Decaf coffee debunking the myth.
Decaf Coffee
Debunking the myth that decaf suck!!!Looking at my initial search results for the word decaf on google I realise that decaf is quite heavily loaded with negativity.
Decaf/ decaffeinated coffee meaning.
This is coffee that has had a large percentage – usually more than 97% - of the caffeine removed from it. This is done while the beans are still green. Yes coffee is never 100% free of caffeine.
What effect does caffeine have on the taste of coffee?
Caffeine is described as a bitter taste; the caffeine adds to the complexity of the overall taste of a roasted bean. Coffee beans are complex and consist of around 1000 chemicals impacting the taste and flavour of coffee.
What effect does this have on decaf beans?
Removing any taste component from the beans would influence the complexity of the flavour. This is however not the biggest reason that decaf beans are not as tasty as normal beans.
How do you get the caffeine out?
In the CO2 decaffeination process, water-soaked coffee beans are placed in a stainless-steel container called the extraction vessel. The extractor is then sealed, and liquid CO2 is forced into the coffee at pressures of 1,000 pounds per square inch to extract the caffeine.
The CO2 acts as the solvent to dissolve and draw the caffeine from the coffee beans, leaving the larger-molecule flavour components behind. The caffeine laden CO2 is then transferred to another container called the absorption chamber. Here the pressure is released and the CO2returns to its gaseous state, leaving the caffeine behind. The caffeine free CO2 gas is pumped back into a pressurized container for reuse.
Information gathered from https://coffeeconfidential.org/health/decaffeination/
This method has the least impact on changing the chemical balance of the green bean, but it is now up to the roaster to get the balance right to roast a product that would still be flavourful and balanced.
Biggest influencers on decaf tasting less punchy.
Old, stale decaf. As decaf coffee is not a regular sale item in a coffee shop it tends to stick around a lot longer than normal beans would before being used. Coffee lose a lot of its characteristics after its been roasted and grinded. The longer we leave it after we’ve grinded it the more it oxidises and lose flavour. A good way to determine how much decaf to keep would be to keep one unit of decaf for every ten units of coffee kept.
Roasting decaf tend to be more difficult. Roasters use the natural colouring from green to dark brown to determine where they are in the roasting process. With decaf beans the colour has been altered thus making it more complex to gauge the colour changes that naturally occur during the roasting process. This is not the only means of roasting coffee but is an indicator of where you are in the roast. Changing the chemical compound of the beans also plays a part in the way it will react during the roasting process. Using water as a solvent also cause other soluble substances like sugar and protein to breakdown. Causing a “weaker” or ‘washed out” green bean. This is than carried over to the roasting process leaving the roasted bean with a taste like that of a light roast.
Grind size. Due to the physical changes in the washing process of the beans. The ground coffee tends to not compound together as much as a normal batch of grounded coffee would. Causing a quicker extraction of coffee creating a weaker, watery coffee. Grinding your decaf finer would sort this problem out.
Why go through all this effort to make a substandard product?
Coffee has long been used as a stimulant, myth has it that a goat herder saw he’s goats acting up after eating coffee tree leaves and this is where the whole movement started. This herder never went after the taste of this product. However, over the years as we gained valuable insights into this magic bean, we realised we could alter the flavour of the been by changing all the variables to create not only a palatable drink but a satisfying drink of choice. We don’t just consume coffee for its stimulating effects these days, we consume it because it tastes good.
Decaf coffee used to be bad, but so have coffee bean. Speciality coffee is quite a new trend in the bigger picture of coffee. We are constantly learning and improving the way we not only consume coffee but roast as well. So naturally decaf in the past could have been bad. Add to this the low need to drink decaf and its easy to assume that a lower grade green bean has been used in the past for decaf.
But we have coffee drinkers who can’t tolerate caffeine.
Why are we serious about decaf?
We want to provide a pregnant mom to be, the cup of coffee she is craving!
We want to provide the caffeine intolerant person the same coffee experience as a caffeine tolerant person.
Or just to help the coffee drinker that’s a bit to hooked on caffeine to kick the habit of over caffeination without the need to stop drinking coffee.
Caffeine has been used by monks to keep them awake during long times of prayer, it still has the effect of keeping us awake. To prevent sleepless nights, opt for a decaf before bed.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/decaf-coffee-good-or-bad
https://www.thoughtco.com/caffeine-affect-taste-coffee-and-cola-607364