Choosing a Good Decaf Coffee (It’s hard)

In the world of specialty coffee, the word decaf causes many baristas to shudder. The typical idea that decaf coffee isn’t real coffee is actually beginning to fade. With many new practices in the specialty coffee world, there are actually some decaf coffees that taste pretty darn good.

How Do They Make Decaf Coffee?

Caffeine is inherently present in coffee, therefore, in order to extract the caffeine from the coffee, the coffee must be manipulated. This can be done in many ways, however, the most common way is by using chemicals.

There have been many improvements in the world of decaf coffee; one of which being boiling the beans in hot water to extract the caffeine. While this a chemical-free way of decaffeinating coffee, it does result in some loss of flavor.

Recently, there have been some interesting improvements in methods to help decaf coffee lose its stigma of being so nasty.

What To Look For When Choosing A Decaf Coffee

While all decaffeinated coffee beans do have to sacrifice flavor on some degree, there are certain things you can look for on packaging that will point you to coffees with the least amount of flavor loss.

Look For:

Swiss Water Decaf Process: This is the only certifiably organic way to remove the caffeine. It also makes it taste significantly better.

Lighter Roasts: Choose a lighter roast when given the option. The darker coffee roasts mixed with the water decaf process will result in the least amount of flavors still being prevalent in the coffee. Choose lighter for more unique sweet flavors!

HEY…We actually carry our own Decaf that you could try!

Happy Coffee Drinking!