DKD - the truth behind the name

The meaning of the DKD was always a secret. Really it meant nothing, an esoteric reference to creeping corporatisation of society. Companies like NGK sparkplugs stuck in my mind when thinking about a name. The name of a place is really important in my opinion, it should convey a feeling that you build on.

I was asked once by a journalist what it stood for. Off the cuff is said Decadence Kills Depression .I was watching a music TV channel years later and they were sitting down random people in the street and asking “Does decadence really kill depression?”

Another rumour we started was that it stood for Deutsche Kommunistische Departmente and we were raising money to buy arms. I must admit we didn’t allow that one to gain too much traction.

We did find some 1.5 metre high polystyrene letters in the ceiling, amongst them were 2 Ds and a K.

My partner at the time was the lovely Karen my best friend was Darryl, and of course I roped them in for my dream of opening a café. All 3 of us put in unbelievable hours to “build” the café. Hence – DKD.

The early 80s was the forefront of the coffee revolution. Remember Starbucks started in Seattle around 1979. These were a couple of enthusiasts who were into coffee (they sold to a corporate type in 1995, who developed Starbucks into what it is today. The original owners weren’t really interested in being part of this).

In Auckland/NZ at the time burnt filter coffee was king. I remember talking to someone who owned a well-known café, who subsequently went on to become an expert in espresso, he said espresso, cappuccino will never catch on in NZ. I of course believed that it would. I believed within 2 years it would be on every corner. Naivety of youth but within 20 years the prediction proved correct.

Coffee wise the palette has changed significantly. There is a parallel with wine, 30 years ago the wine offering was very limited and being of very dubious quality. Cold Duck I remember being a favourite which was sparkling very very sweet and generally horrible. Now I think it would be fair to say that the average NZer has a reasonably sophisticated palette.

In the early 80s the only roasters around were Robert Harris and Old Mill. Initially we sourced from Robert Harris. We didn’t have a grinder (couldn’t afford one) so received the coffee pre ground. Now we know that coffee loses its character about 3-4 hours after grinding. We loaded the coffee into the handle and tamped it with a soup spoon. After a while we purchased a 2nd hand grinder which improved quality hugely.

Most of the coffee in NZ was from New Guinea and just roasted to certain colour level and then labelled Colombian, French, Italian etc etc.

We were approached by a German guy Norbett Eichblatt who had arrived in NZ after a spell in South Africa, and set up the first boutique roastery in New Zealand

He suggested a pure Kenyan, it was another leap forward. Kenyan is very beautiful tasting coffee, now it would be considered to bitter. It is very high in acidity and flavour. We still use it in our blend but at 10% or less. The impact to the blend is almost the same if you use 45% or 10% (characteristic of this origin) but at 10% the acidity is greatly reduced. Some acidity is essential too much is unpleasant.

We also thought we were very clever at the time and put all the fresh coffee into the freezer to keep it at absolutely Primo condition.

We know now that that’s one of the worst things you can do as it flattens out all the flavours. Maybe this helped reduce the sharpness oft he Kenyan.

Coffee should be kept in cool dry dark conditions, airtight. The enemies are extreme temperature (cold or hot) and oxygen.

So put your coffee at the back of the cupboard in an air tight tin.