If you're going to drink decaf, be sure to drink decaf prepared via the Swiss water method. It has the least additives, healthiest option and tastes pretty good.
James Hoffmann did a video on decaff coffee recently[1]. In it he basically says the "scary chemicals" aspect of other caffeine removal processes is basically overblown, and the reason why decaf coffee sucks has less to do with the solvents used and more to do with how the decaffination process makes the beans more prone to staling. In short, there's nothing really special about the swiss water process in particular and there are more important factors to worry about.
The point I really liked about that video is that decaf drinkers are probably the most passionate coffee lovers. We're drinking it for ONLY the taste/experience. It's a shame coffee roasters and coffee shops tend to not take it seriously. I know when I'm traveling I often want to stop in a coffee shop and get a nice decaf and relax for a bit, but most shops make it pretty clear it's not going to be a good experience by not putting any effort into featuring/caring about the decaf options.
The Ethyl Acetate (aka sugarcane) method is also good, as long as the resulting beans are complemented by the slight fruity flavor added by the process. There's a new plant in Colombia which makes some excellent coffees (provided they are roasted well).
It can be difficult to find roasters who actually care about their decaf coffee beans - they are more difficult to roast and some roasters still turn up their nose at it. Decaf beans stale faster (both before and after roasting) so it's even more important to get fresh beans from a good roaster.
And chances are the roasters actually care about making it taste good. It's rare but you can find great decaf coffee if you look for it.
To me, it is weird that all coffee revolves around caffeine; I find the complex tastes way more rewarding than the milligrams of caffeine I get from it.
Citation needed. It’s possible it may taste the best, but I am skeptical of your claim that it is the healthiest.
One of the common methods of decaffeinating coffee uses supercritical CO2, which is in my view significantly less scary than the “proprietary green coffee extract” used by the Swiss Water process.
I suspect neither is actually harmful. And neither is the chemical solvent based decaf, honestly. Not in levels that are meaningful to health.
Swiss Water's Green Coffee Extract is literally just the soluble elements found in a coffee bean, minus the caffeine. (This allows the caffeine from new batches to then migrate out of those beans and into the extract.)
I'll take this opportunity to plug an instant decaf that recent surprised me (very pleasantly). Our hotel offered this for free in the lobby on a recent trip and I ended up buying some for travel purposes.
It's a swiss water method decaf instant that rivals some of the best cafe regular coffees I've had.
At stores/roasters, most will tell you the decaffeination method somewhere on the bag. If they don't it's probably not a brand that cares much about their decaf, so skip it. Make sure you go for as close to roast as possible - decaf goes off a lot quicker than regular coffee.
It’s actually hard to find brands that don’t use the water method if you buy “freshly” roasted beans. Unless you go super budget, medium budget beans like Peets, SF bay, etc use water process method.
gruez|2 years ago
[1] https://www.summarize.tech/www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYTSdlOdk...
ydant|2 years ago
mastax|2 years ago
It can be difficult to find roasters who actually care about their decaf coffee beans - they are more difficult to roast and some roasters still turn up their nose at it. Decaf beans stale faster (both before and after roasting) so it's even more important to get fresh beans from a good roaster.
criddell|2 years ago
jordanreger|2 years ago
To me, it is weird that all coffee revolves around caffeine; I find the complex tastes way more rewarding than the milligrams of caffeine I get from it.
Kirby64|2 years ago
One of the common methods of decaffeinating coffee uses supercritical CO2, which is in my view significantly less scary than the “proprietary green coffee extract” used by the Swiss Water process.
I suspect neither is actually harmful. And neither is the chemical solvent based decaf, honestly. Not in levels that are meaningful to health.
coffeelislove|2 years ago
pryelluw|2 years ago
ydant|2 years ago
https://treelinecoffee.com/collections/on-the-go/products/in...
It's a swiss water method decaf instant that rivals some of the best cafe regular coffees I've had.
At stores/roasters, most will tell you the decaffeination method somewhere on the bag. If they don't it's probably not a brand that cares much about their decaf, so skip it. Make sure you go for as close to roast as possible - decaf goes off a lot quicker than regular coffee.
syntaxing|2 years ago