Why drink decaf coffee?

decaf coffee bags

I used to drink a lot of caffeinated coffee, probably a literal gallon a day! After suffering for months with acid reflux and feeling like I was being choked all day, I finally figured out caffeine was the culprit.

Why drink decaf coffee? Caffeine can be aggravating to a number of conditions. The most common reasons for avoiding caffeine are for sleep, avoiding jitters, avoiding heart palpitations, not irritating acid reflux, or pregnancy among many others.

After I stopped drinking caffeine my acid reflux disappeared. Others I know have severe heart palpitations after having caffeine. Often so severe they wondered if they needed to go to the hospital! Despite being a challenge to find, there are great decafs available that taste just like regular coffee.

Decaf coffee instead of regular:

The main reason I stopped drinking caffeinated coffee was for my acid reflux. I would sit at my desk and feel like Hulk Hogan was putting me in a choke hold all day. It was so bad I thought I was going to die at one point.

My wife had similar feelings as she would get intense headaches if she didn’t drink caffeine for a day or two, plus she started getting severe heart palpitations.

My wife’s mother as well for years would get severe heart palpitations from caffeine. That’s why she started brewing decaf at parties and telling everyone it was regular. Funny thing is most never noticed! So much for them being able to tell but I guess it was Folgers anyway.

The challenges and quest for exceptional decaf:

Now that you know some reasons for drinking decaf the biggest hurdle you will have is finding great decaf. Unfortunately the coffee market generally has ignored the decaf drinkers. We are seen as second class drinkers and are left with poor choices of bad roasts and meek flavors. My goal is to provide you the best and honest reviews of decaf coffee products and brewing technologies.

How often have you been standing in the store wondering if that decaf breakfast blend of k-cups is any good? Have you ever been excited to try a new coffee only to be really disappointed when you got it home to find out it tastes like dirty sock water? I know I have, especially with all the decaf products out there. Most mainstream coffee roasters have forgotten or are ignoring the decaf market.

For a long time Sanka was the default if you needed decaf. That’s not true anymore. Now there are a lot more options but still you are a second class drinker. For some reason companies seem to think decaf drinkers are a bunch of sissies that only drink medium roast with mild flavors (most often cardboard honestly). I often find medium roast to be the worst kind of decaf. Its bland, boring, safe and uninteresting. I like a decaf that’s bold, dark, earthy, smokey, chocolatey and above all robust so it is reminiscent of a good stout beer.

Brewing method needs to be a process, science and passion to make exceptional decaf!

Brewing coffee is as much an art as brewing beer. Long ago when I was in college a place called Warren Plaza was the only place to eat off campus. It was a hole in the wall but it was great. The best pizza you ever had, huge slices and the guys behind the counter where hysterical. Most of all the coffee was amazing! It was a brand called Laws and it was a basic drinkable medium roast but when those guys made it it was magic. Eventually after i left feeling nostalgic I bought some to brew it home. It was bland and boring. Had none of the magic (okay lead from 100 year old pipes)!. Was it the water, maybe? But long story short it wasn’t the same coffee I loved at school.

Brewing technique matters more than ever as a decaf drinker. It’s just a fact the beans do lose flavor during the decaf process. Ironically the methylene chloride method (the one that a lot of people worry about for health reasons) seems to do the least damage to the flavor. Many coffee snobs argue that the Swiss water process makes a more bland cup. The jury’s still out on supercritical CO2 method but those are rare.

If you want to become a full time decaf drinker you better get your brewing technique down. No lazy half hearted boil water and dump it into the Chemex for you. Proper measuring of grounds, water temperature and brew time are going to be essential to make the perfect cup. Over time you will forget you are even drinking decaf, if you are diligent in your brewing technique.

Learning the SCAA method for tasting

When I first started taste testing decafs I was doing it all wrong. I would brew up a pot in my auto drip or Chemex and drink it black trying to taste it like a wine. Haha so young and naive. Now I’m not much fancier but at least I try to follow the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) cupping procedure. If you are unfamiliar with the procedure it really is basically just measuring your coffee grounds and water temperature, and timing of brew exactly in a standard cup. I won’t go into the details here. If you want to taste test the coffees you need to follow this procedure if you want to find the best of the best.

Even though I am going to be doing a lot of the hard work tasting decafs, it’s still up to you to find what you like. This brings me to one of my fundamental tenets for this website. I intend to only describe coffee flavors in context of the SCAA flavor wheel. This is a great tool as it gives you a great vocabulary for tasting coffee to impress your friends with. Who would have thought to describe a coffee as hay like, charcoal or floral like lavender? I have tasted a lot of decafs and some have been smokey like pipe tobacco, sweet like butter, spices like clove or fruity like blueberries. I am still working on my tasting skills, more practice is needed!

Let me help!

I have been drinking decaf for a few years now and I realize how hard it is to find good decaf. My intention is to find the best decaf coffee products and tell you how to make them taste great. I hope I can help you avoid those awful coffees that make you sad!

Decaf Mobius