For years I thought of decaf as something you serve politely and never drink yourself. In Zaragoza it came in sachets. This one changed my mind, and it is now about one drink in every twelve we make. The number goes up a little every season.
Who asks for it
The first decaf of the day goes at 7:35, to Noor, one of the two nurses from the OLVG who come in after a night shift. She wants to sleep by nine. Her colleague takes a double espresso and says she will sleep anyway.
After that it is the 15:00 crowd, who want a third coffee and a night's sleep, and the regulars who are pregnant and miss their V60. Every drink on the menu comes as decaf, at no extra charge, and nobody behind the bar sighs when you ask.
How the caffeine comes out
The process happens in Colombia, close to where the coffee grows, and takes five steps.
First, the green beans are steamed so that they swell and open up. Second, they soak in water mixed with ethyl acetate, a compound that forms when sugarcane ferments. Third, the ethyl acetate bonds to the caffeine and carries it out of the bean, and the soak is repeated until at least 97% of the caffeine has gone. Fourth, the beans are steamed again to wash away what is left of the solvent. Fifth, they are dried back to the moisture they started with and bagged for the ship.
The whole thing is gentle on the bean. It leaves a little extra sweetness behind, a taste of molasses that sits well with milk.
I want the taste of coffee and eight hours of sleep. Noor, every morning at 7:35
Next to our Huila
Maksim and I cupped Zhuravel blind next to our caffeinated Huila in August. Rui picked it out on the second slurp, because it is rounder and a little less bright. Red fruit, caramel, and that molasses finish. Two of the three of us scored it above the other coffee on the table.
Decaf beans are more porous, so they brew faster. At home, grind one or two steps finer than usual.
Two cranes
Zhuravel is Belarusian for crane. Our house espresso, Grulla, is Spanish for the same bird. Maksim named one and I named the other, so the two coffees on our bar are a pair.
Order a Zhuravel V60 after lunch this week, and tell us if you can tell the difference.
Inés, behind the bar
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