Decaf Explained

Decaf has been a popular topic, and heavily requested, but let me know if there's more you want me to cover!

Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:51 Brief History of Decaf
03:24 Short Ad for CoPilot
04:57 Decaffeination Processes
10:02 How Much Caffeine Is In Decaf
12:06 Decaf & Health
13:22 Roasting Decaf
15:30 Decaf in Coffeeshops
15:55 Decaf At Home
20:09 Your Thoughts on Decaf

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[windowdoog]

No one is sitting through a 20 minute video on decaffeination who doesn’t also want to see a coffee factory tour. Hell yes I want to see that.

[teawizardry]

As someone who has recently had to switch to mostly decaf for medical reasons this video is exactly what I needed

[KAZOOBLOOM]

As a decaf-only drinker, I put off watching this video for fear it would make me feel bad. Glad I watched the video and happy to hear I am a “top-tier” coffee drinker according to James!😊❤

[DistrictOfCriminalz]

As a barista for 8 years, I always hated the idea of decaf, until recently I got to the point where I craved coffee but didn't want the jitters. Immediately then I understood why decaf existed and never knocked it since.

[NordicSkadi]

I have never felt more accomplished than James Hoffmann calling me a top tier coffee drinker <3

[hamzehomari]

Avoided consuming caffeine years ago and kept drinking coffee, appreciate James calling us folks top tier, and can’t count how many times i was told what’s the point of drinking decaf coffee.

[goldshield]

I rarely comment but I think it's finally my time to shine. I am a Decaff drinker because I am extremely sensitive to caffeine. When you said that there was still caffeine in decaff, this was something I already knew because I cannot drink even decaf after 12pm without it effecting my sleep. That is how sensitive I am.
The more interesting story is how I became so sensitive in the first place.

I was raised on coffee, as in, when most infants were handed a bottle with ice tea or water, I was given a bottle of coffee. No, I don't know why, my parents were not good people. I started kindergarten having coffee as part of my breakfast, and this continued all through school. I was shocked when I found out coffee wasn't given to children. It should be noted, this was predominantly instant, but in my later years, by say 9/10 yo we had purchased a coffee machine and I was drinking fresh beans rather than instant. By the time I was 15 I was drinking 7-8 (500ml) cups per day. I could drink coffee up till 5pm with no negative effects on my sleep. When I entered the final years of High School and was putting in some all nighters for study, I was drinking anywhere between 10-12 (500ml) cups per day.

In my early 20s, I ended up in therapy for depression and anxiety associated with childhood trauma (again, parents were not good people) and my therapist strongly suggested I cut back on my coffee for health reasons, turns out it was exacerbating my anxiety. Their recommendation was to try a high quality decaff, I of course scoffed as any coffee drinker would and proclaimed "Death before Decaff!", but after a few more sessions I acquiesced that I would investigate the decaff situation but in the mean time I would reduce my coffee intake. With time I reduced to about 6 (500ml) cups a day.

Some years later, I was a working part of the corporate cog and coffee was once again one of my crutches, I had a special mug (my 500ml one) that I brought to the office for my coffee, and a small coffee heater plate that sat on my desk next to my phone that kept this monster cup from getting cold while I worked. Again I was averaging about 8-10 cups a day. I was also approaching a health crisis, one which was not actually associated with caffeine but rather the copious amounts of milk that I was drinking in the coffee. It turned out that I was actually allergic to cow milk (NOTE: allergic, not intolerant, I got rash and breathing issues, not IBS) and it was coming to a crux. I had to make some changes.

Once again in my stubborn high strung state, I refused coffee without milk because the way I took my coffee was as much a part of my personality as coffee was, and so ended up quitting cold turkey! Never Do This!!!
I had two full weeks of withdrawal: headaches, mood swings, sleep disruptions, and I think even some hallucinations. I have very limited memory of those two weeks but my husband remembers and I think he's traumatised from it. But I was finally free from it. No more coffee because no more milk. This went on for about 3 or 4 years before I came to the conclusion that I missed the flavour of coffee, I missed the burnt black gold. So I tried a cup black and holy shit, worst night of my life!!! I decided then that maybe decaff was worth another shot and seeing as it wasn't real coffee I could try it with oat milk too. I found something almost as good, but not as good as I remember, but that I could drink without causing my entire system to shut down.

Not long after that I found James Hoffman.
Your videos re-ignited my passion for that beautiful drink that was such a huge part of my childhood, and I craved it more than ever, so I went on the hunt. I found a local "backyard" roaster who had a Colombian (Swiss water process) Decaff and he would grind to my specifications, 250g at a time, this coupled with James' plunger coffee method and a really high quality barista oat milk and I finally had a way back into good coffee. I still can only have one cup a day, and it has to be before 12pm, but I am back baby and doing it in a healthy, manageable way.

Caffeine man, whether you want to admit it or not, it's a hell-ov-a drug. But good coffee, that is just pure art.

[arontesfay]

I grew up in an Ethiopian household where there's an entire culture around coffee drinking (I won't go into it since there are plenty of videos). Growing up, my mother always made coffee in the afternoon and invited neighbors to come hang out. While she was roasting the coffee beans, my siblings and I would often pick up roasted beans from the pan and eat them. These were always some of the most fun times of my childhood so I've always had a positive association with the taste and smell of coffee. I drink decaf because I don't need the caffeine to enjoy it. In fact, I'm not a huge fan of caffeine because of the swings in my energy level and its effect on my sleep. I only use it on tough days when I'm tired or sleep deprived and need to get some work done.

[missknight]

It has always baffled me why it is so challenging to find good quality decaf. I adore coffee and would love to have some in the evening. I assumed most coffee enthusiasts felt the same, so why would companies not fully maximize on this demand? The science behind it all is fascinating. Thank you for another fantastic video!

[vmcam]

Yes! This is fantastic. I'm a roaster and cafe owner, and we love providing quality decaf (One Up One Down Coffee in Trenton, NJ). We even have shirts and stickers that say "End decaf shaming." We currently offer three varieties, soon to be four, and hope to offer more in the future. And I would definitely love to see some decaffeination plant tours!

[MrAmiaffe]

Heya. I've been drinking alcohol pretty much every day for some years now and have only recently gone sober. This video has been an unexpected support going through withdrawal. It turns out, when you take out the downer out of the equation that you had thoroughly integrated into your body chemistry, the tolerance for other things, like caffeine, goes way out of whack and i had to nearly cut coffee completely as it was making withdrawal immensely worse. This, and the other video about coffee alternatives has really helped me retain some small joy during withdrawal, and I guess I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to make a dedicated video about decaf and other coffee alternatives.

[aleksandravaher]

Hi,
I am a barista myself and I must say this video was really interesting to hear. To be honest I was a little skeptical in the beginning because for me to make decaf it is more of a hassle. Because of the way we hold our decaf, like you said in the video if the coffee is in touch with air, the flavor will gradually become bland and that is the case in my coffee shop. I will be talking to my higher-ups a little about how to make our decaf taste better!

Thank you!

[mwcalder]

I used to work for a roaster and I remember tasting a new decaf that we were looking at in a blind cupping process. We had no idea that it was decaf and it was actually all our favourite! It was actually really tasty and not just like ash like most decafs that roasters roast the heck out of.

[dwightpeters]

As a decaf drinker, I can't thank you enough for breaking through the negativity around it! It is hard enough to get good decaf, but it is getting even harder since much of the coffee sections at stores and even cafes are now full of pods instead of specialty beans, pods that don't often have decaf options too. Similarly, the cold brew sections at stores never have decaf options. So decaf even in the past couple of years has gotten harder to buy in person without a great effort. Shedding light on both the positive aspects of decaf and helping people learn how make better decaf coffee with your influence I very much hope will help change things for the better for decaf drinkers. I'm always sad at all the options I don't get to try, so it would be great to have more! One question: does brewed decaf coffee deteriorate faster than caffeinated coffee? I've had some off odors when making cold brew and when leaving coffee in my french press out for awhile. Perhaps I will make some caffeinated coffee just to compare even though I can't drink it, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks!

[SurumeJPN]

Let's not forget the pregnant ladies. A good decaf is necessary even for people who have a strong caffeine tolerance, either because you yourself are pregnant and spending 10 months without a good cup of coffee (or more, if you are breastfeeding), or your partner is pregnant and it would not be fair if you are drinking good coffee but your partner is stuck with shitty supermarket decaf.

[lorenabulhoes]

My grandma has labyrinthitis so she can’t drink coffee with caffeine. She almost cried when it was told to her that she no longer would be able to have her traditional afternoon coffee, because there was a whole bunch of affective memories associated to that. So she drinks decaff, not because she needs the energy, but because coffee, itself, it’s valuable to her as a good memory.

[Ruarch]

I never needed coffee to wake up, never needed it as a pick me up. I just love its taste so much. It saddens me stopping drinking after lunch because it really does affect my sleep. So, I would really love to learn more about decaf in general. Please make more videos on the subject <3

[salamalmahi]

As someone who’s caffeine sensitive this was so informative and interesting to watch!
I wish all coffee shops take notes 📝

[jennifermiles]

Thank you so much for making this video ❤

I'm a decaf drinker for health reasons. I'm so sick of people who drink coffee for its effects - often with milk, cream, sugar, syrup etc to cover up its taste - telling me I'm not a real coffee drinker. Erm, hello, I'm the one drinking it purely for the taste!

I'm very particular about my coffee, my wonderful boyfriend knows this and tries to find highly rated, quality coffee shops for us to try when we travel. It almost brings me to tears when I try a sip of his fantastic coffee and mine is barely drinkable 😢 I now take a areopress, hand grinder and flask with me on short trips. On our last caravan holiday I took my full home coffee set up with me!

I buy my beans from Rounton Coffee. I'd highly recommend them. Their head brewer drinks more decaf than regular coffee, so they actually care about it tasting good. It also matches my personal taste preferences - chocolate and cherries. It tastes more chocolatey the colder it gets, and generally good cold (I had 5 kids, I've drunk a lot of cold coffee!).

You're spot on with the freshness being key. Mine is ordered regularly and put straight into the freezer. Grinding it at night to use a timer for morning coffee is a no-go, it needs to be grinded and brewed immediately.

I'm glad I've found what works for me, I hope it helps someone else too.

If anyone knows any cafés with great to drink decaf in the UK, please let me know!

[DipenTiwari]

I finally feel validated. I'm an avid espresso drinker and take it more seriously than I should. While most of what I drink is definitely caffeinated, I do drink a lot of decaf, particularly, anytime I want an evening/nighttime drink or have already had a couple of caffeinated beverage. I have a lot of friends who are equally as nerdy as I am about coffee and one of the big disagreements we have is on decaf beans. I'm the sole supporter and consumer of it in my friend group and theyve always looked down on that choice even though we live in Sydney and have a plethora of fantastic decaf choices. I always said out loud and to myself that the fact that they don't like or enjoy decaf tells me they don't like coffee for its innate property but rather a cosmetic one. You've very artistically articulated all of my arguments and then some. Never have I been this happier sharing something to my group my friends. Thank you, sir.