Guest: Stacey Lynden, Cupping Lab Manager Company: Swiss Water Decaf Based: Vancouver, B.C. (Canada!) Online: www.swisswater.com • @staceyannlyn Other titles: Certified Q Grader • Canadian Coffee in Good Spirits Champion 2024 • Golden Bean HOF’er
According to this episode's guest Stacey Lynden, decaf customers are the best customers. They're drinking coffee purely for the enjoyment of the coffee. There is no added kick from caffeine. They're sipping purely for pleasure. She says (and we agree) that decaf doesn't need to be an afterthought. jelly bag
Now—more than ever–decaf is starting to have a moment. We're seeing it as decaf roasts are winning contests against caffeinated coffees. James Hoffmann has launched the bigger-than-ever Decaf Project (see video below), and more and more roasters are specializing in offering high-quality decaf coffees.
Loving a good decaf doesn't mean you don't drink a higher-octane cup of joe. This isn't the Coke vs. Pepsi wars. There is room for both styles on your coffee bag shelf. If one of those bags is a decaf, there is a pretty good chance it was cupped by Stacey and the team at Swiss Water Decaf.
At SWD, they soak coffee in hot water, which expands the beans significantly. The coffee is soaked in green coffee extract (GCE), which pulls the caffeine out of the coffee. When it is at 99%+ caffeine-free, they pull the beans from the extract and put them into dryers until they're at 10-11% moisture, which is their standard for coffee. They filter the GCE bath to remove the caffeine in a chemical-free, organic process so that the GCE can be reused. The caffeine is burned off because there isn't a way to reuse it without adding chemicals to the mix.
“Why can’t we have you know, a complex, flavorful, non-caffeinated pourover?” • Stacey Lynden
Stacey started drinking coffee as a toddler when she’d ask for a creamer cup-sized coffee.
Her coffee career started in second-wave coffee. Remember the ubiquitous pump pots of light, medium, dark, and plenty of flavored syrup options. It wasn’t the specialty coffee of today. That coffee was more of a vehicle to transport sugar directly into our systems.
Back then, her drink of choice was a portion pack of Dutch Chocolate and + a portion pack of orange into her coffee, which was delicious. It was the beginning of Stacey’s experimentation with coffee flavors. A skill she practices now at the highest levels of competition.
Even though the coffee is a major component of her career now, it was the customer service aspect, meeting regulars, and building community that kept her in the industry at first.
Somewhere in the multi-verse, there is a Stacey that is doing anthropology stuff. If you interviewed all the career coffee people, I wonder how many went off to college to do something else and yet ultimately found their home in the industry.
Barista competitions drew her into the specialty side of the industry. She grew up playing sports. As adults, there isn’t always the opportunity to embrace your competitiveness. Competition in coffee became her outlet (along with softball).
Her roasting career began, almost by accident, at East Van Roasters, a social enterprise to help women get out of risky situations.
“We work to create and provide meaningful employment opportunities in a dignified and compassionate work environment for at-risk people living in the DTES. We work to challenge the stigma associated with drug addiction and lift up the people involved in our social enterprises through mentorship-based immersion in meaningful work. To nourish our community with excellent coffee, chocolate and baked goods.”
From mini to macro roasters, Stacey learned what she loved and maybe didn’t love about being a roaster. Her focus was smaller and more community-driven, at least until the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic began impacting the small business she was working at.
At Swiss Water Decaf, they roast a lot of coffee, including the regular caffeinated version of the coffee, before it goes through their decaffeination process and then again afterward. Stacey and her team cup the coffees against each other to ensure the decaffeinated versions haven’t lost that thing that makes them special. Their goal is to ensure the beans maintain their flavor profile after processing.
Decaf does roast differently. Stacey advises we pay close attention to the data drawn during the process. Visually, decaf roasts are a bit darker, literally a darker color.
We all need downtime. How are you spending yours? Doing nothing is a skill.
The Decaf Project video featuring Swiss Water Decaf is due to be released in early December. Stay tuned!
Guest: Erick Armbrust introduces us to Cropster Roast (and himself).
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We all need downtime. How are you spending yours? Doing nothing is a skill that needs to be cultivated. I get close by seeking out new chill vibes for my playlists.
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