.

In 2005 an old, all-but-forgotten whisky brand made from hooch from the shuttered Stitzer-Weller Distillery won a double gold medal at the San Francisco Spirit Awards. Fast forward a few years later and bottles of Pappy Van Winkle are going for 1000% of its already premium retail price on the secondary market. Fueled by its elusive quantities and exuberant price, the legend around Pappy grew. Bourbon, long thought to be Scotch’s less refined colonial cousin, had a new esteem in the global market and sales surged.

Incidentally, around the same time Pappy Van Winkle was beginning to boom, a small farm in Panama was changing the coffee industry with an old, all-but-forgotten coffee variety. …

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Geisha, opinion

Five Reasons to Use a Hand Grinder

March 17, 2015 By Michael 1 Comment

hand grinder

1. Spend your money on a burr, not a motor.

A good grind is all about the burr. The bigger the burr set, the more consistent the grind. For example, the Baratza Virtuoso has a 40 mm burr set for $229 while the OE Lido 2 has a 48 mm burr for $175.00. Essentially, with a hand grinder you get more burr for less dough.

2. Hand grinders are great for traveling.

Take it from someone who has flown cross-country with a Mahlkönig K30 Twin as a carry-on- it’s not a lot of fun to travel with an electric grinder. Not only will an electric grinder take up most of your bag, but airport security will think…

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Baratza, coffee grinder, hand grinder, Lido 2

Kopi Indo: Exciting Developments in Indonesian Specialty Coffee

October 30, 2014 By Guest 1 Comment

indonesia_rel98

Like in other countries, the past few years have seen specialty coffee picking up steam in my home country Indonesia. Below is an exploration of the scene based on my recent trip to Jakarta and Bali.

Killing time while my wife was pampered with a traditional Javanese massage, I stopped by Giyanti, a café/roastery in the nearby antiques district of Jakarta. …

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Indonesia, Jakarta

3 Reasons You Need A Thermapen

September 19, 2014 By Darren Leave a Comment

I know right?

In case you needed three reasons to get a thermapen here they are….

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Filed Under: Articles

Jesse Harriott to Start Copper Horse Coffee in Ithaca

July 14, 2014 By Michael 1 Comment

Copper Horse Coffee

Jesse Harriott is no stranger to long-time readers of The Coffee Compass. Jesse’s curriculum vitae reads like a greatest hits record: award winning coffee roaster, co-founder of America’s Best Coffee House Competition, and the fist person to ever represent Kentucky in a barista competition. In addition to being a specialty coffee mentor of ours, Jesse has conducted several interviews for the Compass, including with World Barista Champion Pete Licata. Now Jesse can add “founder of Copper Horse Coffee Roastery” to that list.

copper horse coffee

When I first heard that Jesse was leaving Sunergos Coffee to help start a new roastery in his native Ithaca, New York, I was ecstatic. Anyone who has met Jesse can testify to his skill and passion for roasting coffee. The sad reality that our close-knit coffee community in Louisville is losing one of its pillars has yet to set in, but anyone with Jesse’s giftings deserves to be at the helm of their own project.

The good news is that you can be one of the first people to try coffee roasted by Copper Horse by backing them on Kickstarter. I’ve got my eye on that Brazil Cup of Excellence winning coffee from producer Fazenda Recreio. Regardless, upstate New York should be excited to have another fantastic coffee roaster in the area.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Copper Horse Coffee, Ithica, Jesse Harriott, Louisville, New York, Sunergos Coffee

Camila Ramos of Panther Coffee makes Eater’s Young Guns List

June 24, 2014 By Michael 1 Comment

Camila Ramos Young Guns
When we saw Camila Ramos’s routine at the Big Eastern Barista Competition back in January, we knew it was championship material. After claiming the top spot in the Southeast, Ramos went on to take fifth place at the US Barista Championship. Now the lead barista and trainer at Miami’s Panther Coffee has been selected for Eater’s exclusive Young Guns Class of 2014. Restauranteur Michael Schwartz comments,

If she was a cook, she’d be who I want on my team. She’s a little cocky, very creative. She’s fast, she makes a mean coffee.”

We’ve been following Eater for several years now, and it’s the first time we’ve seen them select a coffee professional for this coveted who’s who of the service industry. We couldn’t be more excited to see the specialty coffee industry receive more attention from the larger culinary arts world, and we can’t think of a better ambassador for specialty coffee than Camila Ramos.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Camila Ramos, Eater, Miami, Panther Coffee

Introducing RoastWatch, an iOS app for Roasting Coffee

April 28, 2014 By Darren 16 Comments

roastWatch banner

For long time readers of the Compass, you might have guessed that we enjoy participating in every step of the coffee process, including roasting. After I began getting into iOS app development, I started searching for a project to cut my teeth on. That project is RoastWatch.

RoastWatch, a portmanteau of “Roasting” and “Wristwatch”, is a simple, yet powerful iOS tool to help you track and log your coffee roast profiles. It was designed…

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: app, iOS, Roasting, RoastWatch

In Support of Home Roasting

January 1, 2014 By Guest 20 Comments

home roasting

Recently, Serious Eats published an article by Nick Cho that advocated against roasting coffee at home. I am a big fan of Serious Eats. Content from that website has encouraged me to take on all manner of ambitious food projects; pizza-making, prime-rib-roasting and layer-cake-baking have all come home to my kitchen because Serious Eats offered first-class instructions for these endeavors. I am sad to say that the same attitude was not embraced regarding coffee-roasting. It is a shame because home roasted coffee can be excellent. I have been roasting at home for five years, and it has been a richly rewarding experience, with all of the pros and cons considered. I’d like to share my perspective on this issue.

Why Not Roast?

I can think of only one major downside for roasting coffee: It …

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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: hottop, Nick Cho, Roasting

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