I bought an espresso machine to exclusively drink decaf coffee with. This video was very reassuring lol I thought my machine was faulty with how difficult it can be to extract decaf
I think your OPV being set to 6 bars really helps out this extraction too. Getting the balance right when working that shop-life when ya only pull a handful a day, at 9 bars, typically from a grinder that isnt the same model as your usual espresso grinder always felt like it was asking a lot!
I’ve really liked the 6 bar OPV setting, been using it that way most of this year. I’m guessing low flow preinfusion would also be helpful, but don’t have a way to test that out just yet…definitely a topic I want to keep digging into as the new shop progresses 😊
Although decaf is not really my thing, great and interesting video! Learned a lot and your camera angles and overall look and feel is improving big time. Keep up the good work sir. Kind regards, Roan
What an amazing video! Your quality is awesome and you clearly know a lot about coffee theory. I’m a babyrista and everyone is always saying that decaf tastes bad, though in all my research I’ve seen no empirical evidence to suggest that this is due to anything except user error 🧐 Thanks for this tutorial. I’d love a review on decaf coffees you recommend!
i've been pulling decaf almost exclusively with my flair58 for almost one year. It has its quirks but it can be as delicious as normal coffee if pulled well. I use gentle pre infusion, a bit coarser grinds, pressure profiling and cruise around 6 bars, and go as far as a 1:3 ratio to pull more out of it. Served to normal coffee drinkers they usually can't tell the difference - provided im using specialty single origin decafs. And goes without saying stay away from the MC processed ones. Those typically don't really come out great. I prefer the Co2, EA, SWP and MWP processes.
That’s awesome. I’d love to try this with better flow control. Looking at cafe imports large list of offerings vs roasters relatively smaller menus it feels like there are going to be many more quality decaf offerings out there very soon.
@@DavidLikesCoffee even in our country, there's only a handful of great options. I had to import them from other countries. I guess specialty decaf still hasn't found its footing in the industry.
Been using decaf and the Flair Signature for a year. Since the Signature has a tall/narrow brew basket courser grind is necessary. But even then I noticed a smoother shot when I brought pressures down to 6 bar. Now I am pulling them with a traditional 58mm group I am in bitter shot land and am going to start incorporating what I learned from the manual process.
I find that the SURFACE TENSION on the decaf is not enough to hold the STEAMED CREAMER - so it ends up falling right through and not producing the desired pattern on top. What can you do to change that?
I don't understand something: you say that if you overdose the puck, you might get under extraction and that might cause sourness. But in another video where you talked about ristretto you said that lower yield ratios produce more sweetness... so, which one is it?
It depends on the situation. Low yield/high dose will give you more sweetness and body, high yield/low dose will give you more clarity and acidity. Coffees will respond differently to each style of extraction depending on roast, processing, etc.
Taking a break from caffeine this week and working on a pour over recipe, but so far a higher dose and finer grind size seem to help, especially for smaller batches. Also, less agitation so the draw down doesn't stall too much. Hoping to get a video put together in the next couple of days
I bought an espresso machine to exclusively drink decaf coffee with. This video was very reassuring lol I thought my machine was faulty with how difficult it can be to extract decaf
I think your OPV being set to 6 bars really helps out this extraction too. Getting the balance right when working that shop-life when ya only pull a handful a day, at 9 bars, typically from a grinder that isnt the same model as your usual espresso grinder always felt like it was asking a lot!
I’ve really liked the 6 bar OPV setting, been using it that way most of this year. I’m guessing low flow preinfusion would also be helpful, but don’t have a way to test that out just yet…definitely a topic I want to keep digging into as the new shop progresses 😊
Thanks for sharing your experience. Looking forward to try decaf espresso.
Although decaf is not really my thing, great and interesting video! Learned a lot and your camera angles and overall look and feel is improving big time. Keep up the good work sir.
Kind regards,
Roan
Appreciate that! Been putting a lot of time and practice into the way I present, glad it’s coming through 😊
What an amazing video! Your quality is awesome and you clearly know a lot about coffee theory. I’m a babyrista and everyone is always saying that decaf tastes bad, though in all my research I’ve seen no empirical evidence to suggest that this is due to anything except user error 🧐 Thanks for this tutorial. I’d love a review on decaf coffees you recommend!
EA decafs from Huila, Colombia have been consistently very good. Feel like it's hard to go wrong with decafs from that region.
David, this is incredibly helpful. I drink a lot of decaf, so this helps a lot. I grabbed a puck screen which also helped.
Which decaf do you recommend because all decaf taste almost weak and weird after taste
Great video David. I’ve just starting using a bianca v3 and need to get my decaf on point (for my wife). Really helpful video. Thanks 🙏
i've been pulling decaf almost exclusively with my flair58 for almost one year. It has its quirks but it can be as delicious as normal coffee if pulled well. I use gentle pre infusion, a bit coarser grinds, pressure profiling and cruise around 6 bars, and go as far as a 1:3 ratio to pull more out of it. Served to normal coffee drinkers they usually can't tell the difference - provided im using specialty single origin decafs. And goes without saying stay away from the MC processed ones. Those typically don't really come out great. I prefer the Co2, EA, SWP and MWP processes.
That’s awesome. I’d love to try this with better flow control. Looking at cafe imports large list of offerings vs roasters relatively smaller menus it feels like there are going to be many more quality decaf offerings out there very soon.
@@DavidLikesCoffee even in our country, there's only a handful of great options. I had to import them from other countries. I guess specialty decaf still hasn't found its footing in the industry.
Been using decaf and the Flair Signature for a year. Since the Signature has a tall/narrow brew basket courser grind is necessary. But even then I noticed a smoother shot when I brought pressures down to 6 bar. Now I am pulling them with a traditional 58mm group I am in bitter shot land and am going to start incorporating what I learned from the manual process.
Thanks for this. I have a flair myself and wondered what to change.
Brilliant ! Thank you :)
I find that the SURFACE TENSION on the decaf is not enough to hold the STEAMED CREAMER - so it ends up falling right through and not producing the desired pattern on top.
What can you do to change that?
Very good video!!
BTW, what do you think of 0.2 mm thin puck screens?
What Temperature?
I don't understand something: you say that if you overdose the puck, you might get under extraction and that might cause sourness. But in another video where you talked about ristretto you said that lower yield ratios produce more sweetness... so, which one is it?
It depends on the situation. Low yield/high dose will give you more sweetness and body, high yield/low dose will give you more clarity and acidity. Coffees will respond differently to each style of extraction depending on roast, processing, etc.
Just found your video as my wife is a decaf drinker. Thanks for the tip. Would you skip a re infusion for decaf?
Usually the longer you preinfuse the finer you need to grind, at most I would do 2-3 seconds preinfusion
What do you mean by dosing higher?
Any suggestions if my machine’s lowest setting is 8 bar (Profitec Go)?
I currently try to dial in a decaf as V60 pour over. Anything that translates from espresso? It is very sour.
Taking a break from caffeine this week and working on a pour over recipe, but so far a higher dose and finer grind size seem to help, especially for smaller batches. Also, less agitation so the draw down doesn't stall too much. Hoping to get a video put together in the next couple of days