Not exactly, but we have been hard at work making Swiss Water® Decaffeinated coffees easier to roast consistently well. In addition to being decaffeinators we are roasters, and in our cupping room we roast our samples on a six barrel Jabez Burns and larger roasts on a Diedrich IR-3. What we have noticed is that at the same ground colour, the external colour of our decaf roast is much closer to the external roast colour of the original green coffee than it was in the past.
Swiss Water® Decaffeinated coffees are slightly darker in its green form than non-decaffeinated green coffee, so you have to approach it slightly differently in a roaster. I find the decaf green coffee to follow a similar pattern of colour change as the original green coffee, but at each stage in the roast our decaf will be slightly darker. This is along the lines of the difference between Pantone 100 PC and 103PC for an early phase of the roast.
As the decaf coffee is roasting it will expand, show its veins, expand some more, even out on the surface, and expand some more like a normal green coffee, but along the way the colour will be a little bit darker. (The picture below is of a recent decaf production of FTO Peru.) We follow similar roast profiles for the decaf green and original green coffees and don’t find a need to treat one or the other very differently.
Don’t be afraid to roast our decaf as light as your non-decaffeinated coffees. After every decaffeination we roast up the original green and the decaffeinated green and cup them side by side, and we roast them to the same sample roast level and we work hard to make sure there are no negative flavours because of the decaffeination process.
Category: Coffee Industry
We’ve made a lot of modifications to our process in the past couple of years and are super proud of the results: improved flavor, better roast profile, greener decaf that is easier to track during the roast process. Now it’s time to introduce some the lab equipment we use to back up these innovations!
Let’s start with moisture content analysis – after all, Water is our middle name. Like many of you, we used to rely on the Sinar for on-the-fly moisture analysis; when we needed something more accurate we used the time-consuming oven method. Nothing more accurate (no Easy-Bake for us) but that pinpoint ISO precision takes a solid 16 hours. About a year and a half ago we decided to invest the kids’ college fund in something more serious – a pair of Perten moisture analyzers. Not only do they give fast and ridiculously accurate moisture readings, we get bean density as a bonus! The Sinar still comes out of its drawer once in a while when we have very small samples and can’t wait for I-could-have-flown-to-Australia-it-took-so-long oven results. And the oven gets fired up regularly, as we like muffins to keep everything calibrated.
Next on the list are the water activity meters. While moisture meters tell you the percentage of the bean that is H2O, the water activity meter reveals how much moisture is readily available, as opposed to being cellularly bonded. Available water (aW) measurement indicates lots of fun stuff, such as how readily a particular green coffee will release caffeine. With decaf, it tells us how stable the finished product is. Our work on water activity has led to some interesting findings, most of them top secret, and has led to improvements that, among other things, have slowed the rate at which our decaf stales.
Our big bad water activity meter is the AquaLab. This delight gently warms a green coffee sample (decaf or not) up to a specific preset temperature (for example, 20C or 68F) so readings are consistent (changes in environmental temperature yield variable aW measurements). Then, after the longest 5 minutes you ever sat through, the AquaLab reveals the available water in the sample. We also have a pile of portable water activity meters. These still take an eternal 5 minutes to analyze green coffee, but they don’t bring the sample up to a specific temperature, so we use them in controlled environments such as our lab and cupping room (the portable meters do give the temperature of the sample being analyzed, so we can be assured of consistent readings).
The latest toy is our humidity chamber. This isn’t just for keeping our Cohibas fresh (this is Canada – we can buy the real Cubans). We use the humidity chamber to take a detailed look at decaf after it leaves our facility. Given that our decaf ships all over the world, we want to be prepared for a wide variety of environmental conditions. Sometimes we want to look at extreme situations and don’t feel like waiting for the next hurricane. With our humidity chamber we can test the effect of variable temperature & humidity without having to put on a raincoat!
The last word around here isn’t even a word: HPLC. That stands for high-performance liquid chromatography, the judge and jury of decaffeination target around these parts. Shimadzu produces a tremendous range of analytical equipment, and their HPLC system keeps us in line.
We’ve been saying it for a while: SWISS WATER® Decaf leads the science of decaffeination. By continually increasing the knowledge database for green coffee (decaffeinated or not), we are able to keep improving our decaf process and bring you decaffeinated coffee that is truer to the original green. SWISS WATER® Decaf is great coffee, period!
Category: Coffee Industry, Uncategorized
There is no doubt that coffee continues to be one of the most popular drinks in the world. Its roots are well known in the coffee community. A phenomenon that is believed to have started in 800 AD in a remote area in Ethiopia with the legendary Kaldi. During the early years, it was considered the Arabian wine and even named the drink of the devil. Myth or reality… it has become a very popular drink worldwide. Despite this, there is still room for further dynamic expansion and growth. Let me share my perspective from my global travels and work experiences.
When I think of less developed coffee cultures, Asia comes to mind. However, there are examples of markets with rapid coffee culture development and in my opinion Japan is the best example. It is very fascinating that a predominant and very conservative tea culture has become so devoted to coffee consumption…and in less than 60 years. Many aspects have played a crucial role. The fact that coffee was considered a luxury beverage from the beginning and then the symbol of Westernization boosted its rapid penetration.
Other aspects also helped promote adoption and growth. Post WWII, returning Japanese brought coffee as part of their new drinking habits, particularly those who had spent considerable time in Brazil. In the late 1960’s a visionary entrepreneur, Tadao Ueshima, combined technology and a brilliant idea to create the first canned ready to drink coffee. (缶コーヒー kan kōhī?). An innovation that appealed to the Japanese consumer and fuelled consumption growth. In the 1980’s, the Kissaten concept (coffeehouse) was established; a special place to drink a fresh brewed cup of black coffee. It wasn’t just ordinary coffee, it was premium coffee such as Kenya AAA, Blue Mountain among others. These coffeehouses gained popularity and created a generation that appreciates high quality coffee.
In the 1990’s drip-coffee, which was a single serve pour-over coffee made by passing boiling water through a perforated filter packed with finely ground coffee directly to the cup, different from the conventional North American 10 cup coffee-maker, drove in-home coffee consumption. Let me say that the entrepreneurial spirit of local development along with sociocultural lines, which I am calling the “Japanization” of coffee, has never stopped. The industry continues to innovate and promote coffee consumption and the most important learning is that quality, customization, and sophistication of the beverage creates remarkable expansion.
Other markets have a completely different coffee evolution. Consider Brazil, which is a world leader in coffee production, however there remains opportunities for consumption growth. Lately, the government is investing to build awareness and preference for drinking coffee. Why did this not happen before? Essentially, the industry was primarily focused on the export market and overlooked the opportunity domestically. By the way, this is a common theme in most coffee producing countries.
To get back to Brazil, a group of coffee connoisseurs supported by the government developed the basis of a “revolutionary campaign” to increase coffee consumption domestically. A key component of this campaign is to include coffee with milk in the school meals which increases children’s preference for coffee. Another strategy is education to traditional consumers about better coffee quality as well as the health benefits of coffee. Results to date are conclusive. Brazilians consumed 12.6 million bags (60 kg) in 2000, and in 2010 the volume reached 18.1 million bags which represents an astounding 44% increase.
In conclusion, while coffee is one of the most traded commodities in the world, its development is quite different and unique by market. What started in 800 AD continues to grow globally. Continuing to reinforce the positive health-related aspects on coffee; the promotion of products and drinking occasions to both traditional and new targets, plus the improvement in product quality all has helped contribute to this expansion phenomenon. Amazing opportunities and challenges lie ahead for all that participate in the coffee industry.
Category: Coffee Industry
Are you aware of our Licensing Program and how it can help your decaf sales? This program makes it easy to obtain Point of Sale and education materials for your shop, your customers, and your staff. Our Licensing Program is for brokers, roasters, and retailers. Consider signing up today or, if you are already a member, take advantage of this service. Advantages include:
ACCESS TO SALES SUPPORT AND TRAINING MATERIALS
Access to a stash of premium sales and education materials including window clings, logo stickers, consumer information cards and more.
Recently revised with updated information, the NEW Decaf Education Guide is full of handy information about decaf coffee, the coffee drinker, and the Swiss Water® Process. This pocket-sized guide is a great tool for training staff and is one of our most popular items.
All materials are listed on our website and available for order online. Everything ships to your doorstep FREE of charge: http://www.swisswater.com/trade. (If you have forgotten your username and password to login contact me.)
If you are currently not a licensee, but would like to register, click here: http://www.swisswater.com/vendors/industry_partners/register
If there are other marketing materials that will help your decaf sales and they are not in our current arsenal, contact me with your ideas. I would love to hear from you!
USAGE OF THE SWISS WATER® PROCESS LOGO
Use the Swiss Water® Process logo and word mark on packages, website, and signage to let your customers know how your coffee has been decaffeinated and reinforce your commitment to providing nothing but the best coffees.
INCLUSION IN THE WHERE-TO-BUY LOCATOR
We launched a fabulous new website earlier this year and have recently improved the functionality of our locator making it more user friendly.
All licensees are included in our where-to-buy search tool, which enables consumers to discover retailers as well as brands where Swiss Water® Decaf can be purchased in-store and on-line. We list your establishment and include a link to your website: http://www.swisswater.com/find/
Brokers and roasters are also listed in our trade database: http://www.swisswater.com/trade
Check out our locators and if your contact information needs updating, please let me know.
Have a decafelicious day!
Category: Coffee Industry, Uncategorized
May was a popular month for us in Colombia! Just after Tad returned from his farm trip I left to participate in the World Barista Championship, WBC, as a sensory judge. Held in Bogota, this twelfth World Barista Championship hosted national champions from 53 countries and crowned Alejandro Mendez of El Salvador our champion.
The worldwide network of barista competitions can come off as simply competitions, but a large component of the competitions is improvement- of both the coffee industry and ourselves. The industry is helped by raising the level of service given, coffee served and awareness of high quality coffee, but how do we as judges or competitors improve? There are systems in place for both competitor and judge feedback, and these are two areas where this year’s WBC performed better than ever.
Competitor feedback is given through the score sheets that judges fill out and also through debriefing after one has finished advancing in the competition. During a competition round the head, sensory, and technical judges are all taking notes and evaluating a competitor’s performance on pre-designed score sheets. We often have to use short hand during a competition and then do a more complete job filling out the sheet once we are in the judge’s chambers. These score sheets have been a point of contention in the past due to how complete the comments were or how connected to the rules and regulations the comments were. To remedy this, over the past few years the Rules and Regulations and Judge’s Certification Committees of the World Coffee Events (WCE) have been working hard on training judges to do a better job filling out score sheets and this year all of the training proved valuable. One exercise that was done in our pre-competition calibration session was to give your score sheets to another judge and try to discuss how a competition routine was based on someone else’s sheets. After one round of this exercise I think we all had a different perspective on our score sheets. Later the score sheet exercise turned into reality during competitor debriefing.
Competitors are given their score sheets once they are done advancing in the competition (i.e. if a competitor does not make it to the semi-final round, they are given their score sheets before the semi-final round) for review with their judges. In previous years this was a bit of a free for all where competitors looked over their sheets and then had to hunt down their judges in a sea of other competitors and coaches. The debriefing this year had a different spin where each competitor had time to look over their sheets, and then they were sent to a table with one sensory and one technical judge. Most competitors were able to speak to at least one person who judged them, and the score sheet reading exercise came in handy for the competitors who were not able to speak to their judges.
This was the second year of having shadow judges along with the normal 7 person judging panel for each competitor. The shadow judge was on stage to evaluate the performance of the judges and also to aid in the score calibration as a sort of arbiter. The shadows became a source of immediate feedback for how you were performing as a judge which was fantastic. As judges we were then able to have a debriefing session with the shadow judges and head judges to find out how we were performing and what we could improve upon.
The WCE committees’ emphasis on training and shadow judging blossomed into an integral part of making the WBC the great competition that it was this year and laid the groundwork for even more improvement in the future. I can’t wait to see what we improve upon next year in Vienna!
Category: Coffee Industry
Hey, I’m Tad, Production and Logistics Coordinator (Extra)Ordinaire at Swiss Water® Decaf. For some reason the Decaf Powers-That-Be thought it’d be a good idea to send a non-Spanish speaking Canadian to a coffee mill in Jardin, Colombia. I like field trips, so it’s all good. When I was there I kept a small journal and took some pictures, so I’ll share a bit with you, the fine decaf connoisseur.
As I mentioned above, the town in question is called Jardin, (pronounced ‘Harr-Deen’, Not ‘Jar-Din’ like I said for about 4 months). It’s located in the southern part of the department, (Colombia’s province or state equivalent) of Antioquia, (pronounced ‘Anti-Oh-Key-Ah’), in northwestern Colombia. Jardin is about a 3 hour drive from the airport we flew into, in Medellin, (Med-EE-Een, or Med-Uhh-Zjeen if you want to be terribly authentic). Normally we’d bus from the city, but this time we traveled by SUV, due to the washouts from the mass flooding the area had been hit with. There were portions of the road where saying that driving a bus would have been a challenge; that would be an amazing understatement.
Jardin is a fairly prominent area in Colombia for coffee production. Its elevation is pretty high at roughly 5000 feet, with the farm’s elevations even higher. The area contains 2 coffee mills. A privately owned one called Enantioquia Mill, and the other belongs to the FNC, or the Colombian Coffee Federation.
The itinerary outline was get to Colombia, (and as the lone Canadian, it took a bit longer), into Medellin, stay in town for the night and off to Jardin the following day. A few days in Jardin included visiting farms we actually buy coffee from, seeing the crops and layouts with their onsite processing and drying facilities, checking out the local mill, a local school, and visiting some local attractions. Le Cueva de Splendour, being one. Oh, and cupping. Much cupping. Which really was awesome because I’ve only cupped with my Swiss Water® comrades. To cup with people from different parts of the industry was really cool. One guy was cupping to find himself a particular farm to do his own signature Single Estate coffee. Another was cupping with attention to blending for his own espresso roasts, and another for planning out private label blends. It was very cool to hear different perspectives on the same cup.
In all, we saw 5 farms, but had to pass on one, due to what I could only call a monsoon, (but the locals just called it Wednesday.) Spent much time at the mill, and around town. We got to visit a school which had recently been the recipient of some much needed funds to update their classroom, and washrooms for the kids. I have to note, I have never seen a game of soccer and basketball share the same space at the same time quite so fluidly. A horseback trip and hike down a ravine and river got us to the Cave of Splendour. And more.
I’ll follow up in the coming weeks with getting to, from, and about Colombia, and some about the country itself. Some about Jardin and it’s surrounding area. And maybe at some point I’ll even discuss some of the coffee!
Category: Coffee Industry
We are very excited about our upcoming trip to Houston for the SCAA Exposition at the end of April. As the 4th largest city in the US and a major port for coffee shipments into North America, this is a great destination for the Exposition. We have a booth at the show and will be sampling on the Hario pour-over coffees from Colombia, Guatemala, and Honduras. Please come by booth #1314 and say hello to Kathy, Nicole, Jinnie, Tad, and Mike.
We look forward to connecting with customers, visiting local coffee shops, experiencing the local cuisine, and checking out some of the downtown sites and attractions. It’s going to be a fantastic week in Houston! Yippeekiaye!!
Category: Coffee Industry
The continued shift from coffee shop visits to at-home coffee consumption shows no signs of abating for the foreseeable future. As long as coffee roasters ramp up their distribution and sales efforts towards selling specialty coffee to the food, mass and club channel retailers, and as long as consumers shop more frequently for specialty coffee in their nearest store, and as long the competitive nature of trade advertising continues, the shift will likely not turn back for quite some time.
Just 10 years ago, the mere thought that a specialty coffee roaster/retailer would even contemplate marketing their coffee to so-called “value” mass merchants, or less-than-high profile grocery retailers would have generated a snicker. There was little chance that Peet’s coffee would surface in a Walmart store. However, as in any industry, the consumer is the final decision maker. And today in fact, Peet’s Coffee can be purchased at a number of Walmart stores.
The recessionary period that began in earnest in 2008 has dramatically altered shopping patterns, and once consumers began to more closely scrutinize where their hard-earned dollars were being spent, a light-bulb went off. “So, let me get this straight” the home budgeter stated. “I can purchase 12 ounces of my favorite coffee, 1 week’s worth, at my neighborhood Kroger, Safeway, or Target for about $8.99/package, the same cost of two of those triple grande extra-hot skim vanilla lattes that I get each morning?”. Hmmmm.
Consumer behavior continues its shift from “indulgence” to “value” as coffee drinkers forego $4 lattes, yet consumption of food service coffee, and purchasing of supermarket coffee is rising rapidly. According to NCA, while 80% of coffee drinkers are doing nothing differently, the remainder are visiting coffee shops less often, brewing more specialty coffee at home, and shopping for sales, in the form of coupons (use is up 60%, and coupon value is over $1.38) or price reductions at the shelf.
As a result, the explosive growth in coffee shop openings observed from 2000-2008 has reversed, with the closing of 1,000 shops in 2008, and 2,000 more in 2009 *. The jury remains out on the 2010 closures, but the expansion to over 28,000 coffee shops was due for a correction, with some high-traffic large urban intersections supporting 4 shops, one on each corner. There was bound to be some level of retrenching, and the recession quickened that pace.
The larger supermarket chains in the US have dramatically enhanced their support of specialty coffee in response to consumer demand, which includes new and contemporary fixturing, and solution selling concepts (including mid-aisle tables) consisting of brewers, grinders, coffee, canisters, and other related products. Moreover, the rise in the single cup segment, driven largely by Keurig and Tassimo have additionally made at-home brewing quick and convenient.
Additionally, the category itself has become a highly promoted category, and specialty coffee is now promoted as much, if not more than the traditional cans of coffee. No longer is this “your grandfather’s coffee” on sale. In a given trade circular, one might find several nationally prominent specialty coffees, a local roaster’s specialty coffee, and the retailers own Private Label offering, which will certainly use “Specialty” or “Gourmet” descriptors. Private Label’s contribution to the retailer’s topline sales is now greater than 25%, and even approaches 30% in many categories. ** This is not yet the 35% that European retailers experience, but is more representative than ever of the increasing quality of the private label products, and the value nature of the consumer.
Looking ahead, much of the industry’s growth will clearly remain in the specialty coffee segment. Coffee consumers are well aware of the increased availability of specialty coffee, and most now have a well-developed taste palate for specialty coffee. Growth in retail beverage sales is not a given for the independent retail coffeehouses unless they can recast their own value propositions. Specialty coffeehouse retailers can still gain back consumers, but need to create that point of differentiation, be it freshness, chemical-free decaffeination, organic, special origins and blends not available at grocery, customer service and coffee education, and promotions that create interest. As long as grocery, club and mass retailers continue to drive their own value proposition of availability, convenience and value, the battle will continue.
*NCA Data, December 2009
** Supermarket News, June, 2010
Category: Coffee Industry
This is part II of a two part series on the history of coffee and decaf. Read part I here.
Who drinks decaf? People who like the taste of coffee but, for a variety of reasons, do not want the caffeine. Some only drink decaf (call them dedicated decaf consumers). Some drink regular coffee in the first part of the day but then switch to decaf (dual users). Some mix decaf and regular to get a lower-caffeine beverage (I don’t have a term for this group, but they are very real – just watch LA Story).
Well, decaf drinkers –the full-time ones, the dual users, and the half-caff folks – they consider themselves coffee drinkers, period. They all used to drink non-decaffeinated coffee, and a lot of them still do, at least part of the time. When coffee in general wasn’t great, lousy decaf wasn’t so noticeable. Now, however, coffee drinkers are used to a good cup – decent is the new baseline – and it is very hard to step back down in quality once you are used to something good. So when these coffee drinkers move over to decaf – usually to get a good night’s sleep – that decaf is being compared to what they’ve become accustomed to drinking.
Back up a few paragraphs. Cheap decaf is the product of cheap coffee and cheap processing, with flavor losing out over cost. But wait! With the rise of specialty coffee, consumers have made it clear that they are willing to pay more for a better product. This becomes the opportunity to raise the bar again – this time for decaf. Pick better coffees, use a better process, one that does not impact the flavor and other characteristics of the green coffee going in. There is more and more research into the components that make up the cup – the dozens of chlorogenic and amino acids, for example – so choose a process that can demonstrably, repeatedly retain these elements. Explain to your customers the choice you’ve made. Make clear your commitment to quality for your entire product line. Give your decaf as much quality focus as you do your regular coffee. Own your decaf!
One last thought: if you are on the front lines, pushing dozens or hundreds of drinks across your counter every day, and you want to offer a decaf of the same quality as the rest of your offerings, consider charging an extra five cents a cup for decaf. Chances are, your customers know the effort you are putting into sourcing excellent coffees – that is why they are walking in your door. Lay it out to them – you could make decaf the same price by lowering the quality, or you can give them something they’ll love. You’ll be amazed at the overwhelmingly positive response.
Category: Coffee Industry
Join me in a two part blog as I chart the progress of coffee from low-hanging goat food to the sophisticated beverage that we can all enjoy, anytime.
Let’s take it from the beginning: why drink coffee? There are more efficient stimulant delivery systems (nicotine patches, energy drinks, pricking yourself with a pin). There are plenty of other things to drink at social gatherings (tea, beer, glög). Ask yourself – fifteen centuries ago, how bored was Kaldi when he decided to eat the berries that made his goats insane? Coffee is an anomaly – at least, up until the creation of absinthe – something with no redeeming value other than it kept you up later than you probably should be. Don’t kid yourself that flavor was the driving force for consumption. Spices were added to food as a preservative and to mask putrescence, perfumes were used to cover up more personal aromatic challenges.
Sorry – I got distracted. Back to coffee.
Alright, the point of coffee, at least for a long, long time, was the stimulation resultant from the caffeine. But then a funny thing happened, not that long ago: technology stepped into the picture and coffee got better. Roasting equipment became more sophisticated, allowing for better control of the roasting environment, consistent and reproducible results, and the ability to craft-roast single origins and refine blends. Brewing evolved from boiled grounds to siphons to boiled grounds again (sigh, the percolator) to Melitta pour-overs. The espresso machine was a revolutionary device when it was introduced a century ago. Evaluation of green coffee progressed from eye-balling beans for physical defects to the adoption of cupping as the standard for importers and roasters.
Coffee has come a long way from goat-licked fruit… no longer just hot and black. It is flavor, a series of flavors, the fragrance of freshly roasted and newly-ground seeds that yield aromas that promise a dense matrix of oral gratification. Good stuff. Coffee is no longer just fuel for the trip – it is the destination itself. With the allure of the cup surpassing caffeine injection as the motivator for a cup of coffee, decaffeinated coffee must rise to the challenge.
Decaf has been around for just over one hundred years, when Ludwig Roselius perfected his method using benzene, an aromatic and stunningly carcinogenic coal-tar derivative (this particular chemical has long since been abandoned for decaffeination but lived on as a paint stripper, spot remover, and gasoline component, and was used in the manufacture of napalm). These days, the chemicals of choice are the solvents methylene chloride (also used as a paint stripper and in Christmas tree bubble lights) and synthetic ethyl acetate (a varnish remover also used to clean circuit boards). While this first decaf may have tasted awful and posed a health risk for consumer and producer alike, at least it was coffee, not toasted grain. Needless to say, it set a very low bar for decaf coffee quality.
That bar remained low for a long, long time. Decaf was a can on the supermarket shelf at a time when price, not quality, dictated sales. The first water-process decaffeination was introduced in the 1930’s but – then as now – it cost more than the chemical processes. So here’s the conundrum: decaffeination is an added expense – how do you mitigate it? By using the cheapest process, as well as the cheapest coffee you can find! Consumers came to decaf at a time when overall coffee quality was poor. This made the step down in cup quality less noticeable, but it was still there….
Cue further technological development: roaster profiling systems, better automatic brewers, quality home espresso machines, widespread use of Chemex and press-pots, the Clover, the Hario V60, Nel-Drip, and the proportional-integral-derivative controller (okay, the PID) for commercial espresso machines. Don’t ignore the quantum leap in barista skill! At origin we’ve seen the promotion of Q-grading, the adoption of alternative processing methods, varietals planted for flavor rather than yield…. Consumers are now much more sophisticated when it comes to coffee, thanks to awareness of origin characteristics, micro-regional variations, the dramatic impact of roast level, difference in roast style from vendor to vendor…. The bar has been raised: coffee drinkers expect that their coffee should taste good if not great. Mediocrity is no longer acceptable.
Category: Coffee Industry
