For many, coffee is a morning ritual, and the daily brewing routine gets us started as much as the drink itself does. Studies continue to tout the health benefits of a cup of Joe, which is welcome reassurance, but some aspects of coffee, especially caffeine, don’t always work for people.
For some, a cup or more can lead to sleep issues even hours after consumption. People with a particular genetic variation that makes them sensitive to the stimulant have it even worse: The amplified effects may cause a racing heartbeat, headache, jitters, and anxiety, in addition to potential insomnia. Yet other people are just plain allergic.
For this, we have decaf, of course. But the decaffeination process often involves solvents and doesn’t address the issue of bitterness, which can drive drinkers away or compel them to overwhelm a cup with creamers and sweeteners, an onslaught of empty calories.
DAYES Premium Coffee Roasters has come up with a revolutionary method to tackle both caffeine and bitterness.
The Power of Science
Founder Dr. Grant Lee is a retired cancer pathologist. He was born in South Korea, a country known for its coffee scene, trendy drinks, and plethora of cafes and roasters. With over a decade’s experience in cancer prevention research, having worked at Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Yale Medical School, and Tokyo’s National Institute of Health Sciences, Lee is well aware of the health benefits of coffee and its potential issues for some consumers.“I just want to help people,” Lee said. He returned to South Korea and made coffee his full-time focus, and he used his science background to formulate a coffee that would take health into account first.
He obsessively researched and experimented with coffee until the answer hit him: fermentation. By treating the green coffee beans for just a few hours in a complex of 50 enzymes, the beans could be incubated to ferment, bringing an assortment of benefits not found in typical coffees. The enzymes not only remove about 85 to 90 percent of the caffeine, but also break down tannins and other compounds that can cause stomach upset, making the coffee smoother and easier to digest. The process even extends the shelf life of the beans, preserving them for up to two years. Lee gave his product the name DAYES, a portmanteau meaning “say yes to the day.”
From South Korea, these fermented beans are shipped directly to DAYES Coffee Roasters, in Middletown, New York, to be roasted. Lee is careful to roast the beans only to medium-dark (Full City) roast, to avoid the char and potential carcinogens that can be created when roasting dark. That said, these are not your ordinary beans.
Not all coffee is created equal, and in fact, coffee beans come graded according to quality. DAYES’s house blend of Brazil Mogiana, Colombia Supremo, and Guatemala Antigua or Ethiopia Yirgacheffe uses only top-grade, premium, high mountain growth Arabica coffee beans so that you can be certain they have been closely inspected for any sign of mold or rotting, common issues with lower-quality beans.
DAYES uses the Loring Smart Roaster, an American-made machine that allows them to roast small batches to a consistent roasting point, with very little time between taking them from the heat of the drum and delivering them to your door.
The result is a brew with low caffeine, low acidity, a nutty sweetness, and low bitterness. DAYES Coffee is smooth and rounded but full flavored, without any odd aftertastes. What more could you ask for in a cup?
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