With the Decent and more than abit of help from an Italian fellow named Luca Frangella, I’ve found the recipe and shot profile to make those full bodied, ample strength, full flavoured and lingering taste shots (straight and in milk drinks) in decaf, that I crave.
I also learned the interrelationship between grind, pressure, flow, temperature and taste. And lately headspace. For example, I had a great series of shots with two locally roasted decaf Italian blends (Vienna roast) and then was able to dial in a Kona/Espresso decaf blend using that same flow based profile (which I tweaked for that bean). Being able to control those variables makes a world of difference.
The big leap in learning came when I moved from just using the stock profiles to using an advanced profile (that Luca designed and simplified) to understanding the design of it’s component steps, and being able to tweak those steps to get the taste I want out of a bean. You still need to work all of the coffee recipe and shot profile variables one or atmost two at a time, but now I have all of the adjustment tools that I need available at my fingertips. More adventures to come.
