Discover the world of specialty coffee through our A-Z series, in which we use the alphabet to help explain some of the key terms that you may have heard about. This week, we look at the letter ‘D’, which is for Decaf Coffee.
Decaf coffee has had a bad name pretty much since its inception in the early twentieth century. Despite its good intentions, to allow us to enjoy a cup of our favourite drink without the shaky repercussions, it has been the bane of many a barista’s daily grind. How many times have you seen your barista’s enthusiasm wane as she has grabbed for the secret jar from its hiding place in some dark cupboard, then proceed to brew it with the demeanour of a grumpy teenager?
As consumers and producers, we’ve undervalued decaf and dare I say it, we’ve disrespected it. However, there has been an enormous growth in decaf coffee consumption as our awareness as about health and diet has expanded. 66% of us now believe we need to limit our daily intake of caffeine, and that number only grows the younger you go.
The bottom line is that we expect more from our decaf coffee now, and future coffee drinkers will have even higher standards. Thankfully there has been a tremendous amount of work already being done to improve standards in decaf coffee, especially in the specialty market. Great coffee shops and cafes will already be serving excellent decaf options that can compete with their everyday espresso blends.
Way before that point, the processes involved in reducing the caffeine content have been vastly explored and improved. Even the fact that we are using better to decaffeinate is a sign that things are changing!
To show our love for decaf, we’ve created this free and easy-to-digest infographic for you to understand decaf coffee a little better and maybe even learn to love it!