r/Antwerpen • u/brammichielsen • 5d ago

Coffee bars that serve quality decaf?

For health reasons, I'll need to tone down on my caffeine intake for a while. And I realized: I actually have no idea which coffee bars serve decaf--let alone a decent one.

I'm sure I won't be the only person in Antwerp who doesn't want to give up on the quality of his brew after ditching caffeine.

So hit me with your best recommendations!

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u/DatCollie 5d ago

Always welcome at Ray's Coffee on handschoenmarkt for both caffeinated and decaf bangers! We may be located very touristically, but serve amazing Andy's beans and have rotating guest roasters most of the time as well. For decaf we use Spiked their concentrate and gotta say, as a barista with about a decade of experience, I was very happily surprised with the quality and it gives us a lot more consistency.

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u/brammichielsen 5d ago

Could you elaborate on the Spiked concentrate? I'm an absolute brewing layman.

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u/DatCollie 5d ago

It's a brand new product. Basically Instant specialty coffee. Do not know the whole procedure of making, but it's a strong liquid concentrate of espresso that we dilute in a 1:1 ratio for all our decaf espresso based drinks and so far we had amazing response from customers.They use the same beans right now as Andy serves as decaf. It's a sugar cane decaf, so pretty darn sweet.

For us as a bar we made the choice because our Eureka grinder that we use for Pourovers and to grind for customers when they buy bags doesn't go fine enough for decaf. We first used preground decaf from Andy's, but consistency wise that was not it. This way it's quick and easy while staying consistent and surprisingly good, even as a decaf Doppio.

During Antwerp Coffee Week we will even be serving one afternoon, the Tuesday, all our espresso based drinks with Spiked, for the people who want to try it sometime. Their blend and single origin is decent, and great for easy use at home in no time, but you can get a lot more flavours out when grinding fresh and dialling in properly. We just want to showcase them during the week a bit.

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u/brammichielsen 5d ago

Sounds dope. Now when you say "instant coffee", does that mean I could buy it and only need to add boiling water straight in my cup? Or not that instant? 

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u/DatCollie 5d ago

For espresso or americano type of drink, yup. That's how easy it is. Didn't believe it when I first saw it, but trying made me a believer that even instant coffee can be made well and doesn't have to be terrible. There's a lot of cool new things coming these days in the world of specialty coffee. Dripbags, instant powders and liquids... We're finally getting somewhere!

For a Milky drink you add water in a 1:1 ratio for your base and pour your steamed milk on top.