Decaf Dilemma

TCB was starting to feel
sexy after his 5th espresso.

I was coming back from work today with a new espresso pot to try out at home. My wife remarked that she hadn’t had her coffee today and would I mind making her a brew of decaf? She won’t have her caffeine late in the evening as it will keep her from getting her sleep.

Now before I go any further, I can appreciate that some people love their coffee and have to go for the decaf for good reason. One of my wife’s friends was pregnant a little while ago and she couldn’t miss the flavour of a coffee and opted for decaf during her pregnancy. The same issues also arise for people suffering from heart and other problems which require them to be careful about the amount of caffeine in their diet. What I am saying is not directed at them, I really take issue with the people, like my wife, who choose decaf!

Those who know me well know that I need my caffeine and to me it’s all or nothing. Yes, I am addicted to the stuff! I have to make sure I get at least one cup of coffee a day. Without it I’m bad-tempered, suffer migraines and am generally a pig to be around! Some of you out there might be thinking, ‘What a big girl - I have at least 10 cups a day!’

Personally, I find the benefits of caffeine such as improved sensory perception and motor skills help prevent me walking into things on a regular basis, (although my wife would say it would take more than caffeine to achieve that…and sadly, she’d be right).

I can’t really see the point in decaf coffee. I’ve always likened it to drinking non-alcoholic beer (something no self-respecting Australian should do)! What’s the point in filling up on something that gets you no-where fast and tastes more like urine than coffee or beer? When people find themselves drinking anything to excess, why is it that they punish themselves by drinking a poor substitute? If you want to stay sober, then don’t drink alcohol and the same goes for caffeine. There are so many other non-alcoholic alternatives that have been around even before there was non-alcoholic beer; ditto for caffeine free drinks – what’s wrong with fruit juice?

That said, there are some ways of reducing your caffeine intake without resorting to decaf. As strange as this may seem, Arabica coffee beans (which are used for the bulk of the ground coffee products on the market) have half the caffeine of instant coffee which is made from Robusta beans rather than Arabica. I’ve always thought that having two or three cups of fresh roasted coffee beats the hell out of ten cups of instant! By drinking a specialty coffee, you’re having less caffeine per cup and gallons more flavour than drinking cheap canned coffee.

Another way of reducing the caffeine content is to brew your coffee using paper filters as the paper soaks up the fatty oils which hold the caffeine. If you still insist on having decaf but would like a bit more flavour then why not try mixing it with some non-decaf Arabica coffees.

As for me, I’m still going to keep on having my two or three cups fresh roast ‘full-fat’ coffee a day. To quote a Greek proverb, ‘Either dance well or quit the ballroom!’

Stove-top expresso pot testing

I had a customer in the other day wanting to return a stove-top espresso pot. I'm not the type who will question a customer as to whether they were using it correctly. He was a little disappointed that I didn't give him the third degree. The truth was, however, in all my time working in the coffee business, I have yet to use one of these devices.

So today I finally put his pot to the test to see why it wasn't working. Next time he calls up and asks, I'll have to let him know the reason.


There are a number of reasons why I'm not a big fan of the stove-top. The pot is made from aluminium. This is an excellent conductor of heat but it can interact with coffee acids to produce funny taste. The water is forced up through the coffee which means that you'll lose out on getting the crema layer which I love from my espresso. They also get very hot and can be tricky to handle.

Althought I've never been a fan, I manage to sell at least twelve of these each week. Most of them go to students who want to make strong coffee in their hall of residence. One thing the stove-top will give you is a strong expresso!

Anyway, here is a quick rundown on how they work:

1. Fill the lower chamber with fresh cold water. I like mine filtered cos I don't like chlorine in my coffee!
2. Fill the funnel basket with the ground coffee. Beleive me when I tell you I've had customers tell me they fill this with instant coffee...ohhh yum! Make sure you fill it up to the top of the basket.
3. Place the funnel basket into the lower chamber. If you have over filled the lower chamber then your grounds will get wet! Not a good start to your expresso!
4. Screw the top half and the bottom half together.
5. Place the pot on a medium heat stove. The water will start to boil and the pressure of the steam will force the water up through gounds and into the top chamber.
6. Make sure you take the pot off the stove straight away - no-one is impressed with the smell of burnt coffee - it'll also save your rubber seal for next time!
6. Yum. You should now have an espresso coffee.

Even after being tested by an expert (me?) the returned pot failed. Some simple testing proved that the pot was unable to produce enough pressure to go%2