Hi, I've recently started drinking coffee again after a 10 year absence. I've had a few cups of caffeinated but not drinking caffeine for so long has lowered my tolerance, which is not bad in the right moments . So I mainly drink decaf Americano. I'm enjoying the taste, better than I did when I drank coffee before, let's face it if you have to put sugar in then you don't really enjoy the taste of coffee, right?

Anyway I'm looking for some tips on decaf coffee. I mainly drink Americano, should I branch out to espresso anything else...? What would you recommend a coffee newbie drinks? Thanks.

An Americano drinker may wish to try branching out into straight espresso. The Americano has the flavor profile of the espresso, but is dilute. It should not be a large jump to go to pure espresso.

Another direction you can take your rediscovery is to try brewing by either pourover, immersion (like a Clever or Espro), or siphon.

I would suggest an open mind, re: sugar or other additives. I personally do not ever sugar coffee, but there are additives that many find pleasurable in different drinks - such as those who like a macchiato, cortado, latte, cappuccino, or perhaps just a touch of milk or half-and-half in a cup of brewed coffee. As you branch out, keep an open mind, as some of these drinks can be delicious. While I like my espresso straight, I often like a touch of dairy in my brewed coffee, especially when it's a high-acid coffee (like almost everyone I go after!) And every now and then, a caffe correto can be a wonderful thing.

Best of luck on your journey. For the record, I have tried decaf beans on and off for a decade, and have given up. I could not find either a varietal, or a process, which didn't take way too much goodness out of the bean. I personally don't care for the caffeine (would love to have coffee up until bed time, but I'd rather not study my ceiling until 4 am.), but the taste trade-off, for me, isn't worth it.

I think the problem with decafs is not the lack of caffeine itself but the process it takes to remove the caffeine destroys its flavour's complexity. I love the taste of espresso, and I wish I could have many a day, but caffeine holds me back. I've tried many decafs and they are all disgusting, not only they don't taste like the real thing, but they taste really bad in my opinion.

I suggest you try single shots of espresso, or single capuccinos. Start by trying espresso blends rather than single origin, blends tend to be more smooth in my opinion. Drink it slowly, the caffeine effect should be small. After you get used to espressos and cappucinos you'll hate americanos.

I'm also quite sensitive to caffeine, so I drink a lot of decaf coffee and am always trying new ones, in the hope of finding a great one. Decaf has improved quite a bit in just the last few years - I seem to generally like water-process decaf coffees the best, but that's maybe just me.

My two favorite decaf espressos are 1) Paradise Roasters (decaf espresso blend) and 2) Verve Roasters Vancouver Decaf. The Paradise decaf is really great - I taste vanilla, hazelnuts and dark chocolate in a very creamy, full-bodied shot. Both make pretty good pourovers as well.

I just finished a bag of Prosum Roasters single origin decaf, and it was great, too, although I only prepared it as pourover and immersion brews. It has a really unique, spicy/smoky flavor that I haven't yet been able to place. Delicious!

Don't be swayed - we should be able to find and enjoy excellent decaf coffee as a complement to regular coffees. Market forces!

entropy4money wrote:I think the problem with decafs is not the lack of caffeine itself but the process it takes to remove the caffeine destroys its flavour's complexity. I love the taste of espresso, and I wish I could have many a day, but caffeine holds me back. I've tried many decafs and they are all disgusting, not only they don't taste like the real thing, but they taste really bad in my opinion.

I suggest you try single shots of espresso, or single capuccinos. Start by trying espresso blends rather than single origin, blends tend to be more smooth in my opinion. Drink it slowly, the caffeine effect should be small. After you get used to espressos and cappucinos you'll hate americanos.

This 2008 article about growing a better caffeine free/low caffeine bean might still be interesting then.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122669958787129493

Not decaf or caffeine-free, but natural extremely low caffeine coffees do exist now and are for sale:
http://dekleinekoffiebranderij.nl/site/ ... -peru.html (hope I will still be able to get it after I post this )

And there are a lot of completely caffeine free coffees as well - its just that as far as I know those are not commercially available (with good reason for the most part, it seems caffeine is a natural bug repellent - and tends to get replaced by extreme bitters if not present ... )
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea_charrieriana

And a lot of people think coffee needs to have caffeine. So at the moment a caffeine-free good coffee bean is a niche in the market. (I think one could still get filthy rich from it )
http://www.timeout.com.hk/restaurants-b ... ebate.html

BTW blends often contain Robusta, and that has more caffeine than Arabica.

We have non-caffeine drinkers in my house, and after 5pm, if I have coffee, I drink decaf too. The best decaf espresso I've had is red Bird. I prefer it over Klatch's, Nossa Familia's, Espresso Vivace's and just about ever other one I've tried. I've gotten to the point where I pretty much have given up on trying to find a better one...though I've not tried the ones from Paradise or Verve.

tohenk2 wrote:BTW blends often contain Robusta, and that has more caffeine than Arabica.

+1

Also remember that Robusta beans are generally strong in caffeine, sometimes very strong and there's no sleeping for me with those.
In contrast can have a couple shots of Arabica before bedtime and I'm okay. So if you're ordering some caffeinated beans in the future you might make sure they are Arabica and see if that helps.

I'm generally a 1-4 shot a day person. Generally 2 a day, so I'm not a heavy coffee drinker and the Arabica seems to be fine with my system.

Although I haven't tried this myself I know folks that mix 50/50 regular beans and decaf beans that are after less caffeine. So if you find decaf beans off-putting in flavor you might try blending to see how it goes.