Decaf coffee beans
5 coffees · from 4 roasters
Specialty decaf has come a long way. Roasters now buy good green coffee and send it to be decaffeinated before roasting, so a decaf can taste of chocolate, fruit and caramel like any other coffee.
The common methods are the Swiss Water Process, which uses water and carbon filters, and the sugarcane or ethyl acetate process, which uses a compound made from fermented sugarcane and is common for Colombian decaf. Each coffee card shows how it was decaffeinated where the roaster has said.
DECAF – COLOMBIAN POPAYAN RESERVE
Three Llamas Coffee
Colombia Popayan Decaf
Switch Espresso
Golden Hour | Colombian Decaf
Slow Coffee Roasters
Decaf
Ryder Specialty Coffee
Orange Sunset | Colombian Decaf
Slow Coffee Roasters
Roasters in this guide
How to brew them
Questions
Is decaf coffee caffeine free?
Not entirely. Decaffeination removes around 97 to 99.9 per cent of the caffeine, so a cup of decaf has a few milligrams compared with around 80 to 100 in a regular cup.
What is the Swiss Water Process?
Green coffee is soaked in water saturated with coffee solubles, so only the caffeine moves out of the bean. The caffeine is caught by carbon filters and the water is reused. No added chemicals are involved.
Does decaf brew differently?
Decaf beans are more porous, so they tend to extract faster. Start with a slightly coarser grind than you would use for the same brewer with regular coffee.