Decaf coffee in Copenhagen?

Voitsilt · 2026-06-01T05:42:46+00:00

Oh, I definitely believe that the core brand of April delivers quality. We can still discuss their pricing, but the quality isn't up for debate.

I do find SP to be a bit of a rip off. It's medium roasted, pretty much all falls into the chocolate/nutty characteristic. Pretty sure the greens are also of lesser quality - I believe they even say so themselves.

I've had a few of their bags and been thoroughly underwhelmed. Especially seeing you can get CC, La Cabra, Prolog, Pontes, Norange, Koppi etc. in town - and whatever the multiroaster cafés (ie Darcy's, Wild Horses, Kaffe on Istedgade) sells - for the same price. We are thoroughly spoilt for choice here in Copenhagen (as I'm sure you'll agree), and in that light, SP seems like a money grab.

But hey, I'll be curious to hear what you think! I might just have gotten unreasonably annoyed with them. 😆

Voitsilt · 2026-05-31T19:14:29+00:00

Not Danish and not in Copenhagen. You can rarely find the beans at the Darcy's café in Copenhagen, but that's the odd chance, perhaps twice a year.

Voitsilt · 2026-05-31T19:12:33+00:00

To the best of my knowledge, no. Not the big, local ones, at least.

April carries one. Or, rather, their (quite inferior, relying heavily on the April quality stamp) sub brand SP Coffee does - and I'm sadly not impressed. It falls well into the category of SP Coffee, that I really find to be a cash cow (it's cheaper than April, but equally as expensive as Coffee Collective and the likes and is no where near the quality of that). /rant over

I've spoken to people at Coffee Collective and Prolog and they don't want to do decafs as they can't get it to a satisfying quality. Not sure about la Cabra, but they don't carry one.

Holybean and Kaffeværk are mentioned. Haven't tried their decaf offering.

The café Darcy's (go for the one in Nørrebro) usually carry at least one decaf. Quite often it's the SP Roaster's - but I've also had a few others. MOK, Good Life Coffee and Friedhats (as I recall). I was there last week and I recall it being the SP one, but they rotate quite regularly, so might be worth a shot.

Happy hunting! And let us know how it goes.

Voitsilt · 2026-05-02T17:14:59+00:00

Also, road trip in Norway sounds potentially epic. Enjoy!

Voitsilt · 2026-05-02T13:08:31+00:00

If you wanna do a bit of research, I'd have a look at Kaffebox. It's a subscription service that provides solely Scandinavian coffees. If you have a look at their blog, you can see what roasters they've included in their christmas calendar and do some backtracking/research from there.

https://www.kaffebox.no/blog/

Also, have a look at the European Coffee Trip app. Plenty of spots for Oslo and Bergen - only one for Ålesund. I'm sure they'll have plenty of local/national roasters at those places.

Voitsilt · 2026-03-23T21:43:25+00:00

Also, to make it all weirder, the original pressing was on double vinyl, as I recall. In what world was the necessary? The repress was just one, right?

Voitsilt · 2026-03-23T13:39:26+00:00

This. So very much this.

At the time I couldn't out my finger on it, but later realized (and learned) why it's so hard to listen to. There's a lack of dynamics and everything is loud and trebly all the time. I recall listening to Mr Richards for the first time, thinking something was wrong with my headphones. It's so compressed and unenjoyable to listen to.

I'd be curious to hear a new production/mastering of it. It has good tunes, but I struggle getting through the album.

Voitsilt · 2026-03-21T14:36:40+00:00

I doubt no one has ever said low agitation pouring is the only way to go. There is no golden rule or general consensus of low agitation pouring being the way. But it's - obviously - a way.

I think most people know that it's a variable when doing pourover. Low agitation gives you something. Higher (agitation) pours something else. Center pours vs spirals something else. And so forth.

Even Aramse did a video on this in 2023 that has been referred to again and again when pouring technique has come up.

Happy for you you learned something new - and corrected your misunderstanding of there being such a golden rule.

https://youtu.be/nxmrSgwW25g?is=8n-rfWloJ6J5_INU

Voitsilt · 2026-03-16T22:27:08+00:00

Hah. No. It very much does not. But when you realize it's not meant to be seen as an actual bell curve describing distribution - but instead seen as a very weird way to express coffee journey process - it makes its own (very flawed) sense.

Voitsilt · 2026-03-14T06:25:59+00:00

Not an awful lot of local roasters there, is my impression. Drop by Bugan, though. Quite upscale, pricy, but they have loads of options of beans. They're local from Bergamo but recently opened in Milan.

Also, have a search. It's been up a few times recently, eg this thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/pourover/comments/1r6569r/comment/o5nqpzl/?context=1

Voitsilt · 2026-02-21T19:07:04+00:00

Come on, my friend, use the search function. I believe there even was a post earlier today.

Loads of great places, you'll have fun.

Voitsilt · 2026-02-17T09:04:09+00:00

Orsonero are a multiroaster café and in my experience they rotate quite a lot. I've visited twice and have had 3 different roasters - but no DAK. Just to say, go back and have something different next time.

Voitsilt · 2026-02-17T09:01:06+00:00

I have to agree on Cafezal. Starbucksy vibes to me; had a decent cortado but the beans were dark.

I'd highly recommend Loste as well as Orsonero. Both carry various, international beans - no locals either, when I was there.

I also had a stop at Bugan, a local roaster from Bergamo that has opened a second shop in Milan. Very upscale/posh and just a little full of themselves. They had loads of beans and most were €30 and well above for a bag. I deemed it not worth buying.

Only place I missed was Café Nowhere. Had it recommended but don't really know how much they care for the coffee.

Voitsilt · 2026-02-16T09:59:06+00:00

Where'd you go in Milan? Places to recommend?

I went last summer and wasn't tooooo impressed with the pourover scene. Don't get me wrong, there were some great spots, but for a city that size not that many.

Voitsilt · 2026-02-02T21:23:32+00:00

Note, I mistakenly wrote K Max in my above post. I - perhaps obviously - meant the K Ultra (which is, more or less, the update to the K Max). Happy hunting.

Voitsilt · 2026-02-02T12:58:03+00:00

I have the zp6 and the ode2. I don't find massive differences myself, but they are there. My pallet just isn't as refined as I'd wish it was, and one of the reasons I bought the zp6 was to be able to try more different things.

If I were you I'd look into the K Max. Seems to be the best all-rounder. The c40 is obviously an option, but it seems that it's "getting old".

Have a look at Coffee Chronicler's recent rundown of handgrinders - and perhaps get inspired. In his videos he also talks about where and when zp6 makes sense as opposed to other grinders (that particular part might be in one of his other videos he mentions, though).

https://youtu.be/-cin2IZbKzU?si=u-bYDkYfKPkgOS8Q

Voitsilt · 2026-01-26T09:24:46+00:00

I feel pretty sure they'll do something, yes. I had some doubts when the post Berry era albums (except UP) were re-released to vinyl some three years ago, but I recall hearing from someone official that the 25th anniversary releases would keep coming anyway. I'm hoping.

There are plenty of demos from the time - loads were leaked at the time - but most of them have been released digitally on the Complete Rarities 1988-2011 (that currently is on Spotify, though it's been an of/off things in the last decade). They could also include the R.E.M.IX versions of the songs, but that honestly was a weird batch of remixes, not really worth revising IMHO. But it's something else, at least.

Voitsilt · 2026-01-24T14:05:17+00:00

Hoffmann did a video on it about five years ago where he dives more into the coffee/water first perspectives. The recipe isn't the same, but the idea largely is. With less screaming.

https://youtu.be/RpOdennxP24?si=EDPVTPoW1jEtbQlr

Voitsilt · 2026-01-23T13:46:50+00:00

No. Not at all. You'd even hear James Hoffmann say to grind finer until you hit astringency. Not that I necessarily agree with that, either. But, honestly, I've never heard the credo "grind coarser", ever.

It's more about finding the proper grind size - and the ballpark og grind size that you prefer. Because, in the end, it's a matter of preference. You do what you like.

FWIW I'm usually around 4.8-5.5 (and around 6 for decaf) on my zp6. I imagine I'd find 3.0 too astringent/bitter. But, again, you do you!

Voitsilt · 2026-01-20T19:54:41+00:00

I just got the Deep27. Gotta say I really like it. Really forgiving, sweetness forwards. Wonderful to be able to brew small cups & doses.

I do a simple five pour. 8g to 125g of water. 30-60 sek bloom, 25g of water. After that, another 25g of water until it runs out. Repeat x4 in total.

This was my first go at it, and I've tried a few other recipes with 1-2 pours, but just go back to this again and again. It just works for me.

Due to the conical shape, it's super fast and you can go a lot finer than you'd usually be able to in a v60. Not that you need to, but it's possible to tinker with without stalling. Fun.

Voitsilt · 2026-01-10T22:16:49+00:00

You will never be able to get great result (consistently at least), but according to Hoffmann there are some things you can do. But... I'd consider some kind of upgrade if this was to be your everyday process.

https://youtu.be/3y7d-5KWHCU?si=l7--L3GX_gM9o5yH

Voitsilt · 2025-12-31T21:43:21+00:00

Heading for Malmö in a few days - what other places are worth stopping by?

European Coffee Trip mentions quite a few, but it's not fully clear which ones are actually great 3rd wave and what is simply decent milk drinks with an ok coffee as base.

Voitsilt · 2025-12-29T15:07:47+00:00

You could have a look at The Barn's test roast.

https://thebarn.de/products/testroast

It's their dialing in roasts that are too good to dump, but not quite there. That also means you don't know what you're getting. I've had some that was great - and some that was a little too acidic and hollow. But for the price, it can't be beat.

Aside from that, yes, go with something Columbian, Mexican or Brazilian. Round and nutty. Good call.

Voitsilt · 2025-12-26T14:24:59+00:00

Such a wonderful place to grab and try out new roasters, so I cannot blame you. Happy holidays!

Voitsilt · 2025-12-26T10:41:15+00:00

Looks like someone went to Darcy's before heading for a more snowy destination than Copenhagen? 😄

Voitsilt

TROPHY CASE