Menu
Author:
Jessica Simms
There’s a pervasive myth that decaf coffee tastes worse than regular. That has more to do with the type of decaf most people drink. The truth is, decaffeinated coffee can be just as delicious and aromatic as its full-octane counterpart. Here are some options that will satisfy your coffee craving without keeping you up all night.
Bulletproof Whole Bean Decaf Coffee uses an all-natural decaffeination process and medium roast level that preserves the flavor of the beans. The beans are tested for impurities, and sustainably harvested so you can feel good drinking them.
As for the flavors, this blend of Colombian, Guatemalan, and Brazilian beans works well together. Orange, plum, and cinnamon are the most prominent notes, and it has a rich, nutty finish with a cocoa-like bitterness.
Hawaiian Kona coffee is renowned for its smooth flavor and finish. It’s rich and bold, with milk chocolate and brown sugar notes and a full body that’s perfect for filtered brewing methods like pour-over and automatic drip.
Royal Kona coffee is grown on a private reserve on Hawaii’s big island. This bag is pre-ground for convenience to a medium fineness that’s ideal for the coffee makers most people have in their home.
Eight O’Clock coffee is the best-selling brand in the United States for a reason. Their Original blend is a medium roast, with a good balance of sweetness and bitterness.
You’ll get a good bang for your buck with this 1.5-pound bag of Whole Bean Decaf Coffee. The foil bag is designed to maximize freshness so it won’t go stale before you can use it.
Don Pablo Colombian Decaf is a great option for those with heartburn, acid reflux, or a sensitive stomach. It’s mild, naturally decaffeinated, and a healthy choice for all coffee drinkers.
That low acidity also gives these Colombian Supremo beans a clean, bright finish and light body. They’re also versatile across brewing methods, both from a flavor standpoint and since they come whole bean.
Verena Street is a craft roaster in Dubuque, Iowa. Their beans are selected, roasted, and packaged by hand, ensuring consistency and quality in every batch.
The Sunday Drive is a mellow medium-roast. It’s perfect for those who like a crisp, light cup, and is mellow without tasting weak or thin.
This SF Bay Coffee Decaf Gourmet Blend is our top choice for anyone who likes to experiment with different brewing methods. It has a complex flavor, tasting nuttier and more chocolatey as espresso, with bright citrus and orange notes when you brew it as a pour-over.
Flavored coffee adds more variety to your cup without any extra sugar or calories. This Cameron’s Coffee Vanilla Hazlenut Blend brews delicious coffee that’s sweet and nutty, perfect on its own or with a bit of cream.
This is a great choice for offices or serious coffee drinkers, too. With 4 pounds per bag, it’ll be a while before you need to buy more.
For those who like the bold taste of dark-roasted coffee, this Kicking Horse Coffee Decaf blend has the rich, deep flavor you’re looking for. It has a lot of body and excellent strength, especially brewed with methods like French press and espresso.
The No Fun Jo Decaf blend from Jo Coffee is another top choice for those who like the bold taste of dark-roasted coffee. It’s roasted on the medium side of dark so the beans retain their complexity and fruity notes.
Health-conscious coffee drinkers will love that Jo Coffee uses beans that are UDSA-certified organic. They also use natural Swiss Water decaffeination, with no chemicals added during processing.
The Decaf French roast from Organic Coffee Co. has a delightfully creamy texture, especially when brewed using a Moka pot or French press. The dark flavor can also help owners of single-cup brewers to get more flavor from their coffee.
The Lavazza Dek Whole Bean Coffee Blend is our top choice for owners of espresso machines. It also tastes great brewed using similar methods like AeroPress or Moka pot.
Along with a bold flavor, the Lavazza Dek Espresso Roast has a creamy texture with a full crema when brewed using pressure methods.
Sumatran beans are renowned for their complexity and earthy notes. The Fresh Roasted Coffee LLC. Decaf Sumatra is a single-origin Sumatra grown in the Aceh region, naturally decaffeinated to retain its distinctive flavor.
Some people can’t fathom drinking decaf coffee—in their mind, the caffeine is the entire point. There are plenty of reasons you may want to switch to decaf, though. Here are some of the most common:
The caffeine in coffee is responsible for some of its touted health benefits, like a boosted metabolism and sharper focus. There are other healthy compounds in coffee that don’t get removed when you take out the caffeine.
For many people, coffee is the most significant source of antioxidants in their diet. Antioxidants are compounds that prevent or reverse cell damage by reducing the effects of cell oxidation.
There are several types of antioxidants in coffee but the main ones are the quinines, which get even more potent during roasting.
Coffee also contains minerals and nutrients, including magnesium. Combined with the antioxidants, this can help to regulate blood sugar levels, potentially lowering your risk for type 2 diabetes.
The idea that decaf is loaded with chemicals is based mostly on old information. When decaffeination was first invented, the process used a toxic substance called benzene, now known to cause cancer in humans.
Benzene hasn’t been used for decaffeination for decades. Chemical-based processes today use ethyl acetate and methylene chloride, both of which have been approved by the FDA as posing a negligible health risk to humans.
There are also chemical-free ways to decaffeinate coffee. The Swiss Water Process (SWP) uses a charcoal filter to remove the caffeine from coffee beans without impacting their flavor. Another process uses high-pressure carbon dioxide to draw out the caffeine.
Even with solvent-based methods, the chemical content of the resulting beans is very low, typically around 1 part per million. If you’re looking to avoid chemicals completely, look for beans decaffeinated using a CO2 or Swiss Water Process.
Answering this question is more complicated than you might think. In a controlled study by Harvard Medical School, decaf coffee raised blood pressure nearly as much as caffeinated coffee when given to non-habitual coffee drinkers.
In that same study, though, regular coffee drinkers showed no change in blood pressure from either decaf or regular. Once your system is used to it, coffee doesn’t seem to have a noticeable effect.
Coffee is complex, containing a plethora of compounds that have sometimes contradicting effects on the people who drink it. This is why you’ll see some studies say it causes heart disease while others say it decreases the risk.
Coffee is an acidic beverage, and this can lead to problems for drinkers even after the caffeine is removed. If you’ve ever felt a sour “coffee stomach” you know this all too well. It also impairs your body’s nutrient absorption, reducing the amount of iron, zinc, and calcium your body pulls from the food you eat.
Drinking decaf coffee can exacerbate existing stomach conditions like heartburn, ulcers, and IBS. Its nutrient-blocking effects can also make it unhealthy if you’re anemic or otherwise nutrient-deficient.
There are some ways to reduce the acidity of coffee. You can buy a low-acid blend, for one thing. Preparing coffee as a cold brew also helps, reducing the amount of acid that’s extracted from the grounds.
Some of the oils in coffee have also been shown to increase the LDL (“bad” cholesterol) in your bloodstream.
These compounds come through in higher quantities with metal-filtered brewing methods, like French press, and pressure-brewed methods like espresso. You can reduce them by using a paper filter, like the ones used in pour-over, Chemex, and automatic drip coffee makers.
Decaffeination 101: Four Ways to Decaffeinate Coffee
https://coffeeconfidential.org/health/decaffeination/
The Buzz on Coffee https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-buzz-on-coffee#1
10 healthy reasons to drink coffee
https://www.onemedical.com/blog/newsworthy/10-healthy-reasons-to-drink-coffee-2/1
Coffee and your blood pressure
https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/coffee_and_your_blood_pressure
Why I Switched to Decaf
https://molliemason.space/why-i-switched-to-decaf/
