Decaffeinated coffee is coffee that has had its caffeine removed before roasting. Colloquially it's called caffeine-free coffee, but: it's not really free of caffeine. In Germany, it may contain a maximum of 0.1 percent caffeine, based on dry matter. In a cup, EFSA values leave 1.4 to 3.6 milligrams behind, compared to 80 to 138 milligrams in filter coffee.
That's the short answer. The longer one is about the fact that decaf (decaffeinated) is its own universe, with its own taste rules, its own brewing behavior, and a market that belongs to only a few people. I drank only decaffeinated coffee for a month to understand that.
Until recently, I associated decaffeinated coffee with headaches. I drink coffee primarily because I like the taste, but I don't deny the effect caffeine has on me—its absence causes me headaches. It results in a somewhat difficult love triangle between a cup of coffee, caffeine, and me as a coffee drinker.
I wanted to test this situation, so I decided to drink only decaffeinated coffee for a month. I called it my Decaf December. In preparation, a month before starting, I replaced five percent of my measured coffee beans for filter coffee with decaf beans daily. After almost a month, I felt ready.
Or so I thought.
Decaffeinated, caffeine-free, decaf: what means what
Four terms, one thing, and a misunderstanding.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Decaffeinated | The legally required term. German coffee regulations permit only this wording for labeling. The caffeine has been removed, but some remains. |
| Caffeine-free | Commonly used colloquially, but not permitted on German packaging. Strictly speaking, the term is wrong anyway because no commercially available coffee is truly free of caffeine. |
| Decaf | Short form of the English "decaffeinated." On Italian packages it says "decaffeinato." As a label on a German package, it's also not permitted. |
| Dekoffeiniert | Rare variant, means the same thing. |
You hear "caffeine-free" and "decaf" all the time, but in Germany they're not allowed on packaging anyway: coffee regulations require the wording "decaffeinated" for labeling, in the same visual field as the food designation. We use "decaffeinated" and "decaf" in this article. They always mean the same thing.
Welcome to a different world
Decaf is not just a different kind of coffee drink, it's its own universe. Decaffeinated coffee often tastes different from untreated coffee. It should be roasted and brewed differently. And the market behind the bean is concentrated in the hands of a few players.
Interest in decaffeinated coffee has grown significantly in recent years. We notice it as a roastery; we roast more decaf every year. The reasons are individual, but we mainly hear two: avoiding caffeine and milder taste, where milder here probably means less bitter.
I received many tips on social media about where to find good decaf. I received coffee samples and had great conversations. It felt like coffee people on a treasure hunt. I asked myself why it had to be that way. Why does finding truly delicious decaf seem so uncommon?
Coffee tasting at Descamex in Córdoba, Mexico. They decaffeinate our Sueño.
I spoke with some of the world's largest decaffeination companies, who introduced me to the decaf universe: CR3, Swiss Water, Descamex. I talked with Les Révélations from Paris, a roastery that roasts exclusively decafs, about how much our understanding of decaffeinated coffee seems to be changing. And in my self-reflection, I realized we simply misunderstand decaf.
How much caffeine is still in it?
That's the question we hear most often: green coffee contains between 1 and 1.4 percent caffeine for Arabicas and between 1.8 and 3.5 percent for Canephoras (Wintgens, 2012). The roasting process has only marginal influence; the caffeine content remains nearly identical between green and roasted coffee. That's why coffee is decaffeinated as green beans, before roasting.
What's allowed afterward is governed by national law, and Germany and Switzerland are aligned:
| Legal jurisdiction | Roasted coffee | Soluble coffee |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | max. 1 g caffeine per kg dry matter, i.e., 0.1% | max. 3 g/kg, i.e., 0.3% |
| Switzerland | max. 0.1 percent by mass of dry matter | max. 0.3 percent by mass |
| EU | no harmonized value | 0.3% |
German Coffee Ordinance § 2 paragraph 3 no. 1; Swiss Beverages Ordinance (SR 817.022.12); EU Directive 1999/4/EG. The EU only regulates extracts; the frequently cited "EU limit of 0.1 percent" for roasted coffee doesn't actually exist.
And in the cup? A 2006 reference measurement found between 8.6 and 13.9 milligrams of caffeine per 473 milliliters in ten filter coffee decafs from nine chains and cafés. Decaffeinated espresso ranged from 3 to 15.8 milligrams per shot. Only one product in the test contained no detectable caffeine. The authors' conclusion deserves to be on every package: "decaffeinated is not the same as caffeine-free."
A filter coffee contains 80 to 138 milligrams per cup (200 milliliters). In twenty examined cafés, espressos ranged from 51 to 322 milligrams per shot, with a median of 140. So the difference between decaf and regular coffee is significantly larger than the difference between two espressos from two different cafés.
Who should drink decaf
From conversations with our customers and from my own experiment, four groups emerged.
People sensitive to caffeine. Nervousness, heart palpitations, and restlessness appear quickly in some people even with small amounts. How strongly caffeine affects you is individual and partly genetic; there's more about this in the article on caffeine's effects.
People who want coffee in the evening. That was my own main gain. A controlled 2025 study found that 100 milligrams of caffeine even four hours before bed had no measurable effect on sleep. With just a few milligrams in decaf, you don't need to worry about the time at all. More on this in the article about caffeine's effects.
People who seek the taste, not the effect. This is the group that's most underestimated in retail. Stacey Lynden from Swiss Water says: "Decaf drinkers are the most loyal of all customers."
Stacey Lynden from Swiss Water in Vancouver, Canada.
People who must consume less caffeine for health reasons. We're cautious here because we're roasters, not doctors. The EFSA states 200 milligrams of caffeine per day for pregnant and nursing women as a safe amount. What this means in individual cases should be discussed with a healthcare professional.
Our decaffeinated coffees
We roast decaf for a simple reason: because we want to drink it ourselves and enjoy it. Each one includes the process because it affects the taste.
Sueño
Mexico, Rancho San Felipe. Water process at Descamex. Dark chocolate, maple syrup, malt. Roasted for espresso and for dark filter.
Apas Decaf
Brazil, São Gonçalo do Sapucaí. Subcritical CO2 at CR3 in Bremen. Nougat, roasted nuts, chocolatey.
Dipilto Decaf
Nicaragua, Dipilto. Subcritical CO2 at CR3. Chocolatey and full-bodied, a bit of red fruit with moderate acidity.
Shakisso Decaf
Ethiopia, Shakisso Washing Station in Guji. Water process at Swiss Water, organic production. Blackberries, gingerbread, chocolate.
What's currently available, you can see in the decaf collection.
How is coffee decaffeinated? The four processes
All industrial processes treat green coffee. All begin by pre-treating the bean with steam, heat, and water until it swells to almost double its volume and the pores open. Only then does the extraction agent come in.
Four extraction agents are in use:
| Process | Duration | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Dichloromethane (DCM) | approx. 9 hours | The most common and cheapest process, more selective than its reputation suggests, but leaves measurable residues. |
| Ethyl acetate, also sugarcane process | approx. 8 hour cycles | A solvent that also occurs naturally in sugarcane. Slightly less selective than DCM. |
| Water process | not published | Works with saturated green coffee extract and adsorbent filters instead of solvents. This includes the Swiss water process, which Swiss Water operates as the Swiss Water Process, and Descamex's Mountain Water Process. |
| CO2, supercritical and subcritical | 11 hours to 7 days | Carbon dioxide under high pressure. Subcritical, i.e., liquid, is the slowest and according to CR3 the most selective process. |
The difference between processes lies in selectivity: how precisely the extraction agent targets caffeine while leaving aromas, fats, and acids alone. A less selective agent extracts much more, and that's exactly what you later find as thin body in the cup.
We've spoken with experts at CR3 in Bremen about pressures, temperatures, process times, and residue measurements, and reviewed the legal situation. All of this with numbers and sources gets its own article.
The taste of decaffeinated coffee
How should a decaffeinated coffee taste? Like a coffee that hasn't been decaffeinated? If we agree on that, then decafs have a hard time, because in most cases the process is noticeably present.
Whether that's negative depends on which taste reference we use for a decaf. Is the reference for a decaf a non-decaffeinated coffee, or is it indeed a decaf? Is the reference for alcohol-free beer a beer with alcohol?
At Swiss Water, Stacey Lynden tells me they have a separate attribute in sensory analysis for how strongly process notes taste.
The coffee world has managed to treat Robustas separately and discuss them sensorily in a different category, even though it's also a coffee. We also don't compare capsule coffee with espresso from a portafilter machine because we know there are differences.
As long as we think we should always penalize process notes in decaf, we stay stuck in rigid thinking and overlook what's behind the taste.
But there's this: there are process notes and then there are process notes. The same green coffee, processed with different methods, will taste different. Some heavier, some lighter. But something else matters more.
"Coffees with bigger personalities tend to stand out a lot more during the Decaf process."
The more characteristic the green coffee, the more characteristic the coffee afterward.
High quality coming in, high quality coming out
The best decaf filter coffee in my Decaf December came from Les Révélations in Paris. It was a natural from Panama from Creativa Coffee District. I brewed it several times and shared it with the team, got feedback like "ah, natural, where's it from?" And I just said "Panama, roasted in Paris," but left out the decaf information.
We didn't detect the process notes because the green coffee was very characteristic. It was a natural that fermented in closed containers before drying. As Stacey Lynden would say: "high quality coming in, high quality coming out."
Yes, the process adds a process note to the coffee. But if the base material is characteristic, you barely notice it in individual cases.
What does the decaf process do to the taste?
The process also takes something away, namely bitter compounds, along with caffeine itself, which is already bitter.
Sebastian Gabriel from CR3, Bremen.
"The acidity is also homogenized," says Sebastian Gabriel from CR3, the largest decaffeinator using subcritical CO2. Often roasteries had purchased lower quality green coffee and then had it decaffeinated because the process can somewhat mitigate poor quality. Or more plainly: "It can even improve poor green coffee quality in terms of taste, or rather flatter the green coffee."
The process also always removes soluble compounds from the green coffee, for example fats, carbohydrates, acids, or melanoidins, which influence our perception of texture.
Swiss Water has designed its own evaluation form to document changes before and after the process. On a scale of 1 to 6, it assesses how much the coffee has changed: taste notes, acidity, and body, which they divide into texture and thickness.
Stacey Lynden says the body changes the most. This is related to the loss of soluble compounds. In a decaffeinated coffee, there are relatively more insoluble than soluble compounds. This has an impact on brewing and on taste.
Why a high decaffeination level is not automatically good
A lab series on the ethyl acetate process shows the price of this loss in numbers: 37 to 39 percent caffeine removal costs 9 to 10 percent of soluble solids. 78 to 80 percent caffeine removal costs over 40 percent. The decaffeination level alone is therefore not a quality statement.
The color: darker, but not burnt
"The color change has primarily nothing to do with oxidation," Sebastian Gabriel tells me. In their case, subcritical CO2 decaffeination, it's a combination of pressure, heat, rewetting, and re-drying.
Left: untreated green coffee, right: decaffeinated green coffee.
Stacey Lynden adds that in the water process, the green coffee extract deposits some of its color in the seed, making the coffee darker.
An interesting point: decaffeinated coffee can look darker even at low end temperatures in the roasting drum. But once it's ground, it remains light. The difference between outer and inner color is relatively large. In non-decaffeinated coffees, this would indicate uneven development of the bean. In the decaf case, it's the process: the cell structure becomes more porous and coffee oils penetrate the surface more easily.
Freshness: decaf ages faster
Gabriel and Lynden both say independently: oxidation occurs faster in decaffeinated coffee because antioxidants are dissolved by the process. The coffee ages faster than green coffee and roasted coffee. This is compounded by the higher porosity, through which oxygen penetrates the bean more quickly.
For you this means: buy decaf in small quantities and drink it fresh. While we wait up to three weeks after roasting for dry-processed coffees, we drink decafs already a week after roasting.
Decaf looks darker after roasting – but only on the surface.
Brewing decaffeinated coffee
Even though decaffeinated coffee is still coffee, the process changes brewing behavior. In all my tests in Decaf December, coffees decaffeinated with water, DCM, and ethyl acetate had longer extraction times in filter preparation than non-decaffeinated coffee. Coffees decaffeinated with subcritical CO2 behaved most similarly to untreated ones.
"The decaffeinated coffee bean is more porous, resulting in greater surface area for water contact, so brewing takes longer."
Stacey Lynden therefore brews her decaf filter coffee with a coarser grind. Since the coffee has already lost soluble compounds in the process, she measures less strength in the beverage. Her three rules:
How that looks concretely in the portafilter, in the superautomatic, and in the manual filter, with recipe parameters for our coffees, gets its own article.
The decaf market: undemocratic and consolidated
Back to our natural from Panama. The coffee was very good and only recently roasted, I extracted it slightly over-dosed. It showed barely any sensory signs of being a decaf. Why isn't this the standard?
Because of volume. And focus. And risk. And price.
In short: because the decaf market is highly consolidated and such coffees are nano-stories in a non-transparent mass market.
Who decides which green coffee gets decaffeinated?
Usually it's buyers like exporters, importers, and trading houses who want a decaffeinator to decaffeinate a specific green coffee or already-mixed basket blends. Sebastian Gabriel told me that the decaffeinator is never "the owner of the goods, only the processor."
If it's not trading houses, then it's roasteries. We did that with the Rancho San Felipe a few years ago: we gave a purchase commitment for 50 percent of a batch, they had it decaffeinated at Descamex, and since then we've had the coffee in our assortment as Sueño.
Batch size is the bottleneck
For Descamex to decaffeinate the green coffee for Rancho San Felipe, 50 sacks had to be delivered, that's 2,500 kilograms. That's their minimum size. At Swiss Water in Vancouver, it's now 4,560 kilograms; at CR3 it's around 3,000.
In production at Descamex. The machines are huge, the process stays under wraps.
This leads to three problems. First, a trading house or roastery needs customers for around 3,000 kilograms, and this volume should sell quickly because decaf has shorter shelf life. Second, the process is flying blind: there's no way to decaffeinate a sample briefly and then decide if it's sensorily interesting. The 3,000 kilograms are the test batch. Third: if at least 3,000 kilograms are needed for the facility to run, which coffees get processed? Rarely the microlots.
Simpler decafs because the entry barrier is too high
I joked with Piroska Hunyadi from Révélations that we really need a 60-kilogram decaffeination machine to make it attractive to decaffeinate rare and sensorily complex coffees on a mini-scale.
The mentioned Panama lot was therefore at least 3,000 kilograms so Swiss Water could decaffeinate it. There are only very few producers who can make 3,000 kilograms at this level. The entry barrier for great coffees into the decaf market is thus far too high.
I would love to have a 300-kilogram lot from Peru decaffeinated because it's a coffee I want to drink in the evening too. But it doesn't work because there's not enough coffee. Sebastian Gabriel on this: "Scaling is simply much more economically sensible. Decaffeination is capital-intensive and the safety and environmental regulations are very stringent, which really only justify scaled production."
So the decaf market isn't really democratic. As long as batch sizes are so large, and even larger at Swiss Water, smaller lots don't make it into the process. Coffee drinkers then have the short end of the stick sensorily because the selection remains limited.
Severe consolidation
We know the coffee market is highly consolidated: on the roasted coffee side, a handful of roasteries account for 50 percent of the offered coffee, and on the green coffee side, the five largest countries produce more than 80 percent.
The decaf market looks no different. The options for where trading houses and roasteries can have coffee processed are severely limited. Rising price pressure and efficiency efforts mean batch sizes are getting bigger, not smaller.
Final thoughts and a wish
"Decaf drinkers are the most loyal of all customers. If we manage to offer high-quality decaf, we're doing a service to our best customers."
From a sensory standpoint, she's right: decaf drinkers drink decaf for the taste and feeling, not for the caffeine.
She sees great potential for even better decaf, as does Sebastian Gabriel. All statements agree that this means the process should be as gentle as possible.
But looking at the coffee farm, it's different. Very few producers can make lots of 3,000 kilograms or more in sensory peak quality. And if they can, there's still the decision of the trading house or roastery whether this coffee should be decaffeinated.
These uncertainty factors lead me to believe that roasteries are less bold in their decaf selection. But if roasteries team up and commit to a certain quantity, then even sensorily highest-quality coffees can be decaffeinated.
My wish would be a small decaffeination machine, one that could handle 60 to 120 kilograms. The market for it would be small roasteries who want to decaffeinate special coffees.
No headaches and much more coffee
After the first week of my Decaf December, the headaches disappeared. I woke up, drank a decaf filter coffee, and started the day feeling just as alert as usual.
I drank filter coffee like there was no tomorrow. Normally I stop in the middle of the afternoon so the caffeine doesn't affect my sleep. In Decaf December I kept drinking coffee every evening because the side effects weren't there. My bean consumption rose by 80 percent, of course also because I was trying different coffees.
By now consumption has come down, but I still regularly drink decafs in the evening as filter coffee. And one thing has stayed: I experience far fewer or no morning headaches. Maybe it's related to the 30-day abstinence, maybe not. In any case, a new world has opened up to me that I don't want to miss anymore.
Research fits with this
The headaches were no illusion. The reference paper on caffeine withdrawal mentions headache in 50 percent of affected people, starting 12 to 24 hours after the last dose, peaking after 20 to 51 hours, lasting 2 to 9 days. And the threshold is 100 milligrams per day, roughly one cup. More on this in the article about caffeine's effects.
Buy decaf
Our own four coffees are listed above, with origin and process. What's currently available, you'll find in the decaf collection.
To listen and watch
Episode 74, "Inside Decaf: Research, Processes, and the New Trend," with Meike Holtmann from ANKA and Sebastian Gabriel from CR3.
And the video on Decaf December:
Frequently asked questions about decaffeinated coffee
Is decaffeinated coffee really caffeine-free?
No. In Germany and Switzerland, decaffeinated roasted coffee may contain up to 0.1 percent caffeine of dry matter. In finished beverages, 8.6 to 13.9 milligrams per 473 milliliters filter coffee and 3 to 15.8 milligrams per espresso shot have been measured.
How much caffeine does decaffeinated coffee have?
According to EFSA values, 1.4 to 3.6 milligrams per 125 milliliters. A measurement series of finished beverages found 8.6 to 13.9 milligrams per 473 milliliters filter coffee and 3 to 15.8 milligrams per espresso shot. For comparison: regular filter coffee contains 80 to 138 milligrams per 200 milliliters.
What does decaf mean?
Decaf is short for "decaffeinated." On Italian packages it says "decaffeinato."
Does decaffeinated coffee taste different?
Usually yes, because the process removes soluble compounds along with it. The body changes most noticeably. How much you taste it depends on the process and especially on the quality of the green coffee. With very characteristic coffees, it's barely noticeable.
Can you drink decaffeinated coffee in the evening?
Yes. A controlled 2025 study found that 100 milligrams of caffeine even four hours before bed had no measurable effect on sleep. Decaf with just a few milligrams is well below that.
Is decaffeinated coffee healthy?
As a roastery, we don't make recommendations on this. It's established that a large 2017 review found no harmful associations for decaffeinated coffee with health endpoints. It's also established that the acute blood pressure increase after coffee doesn't hinge solely on caffeine: decaffeinated espresso raised systolic blood pressure similarly to caffeinated espresso in occasional drinkers.
Can you drink decaffeinated coffee during pregnancy?
The EFSA states 200 milligrams of caffeine per day for pregnant women as a safe amount. Decaf is well below that. What's appropriate in individual cases is discussed with a healthcare professional, not a roastery.
Which decaffeination process is the best?
The question is poorly framed. First comes the green coffee, then the process. A highly selective process won't make average green coffee into good decaf, but an unselective one can make very good green coffee flat.
Are there naturally caffeine-free coffee beans?
None that plays a role in retail. There are varieties with naturally lower caffeine content (e.g., Laurina), but they're produced in very small quantities. What you find on shelves is decaffeinated coffee.
Why is decaffeinated coffee more expensive?
Because an additional industrial process step is added, with transport in both directions. And because minimum batch sizes are high: 2,500 to 4,560 kilograms, depending on the facility. Those who want small quantities pay the surcharge.
How long does decaffeinated coffee keep?
Shorter than untreated coffee. The process dissolves antioxidants and makes the bean more porous, allowing oxygen to penetrate faster. We drink decafs just a week after roasting, while untreated coffees sometimes not until three weeks after.
Conclusion
Decaffeinated coffee has gotten better, and it's still worse than it could be. The reason isn't chemistry, it's batch sizes: as long as 3,000 kilograms is the entry barrier, interesting microlots rarely make it into the process.
For you in the cup, that means three things. First: the process matters, but the green coffee matters more. Second: decaf ages faster, buy small quantities and drink them fresh. Third: grind coarser, dose higher, bloom shorter.
Our decaffeinated coffees are in the decaf collection, each with the process listed.
