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Decaffeinated Gourmet Coffee



"Coffee just doesn't taste the same without caffeine in it!" That what you will here many gourmet coffee drinkers say. It's not really true though, provided that the gourmet coffee is properly decaffeinated. Caffeine is actually odorless and very nearly tasteless. What little taste it does have is completely lost in the overwhelming flavors of true gourmet coffees. If it's done properly, decaffeinated gourmet coffee beans can taste just as good as regular gourmet coffee beans.

The real problem is not that caffeine adds flavor. It is how to make decaffeinated coffee beans without ruining the flavor of the gourmet coffee beans. Technology has prevailed though! At its best, gourmet decaffeinated coffee is near the original that even in direct comparison it is hard to distinguish which one is decaffeinated.

Unfortunately, the best technology is expensive and not very many people are using it. So, good decaffeinated coffees tend be the exception rather than the norm although this is less true of gourmet decaffeinated coffees. Part of the problem is that decaffeinated beans are quite difficult to roast properly. If the decaffeinated gourmet coffee beans are not roasted properly they will produce thin-bodied, burnt tasting decaffeinated coffees (much like the commercial decaffeinated coffees you can find in your local grocery store).

Most decaffeinated coffees sold in specialty coffee shops are shipped from by coffee exports directly to decaffeinating plants in Europe and Canada. The gourmet coffee beans are then decaffeinated and re-dried. Only then are they shipped to gourmet coffee roasters in the United States and other gourmet coffee roasters around the world.

The exact process used to make decaffeinated gourmet coffee beans varies from on coffee plant to the next and it is difficult to say which method is actually the best. The main reason is that decaffeinated coffees are difficult to roast properly. Subtle differences in the different decaffeination methods are usually altered by differences in the quality of the roaster.


A cup of decaffeinated gourmet Kona coffee can be almost exactly identical to the original. The technology to produce high-quality decaffeinated gourmet coffee beans is there so the main factor actually seems to be the quality of the roaster. Since so much depends on the gourmet coffee roaster, finding a roaster whom you like and sticking with them is not a bad idea.


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