I'm fairly new to the coffee world but have always loved the taste of espresso and espresso/milk drinks. As I have been drinking more and more lately I am realizing that I am extremely sensitive to caffeine. I thought I would get used to it once my body acclimated, but so far I can barely tolerate a single shot in the morning. I have a hard time functioning at the office while caffeinated, however, I do pretty well on the weekends when I can get out for some exercise/hiking after a morning espresso.

With that comes my dilemma: I am infatuated with this hobby. I love reading HB forums and have been planning equipment purchases so I can immerse myself into this world. I'm an engineer by background and I find the equipment/techniques/skills fascinating.

So the question is, can I really enjoy this hobby while limiting my caffeine intake? I've done side by side comparison tastings of decaf vs. regular espresso at some of the local coffee houses and the decaf tastes pretty bad (sour, acidic, etc.). Is it possible to find decaf that is on par with regular coffee? Can I blend decaf and regular to reduce the caffeine?

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Sounds like you have the perfect background and passion to over come this dilemma. I'm sure you can come up with a workable, if not perfect solution. Have you considered coming up with your own blend of beans (a blend of regular and decaf)? I would think with some experimentation you could come up with the correct ratio of regular to decaf. Something that strikes a balance of flavor and caffeine.

Personally I can't have much caffeine after 3 or 4pm or it affects my sleep. But I want coffee! So I am in a similar boat.

It is pretty well documented on here that there are some very good decaf espresso offerings out there. I like Mtn Air, Verve, Counter Culture, and a host of others that I can't think of right now. Many of these fall into the "comfort food" type of chocolatey caramelly blends. But not all do.

The only difference for me when going back and forth between caf and decaf is that the decaf usually needs a little tighter grind than a caf.

Pete

It's not the caffeine in coffee that does this to me, or at least I don't think it is.. I can drink 1 pour over coffee (20g) and be extremely jittery.. I drink a few large cokes back to back and it does nothing to me.. Actually, I can drink many cokes and feel normal.. Is their something else in coffee that cause the problems?

Must be you're just excited about the coffee!

You could try taking a quality L-theanine supplement before you have your coffee. Which is an amino acid found in abundance quality green tea, which has a synergistic effect with caffeine.

I am also caffeine sensitive, I find more of a physical energy with coffee, but find some origins of coffee to be more jitterbug than others.

A cup of sencha in the afternoon is stimulating mentally but also relaxing to the body.

I roast my own beans and blend decaf and regular, usually to make half-caf which is what I use in the morning. In the afternoon I either limit myself to a single shot or switch to decaf. There are plenty of green bean suppliers with very good decaf. People say if you drink decaf you do it because you really love the coffee and not just for the caffeine buzz.

From an equipment standpoint the best advice I can give you is make sure you get a grinder which is very well-suited to single dosing (eg, Vario or HG one) as this will give you the flexibility to keep separate supplies of regular and decaf coffee and flexibly blend to whatever ratio suits you depending upon time of day and how many shots you've already had.

Yes, I've been taking this into consideration. The HG One seems like a good option. The Forte would probably play well also. Do you think I can still benefit from using big flats or big conicals if I'm limited to primarily decaf?

Thanks for the feedback so far. I am looking into the home roasting also.

The grinder, as is commonly noted on HB, is critical to the quality of the espresso. I haven't noticed any difference between decaf and regular in terms of the effect of grinders. A good grinder will make decaf much better just like it does for regular coffee.

I just recently got an HG one and really love it. I like grinding by hand, that it's quiet, great for single dosing, and results in fantastic shots. Don't have any experience with the Vario or Forte but from what I've read they would both be good choices. Of course another option would be to have a separate regular and decaf grinder, but I prefer investing in one really good quality single dosing grinder.

I don't write this as a challenge. I do wonder whether there's such a thing as a grinder specialized for single dosing. A good espresso grinder is all you need, isn't it? Using Mazzer Super Jolly, OE Pharos and Fiorenzato Doge I grind at the same setting for singles and doubles and get good results.