Adding caffeine to beans??

#1: Post by **ChileBean** » October 18th, 2016, 3:56 pm

Did a search but came up empty, so I will risk making a potentially controversial statement.

Every now and then I come across beans that seem to have extraordinarily high caffeine content. I was wondering if they smoke the beans with caffeine. Anyone heard of this? I drink a lot of espresso, so I am used to strong coffee. I'm talking about enough caffeine that it makes me sick. Just trashed almost a whole bag 'cause I can't drink the stuff...

#2: Post by **Nick Name** » October 18th, 2016, 4:06 pm

Have those high-caffeine beans by any chance been robusta? They can have something like two to four times more caffeine than arabica.

#3: Post by **Alan Frew** » October 18th, 2016, 10:02 pm

Natural variation. As Jamppa said, you're probably encountering Robusta blends. Adding caffeine post roast would simply add to roasting costs with no realistic chance of increasing profits.

Alan

October 19th, 2016, 6:55 am

Makes perfect sense - natural variation. (Personal note to self, avoid robusta like the plague.)

#5: Post by **greekbarista** » October 19th, 2016, 2:14 pm

i don't think they do that. As far as i know, when they extract caffeine from coffe(to make it decaffeinated) they sell it to companys like coca-cola and redbull

#6: Post by **Nick Name** » October 19th, 2016, 4:31 pm

ChileBean wrote:Personal note to self, avoid robusta like the plague.

That is a good decision - also taste wise. To me robusta always tastes a bit like cheap nescafe... even if it's used only small amounts in a blend. It's rather common in classic Italian blends, especially Southern Italian.

There are also blends that are 100% robusta, like Caffe Paska (in Finnish it means Sh**ty Coffee, quite appropriate

).