Got to cut out caffeine for a while for medical reasons, so will be buying a lot more decaf beans. Only on week 1 on cutting down, so currently doing my usual 2 coffees but each is half-decaf half-caff beans. The decaf is Swiss Water process.
I did the James Hoffman Decaf Project tasting a couple of years ago and preferred Swiss Water method from that. But my memory isn’t great and maybe I preferred it above the others less than I remember, so I might see if I can do a similar test again.
How about you?
From what I’ve tried I’ve preferred ethyl acetate over Swiss water so far, mainly due to clarify of flavour. I’ve found SW to be more muddy than EA.
Cold turkey and Acetaminophen for two days
From experience that doesn’t work unless your acetomiophen has caffein in it. Ibuprofen, naproxen, nothing helps, but caffein.
To get off a caffein addiction and avoid headaches, you need about 5 days where you taper your intake.
Day 1: 1 cup of coffee Day 2: 1/2 cup Day3: 1/4 cup Day 4: 1/8 cup Day 5: two small sips Day 6: Freedom!
I’ve repeated this experiment three times. Works like a charm.
I’m a bit more sensitive to caffeine withdrawals and I drink about 4-7 shots daily, so my taper needs to be drawn out about 10 days or so, but definitely the best way to cease caffine intake. Even doing this, I can require some paracetamol occasionally.
I’ve weaned myself down over the course of 2 weeks and still had 2 days of headaches on the day I had 0 caffeine. Extra sleep and routine Tylenol are what does it for me.
Everyone processes caffein differently. You may need longer.
I’ve quit coffee three times, it takes me about a week to get over the cravings each time. Cold turkey every time
Medical cutting caffein? Decaf still has caffein in it. Much less, but still something like 15mg from a normal 100mg. Just be aware in ase its important.
As to ops question, the quality of the bean matters more than the decaf method IMHO. That said, Swiss Water Process is usually what I end up with, and most of them are ok to good.
Yeah, but decaf has a lot less. I’m about to start titration onto adhd stimulant medication so my doctor wants to reduce other stimulants I may be taking so as not to confound causes for potential side effects. He didn’t say cut out chocolate, so I’m presuming decaf is ok.
My recollection was that my preference changed as the temperature changed, and using Aeropress instead of cupping and having the beans age changed my preference as well. Swiss water was not at the top for cupping but I think ethyl acetate didn’t age as well as the others. Unfortunately I didn’t take notes.
Interesting, I have an aeropress, pourover/switch, and espresso machine, so i wonder if the one i prefer in cupping will suit pourover best but maybe not espresso
I really wish it was more simple to run the test like Hoffman did. Same beans, same roast, different processing. There’s so many variables.
If you enjoy lighter roasts / fruitier flavors I don’t think you can beat EA. I’ve had some really nice EA roasts and drink this regularly in the evening. I think SW isn’t as harsh on darker roast notes.
I do like light/fruity coffee - I’m going to be missing the Burundi coffee we just got in before I had to start this - https://heartland.coffee/products/burundi-kinama-natural
Swiss water. I don’t do it myself, just buy beans that use it. I feel like it’s less bitter than others that I’ve tried, but IIRC, leaves more caffeine in your cup.
I am so far away from being able to decaffeinate my own coffee! That’s something to consider, how much residual caffeine is left.
I don’t know about methods, as long as it is natural. Beyond that I tend to focus on organic producers.
This one is quite good.
https://www.intuitioncoffee.com/s/order?shipping=true&item=118#H2U5EPBONOJ54O4LHJ722XIT
By natural do you mean like “natural process” coffee, where the berry is left to dry on the bean, or do you mean not involving artificial chemicals?
No chemicals
It’s between swiss water and ethyl acetate for me. I think it depends more on other factors like the beans and how they were roasted. There are a lot of roasters in my town, so I tried most of the decafs and have a few I rotate between.
I’m also lucky in that there are a lot of local roasters, so I’ll have to try as many as I can
I’m quite partial to supercritical CO2, but I generally like supercritical CO2 for extractions. It’s extremely effective, easy to remove, and extremely clean.
Time. I drink the fully caffeinated brew and then wait for my body to decaffeinate.
