Wife has been recommended by quack to cut down on caffeine but she is a real coffee fan. What’s the best decaff for giving real coffee flavour? The ones she’s tried from the supermarket have been a bit insipid.

If you mean instant coffee then L’Or is ok. Get it when it is on offer, not when it is £5 a jar.

Lavazza is good if using ground coffee.

Rave have a selection. I’ve tried all three of their current ones, and they’re all good… but are different prices for a reason… the most expensive one is amazing.

Yeah ground coffee is alright, I either drink the Waitrose or the Asda stuff. But it isn’t as good. Also – of course I don’t know what issues your wife has but beware that coffee is a complex soup of alkaloid chemicals, several of which are stimultants other than caffeine, and they are still present in decaf. If I am having irregular heartbeats it can still be exacerbated by decaf. I find that a mild caffeinated coffee is easier on my system than a decaf double espresso, and it tastes better.

I’m only going off their coffee bags (yes I know heresy!) but Taylors do a tasty decaf.

Another vote for Rave – https://ravecoffee.co.uk/collections/decaf-coffee-beans/products/seasonal-decaf-blend?variant=3160903417882

Ground and a mokka pot.

Ready ground or beans? Waitrose do beans which aren’t bad and a bit more reasonably priced than most specialist shops.

That one’s really good Grum… but… Xmas is coming… get this on your letter to Santa…

https://ravecoffee.co.uk/products/colombia-villamaria-sugarcane-decaf

The Waitrose beans aren’t half bad at all, and are often on offer.

Lavazza… I find the ground bags to be quite harsh, and the beans very hard to get hold of.

Of the relatively more readily available in supermarkets brands:
Instant – Clipper
French press – Taylors
Machine – Illy (with Lavazza close second and better value for money)
That’s all you need to know. Thread closed 😉

French press – Taylors
Machine – Illy

For supermarket shop… this is bang on advice. We always have a back up tin of Illy decaf beans for when we run out of anything better for espresso… and Taylor’s ground decaf is unbeatable in French press… there is nothing that gives away that it’s decaf in a blind test.

Cafe Direct. Macchu Piccu decaf. Be aware that most decafs are not actually fully decaffinated-just much less. So if your wife has to do it for medical reasons you may want to research the process so you know it’s 100% caffeine free. Although having had a full decaf it’s just not as good!

I drink the decaff Lavazza now and quite like it. Quack also told me to lay off the caffeine (used to be a 6 double expresso a day man) and can’t handle a single expresso now. Feel like someone has lit a fire in my head.

There are some decent decaffs these days. In my local Tesco the best bet is Taylor’s.

If I want to splash out, I’d get something from one of these places –

https://www.decadentdecaf.com/collections/decaf-coffee-range

https://jamesgourmetcoffee.com/filter-profile-coffee/

…which I do occasionally, but either you buy one pack and it costs you a tenner delivered, which seems like an awful lot, or try to spread the delivery charge by buying several packs, and you end up spending £35 on coffee in one go, which also seems like an awful lot.

For what you’ll find in the supermarket another vote for the cafe direct decaf. Haven’t drunk caffeine for getting on 3 years now. TBF a proper caffeinated coffee does taste better but I no longer miss the caffeine hit. And it’s nice not to need two coffees to get going first thing.

Be aware that most decafs are not actually fully decaffinated-just much less. So if your wife has to do it for medical reasons you may want to research the process so you know it’s 100% caffeine free.

This is true but it removes almost all of it, and certainly leaves less caffeine behind than what you would find in a bar of chocolate, so dont worry about this.

I’ve had some of this and it’s great, really indistinguishable from full fat:

https://extractcoffee.co.uk/shop/coffee/hero/sugarcane-decaf-espresso/

They also offer a ‘low caff’ coffee too – not tried it yet, but on the list to try:

https://extractcoffee.co.uk/shop/coffee/hero/half-speed/

200° decaff is pretty good.

https://200degs.com/shop/coffee/mellowship-slinky-decaf

Any Swiss Water Decaf I’ve had has been good, just relies on getting the right sort of roast for you.
Tonnes of local roasters out there now so shouldn’t have a problem getting something near you. Just search online and order a few. £5-7 is pretty standard for 250g these days but some places are charging well upwards of that.

(we use an aeropress at home) having tried many, we settled on Lavazza.

They also offer a ‘low caff’ coffee too

Thanks… ordered some.

I use my local coffee roaster for decaf now. https://www.kickbackcoffee.co.uk/product-page/still-no-caff

He’s the chap who does the burgtec coffee they send out to the dealers.

Instant decaf – having tried a few of the decent brands – again went local. Nice friendly bunch. Recommend their (2) products!

https://www.quokkacoffee.com/

L’or instant, Waitrose’s beans and Lidl for the Nesspresso capsules

Glen Lyon Decaff

Very nice. I buy the 1kg bags of ground.

As mentioned above, Swiss Water or CO2 de-caffeination are the most common methods for fancier coffees.

Try to avoid the solvent based mass market ones aren’t great that use dichloromethane. Sugarcane process uses a different solvent, getting more popular and some people quite like them.

I’ve had nice ones from Black Cat Coffee, they also offer a half caff blend.

https://www.blackcatcoffee.co.uk/collections/decaf/products/copy-of-lazy-afternoon-half-caff-coffee-blend

Pelican Rouge Decaf beans from Amazon get my vote

I don’t drink coffee, but my wife does and for ground and beans really likes the M&S stuff. Liked the Taylor’s when she was using an Aeropress as well.

This is useful. I drink one normal coffee in the morning and then decaf or herbal tea. I’ve only tried the Taylor’s and I’m not super bothered by it.

I find the taylors pretty inoffensive aswell.

I mean its not amazing coffee but its easily comparable to average full caff ground coffee sitting next to it on the shelf.

Lidl do a decaff for the stove pot espresso pot.
My OH seems to like it!

For ground coffee I’ve found this is the best supermarket one…

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/Product/sainsburys-fairtrade-colombian-decaffeinated-coffee–taste-the-difference-227g

You can’t ask a question like that without specifying your brew method on here! It’s like asking what bike for a ride, without saying what sort of ride you are doing 🙂

Butterworth decaf just finishing up a batch of this, it works better as a french press coffee than as an espresso although it’s drinkable as both, I’ve not stored it for maximum freshness so part of that may be my own fault.

kelvin
Thanks… ordered some.

Ooh, let us know how you get on!

@jakester – Just finished my first round of half speed and ordered a second lot. There’s none of that odd aftertaste you get with full decaff, it’s a revelation, cheers for the recommendation. It makes a perfect second or third cup for those of us without an ironclad resistance to caffeine!

@toby1 excellent, thanks for the review! I will take the plunge!

Love the decaff ground Lavazza.
Sometimes coffee-shop decaff seems to be less decaffeinated but the Lavazza I can have all day with no issues.
Cut down originally to deal with sleep issues (duh) then realized that the free floating anxiety I was mysteriously experiencing coincided with the few caff coffees I still had and now I’m 💯 decaff and very mellow 🙂

I regularly buy from Heart and Graft in Manchester, and tried their decaff recently – it’s a sugarcane decaff the same as the Rave one others have posted (but cheaper). I only drink the occasional decaff so having whole beans and grinding to order makes more sense. It’s noticeably less insipid than other decaffs I’ve had. Last one I tried was the Cafe Direct – can’t say I enjoyed it.

https://www.heartandgraft.co.uk/collections/coffee/products/colombia-tolima-sugar-cane-decaff

I use lavazza or if im feeling flush Bailies Colombia Planadas Tolima decaf both in an aeropress.