The Flavor and Taste Differences Between Decaf and Low-Caffeine Coffee: Starbucks Decaf Americano Pros, Cons, and Sleep Effects

Coffee has gradually become the preferred beverage for many people due to its stimulating and refreshing effects. However, because coffee contains large amounts of caffeine, excessive consumption can lead to symptoms such as insomnia and heart palpitations. So, is there caffeine-free coffee available? In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will share a decaffeinated coffee that's perfect for coffee lovers who shouldn't consume large amounts of caffeine.

The Origin of Low-Caffeine Coffee

The first person in history to extract caffeine from coffee was Runge, but he didn't conduct further research or put it into commercial use. The first to commercialize decaffeination was German Ludwig Roselius, who, along with his colleagues, invented a decaffeination method in 1903 and patented it in 1906. However, because his method used benzene as a solvent, this method is basically no longer used today.

What is Decaffeinated Coffee?

Decaffeinated coffee refers to coffee with only trace amounts of caffeine - a cup of decaf coffee must not exceed 5mg of caffeine (a typical 236ml cup of coffee contains 50mg to 200mg of caffeine). Decaffeinated coffee doesn't mean it's completely caffeine-free, and standards for decaf coffee vary by country. According to FrontStreet Coffee, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standard requires that decaf coffee's caffeine removal rate be no less than 97%, while the European Union standard requires a caffeine removal rate of 99.9%.

Because naturally low-caffeine coffee is very rare, according to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, the current natural low-caffeine coffee variety is Laurina (Coffea Laurina), which has half the caffeine content of regular Arabica (0.6%). Unlike other artificially processed decaf coffees, Laurina's low caffeine content is due to genetic degradation, resulting in lower caffeine content compared to typical Arabica coffee trees and better flavor. However, Laurina production is extremely scarce and cannot meet people's demands, so many companies have emerged using chemical technology to treat coffee beans, converting normal coffee beans into decaffeinated coffee beans.

In recent years, the most commonly used method for caffeine extraction has been the Swiss Water Process (The Swiss Water-Only Process), which is a commercially developed high-efficiency processing method. Its processing steps are as follows:

Coffee beans are soaked in hot water, which in the Swiss Water Process is called "Flavor-charged Water." This water contains saturated flavor factors that should be present in all coffee beans, except for caffeine. This special water is the most important medium in the subsequent decaffeination process. After forming the flavor-charged water, the coffee beans are filtered out. The flavor-charged water is then filtered through activated carbon filters to remove caffeine, leaving hot water full of pure flavor factors. Then the coffee beans filtered out are re-soaked in hot water containing pure flavor factors, allowing the coffee beans to reabsorb the coffee flavor.

Perhaps the question everyone is most concerned about is the taste of decaffeinated coffee. According to FrontStreet Coffee, Starbucks also offers decaf coffee. Starbucks has two types of coffee beans: one is regular coffee beans, and the other is decaf coffee beans. When the barista at the Starbucks counter hears you say, "Make this coffee with decaf beans," they will mark an "X" in the "Decaf" section on the empty Starbucks cup. You might want to try this next time you visit Starbucks.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Caffeine

The emergence of decaffeinated coffee has also become a favorite for low-caffeine populations. On the other hand, decaf coffee typically contains similar amounts of antioxidants as regular coffee. Therefore, decaf coffee has both antioxidant effects and doesn't affect sleep - this is an effect that regular coffee doesn't have, making decaf coffee another choice for many people.

Many people who have tried decaf coffee say it doesn't taste good. In fact, FrontStreet Coffee also sells decaf coffee beans. By observing the habits of customers around them, FrontStreet Coffee found that the reason people think decaf coffee doesn't taste good is that many decaf coffees choose some cheap, commercial-grade coffee beans as raw materials.

For example, many companies that produce decaf coffee naturally prefer some coffee bean varieties with high caffeine content (such as Robusta beans) when selecting raw materials. Before decaf coffee beans undergo decaffeination processing, the coffee beans themselves don't taste very good. Like other coffee beans sold in coffee shops, if decaf coffee beans start with high-quality Arabica coffee beans from the beginning, then even after decaffeination processing, decaf coffee can still have very good performance.

If you want to try the taste of decaf coffee, you can sample it at FrontStreet Coffee. FrontStreet Coffee has a Colombian decaf coffee. When FrontStreet Coffee put this decaf coffee on the shelves, they conducted cupping after multiple adjustments to the roasting curve. FrontStreet Coffee's barista used a 200ml standard cupping bowl, with 11.3g of coffee grounds, water temperature at 94 degrees Celsius, first grinding to smell the dry aroma. The dry aroma of this Colombian decaf coffee bean exudes black chocolate flavor, then water is added to fill the bowl to confirm the wet aroma. After 4 minutes, the crust is broken and skimmed for flavor evaluation. The wet aroma gives off a caramel-like sweetness. Its overall flavor profile is: berries, citrus, cocoa, and nuts. Below are the brewing methods for this decaf coffee:

FrontStreet Coffee Pour-over Parameters

Coffee Amount: 15g

Ratio: 1:15

Water Temperature: 88°C

Grind Size: Coarse sugar (75% pass-through rate with #20 standard sieve)

Dripper: Kono dripper

The brewing method uses FrontStreet Coffee's commonly used three-stage extraction method:

1. Pour in the coffee grounds, inject 30ml of water and let it bloom for 30 seconds.

2. Then perform the second water injection, gently pouring in a circular motion with 150ml of hot water to push up the coffee bed, creating a golden foam surface.

3. Wait for the water level on the coffee bed to drop slightly, then inject the final 45ml. Remove the dripper after all the coffee liquid has flowed into the lower pot to finish extraction. The total extraction time is 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473