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Permalink Reply by John P on October 1, 2008 at 2:55pm

Jon,

couldn't you bust out a couple singles?

Otherwise, based on your concerns, I would push for the all decaf.
It's sort of like "kinda pregnant", isn't it.

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Permalink Reply by Andy on October 1, 2008 at 5:47pm

"couldn't you bust out a couple singles?"

That brings up the question of the integrity of the single basket. Our shop won't use a single due to the uneven pack of he tamp. We mix the two but I feel a little ashamed every time. I just don't think we get the same quality.

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Permalink Reply by John P on October 1, 2008 at 7:00pm

Slightly different technique, pulling singles vs. pulling doubles.
Much less room for error. It's all about the result, and unfortunately many barista have not had any significant time pulling singles. I think it's a matter of training rather than the shape of the basket.

In our case, I'd RATHER steer them to another option on the menu, or go for the all caff.
We go through about 35-40# of regular espresso for every one pound of decaf, and it's really hard to keep it at its best.
So caffeinate up, I say! :)

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Permalink Reply by Marista on October 1, 2008 at 7:11pm

Word Andy. I've played around with mixing the two also and I'm not down with anything other than all decaf...it just doesn't taste right. I've also found that many people who request half-caf are expecting the decaf to taste bad and try to "balance" it with a bit of regular for taste. So I say push for the all decaf love because it truly is tasty.

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Permalink Reply by Tim on October 1, 2008 at 10:49pm

I think people who order half caff are intellectually compromised. Why would you do that? I always treat their request respectfully, but it's like trying to have one hand in two cookie jars simultaneously. People just need to pick one. I feel like sometimes the request is due to concerns about overcaffeination, but it seems that if someone is that concerned, they should just not drink coffee at all at that point or order all decaf. I've been known to mix in the basket or even mix in the Chemex at our shop. We brew all our drip coffees to order, so it's relatively easy to accommodate half caff drip requests.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Gasaway on October 1, 2008 at 11:39pm

For us it's easy to pick out why ordering half-caff compromises the taste but the average joe isn't going to know unless you tell them.

Now I'm not an expert but I'm almost positive most(if not all) Decaf beans always have a small amount of caffeine still. The h2o process is what eliminates some of the caffeine. Anyone that orders "half caff" usually does so so that they don't get a huge caffeine rush. Some people are sensitive(me being one of them) to caffeine.

Would it be a bad idea to just tell customers our opinions on the matter?
I do that for starbucks lol. Someone walks in with that junk and i say "oh I heard that starbucks causes cancer"
Jokingly of course.

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Permalink Reply by Andy Newbom on October 2, 2008 at 6:43am

I say charge em for the extra shot of caffeineated coffee on top of the decaf.

Our decaf coffee truly rocks as espresso so no need to compromise.

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