Talk to me about decaf coffee

So, I’ve been having a bit of an issue with my heart rate, it sometimes, unpredictably but usually around exercise, beats way too fast, like 200bpm fast (I’m aged 50), I’ve seen my GP who has referred me to the cardiology department but that doesn’t look as though I’ll be getting an appointment any time soon so like most 21st century people I have with the aid of Google been looking into tachycardia, and it does seem that whilst not necessarily life threatening it could be induced by caffeine.

I don’t drink a lot of coffee, two cups a day with/for breakfast and then tea for the rest of the day, but most of my incidents are in the morning, so I thought I’d try decaf and see if it helped. Now I understand that not all decaf is created equally, and in fact it’s quite common for a lot of beans to be de-caffeinated using some pretty crap chemicals that I would like to avoid. So I’m looking for recommendations for a strongish decaf coffee bean, I currently use an espresso roast even though I make my coffee in a cafetiere that is de-caffeinated in a more natural way.

Thanks.

Our local roaster – Peak Bean, Manchester edge of the Peak District – does a decent decaf bean that saved my sanity during long covid when I stopped drinking coffee:

https://peakbean.co.uk/?product_cat=decaffeinated-coffees

I’m sure there are plenty of other good options out there. The Swiss Water process those beans use is the chemical-free extraction method that you’re looking for I think.

It’s an STW coffee thread so of course there’ll be a link to James Hoffmann:

If you look through his channel he’s recently done a few videos about the ins and outs of the different decaf processes, including a set of beans you can buy to tase the differences (not sure if these are still available though).

Also FWIW I’ve moved to decaf tea to reduce my overall caffiene consumption. The difference in tase is much less pronounced than in decaf coffee and for me it has meant I can forego caffiene entirely in the afternoons which has improved my sleep.

Lavazza Dek is a fairly bog standard, but serviceable coffee. It’s decaffeinated using CO2

I came along to say “Swiss Water” method.

Rave do one that uses the Swiss Water method and tastes great.

Kickback do one using the “Sugarcane” process. Again, I’ve found that to brew similar to caffeinated and tastes great.

I should really buy more decaf!

I’ve had similar heart issues and didn’t think I drank a lot , mainly tea. I went to decaf tea and coffee and it’s made a massive difference, other than when I’m very tired and/or stressed, I was amazed.

In terms of coffee I’m not that sophisticated so lavatza decaf, and decaf Nescafé azera instant do me fine. I really recommend going decaf on the tea too though.

Try 200 Degrees Mellow Slinky decaf

I was getting a few palpitations and ‘bumps’, wasn’t convinced me ECG got the attention it deserved from my ‘GP’.

But since going decaf I seem to be ok, I still have the odd caffeinated instant but Rave Swiss Water decaf beans at home and the powder style decaf coffee tins at work.

I take oat milk in my coffee and I noticed that the other decaf that Rave does would curdle the oat milk, literally two coffees side by side and the Swiss water would be fine and the sugarcane version would go all lumpy!

I also work the odd night shift, sometimes planned as a stand alone night shift, and sometimes emergency so straight after a day shift into a night up to about 23hrs and have noticed that without caffeine I seem to be able to work all night without any real tiredness, years ago I opted out as I would be fighting tiredness in the middle of the night but now I seem to be able to work through without struggling.

I have been decaf only for about 4 years now.
I drink mellower coffee and long – Sainsbury House and M&S House decaf are much better than some of the ‘big names’ such as Taylors or Lavazza.

I also had THE BEST decaf coffee from this place in the summer, disappointed I only bought 3 bags, but I may spend Christmas money on a few more…but importing from EU is a pain.
https://www.stonevalleyroasters.com/

I’ve got Long COVID and I get this too. A moderate walk can see my heart rate up to 150 without too much exertion, and I don’t really feel like my heart is pounding, but for the fact that I start to tire very quickly.

Removing caffeine from my diet really helps, but unfortunately it needs to be total – decaf tea as well!  By doing this my heart would stay below 100bpm on the same walk.

I’ve found decadent decaf to have some decent options:

Sadly decaf coffee and decaf tea really just don’t taste the same. You don’t get that hit of bitterness in quite the same way, especially for tea.

Here in Bristol I also like Radical Roasters as they’re just up the road and roast very frequently – so the beans tend to be really fresh.

I usually have a decaf on from Butterworth and Sons, they are reliably decent and not massively expensive. I had an incredible decaf from Horsham recently, but it was a short term offering and pretty expensive at the time.

Hope it sorts out the heart problems.

Thanks for the replies, plenty to go on here.

If you’re not drinking much coffee it’s unlikely to be the caffeine in the coffee causing issues, I’d be looking to try decaf tea at the same time to give an idea whether caffeine is the problem.

What are you using to measure heart rate ?

200bpm! Wow,

Really interested in the replies to this. I’ve always suffered from pretty severe anxiety which necessitated taking beta blockers at times. So I decided to knock the caffeine on the head a couple of years ago, to see if it made a difference. Bloody hell, It’s unbelievable how much difference it’s made. Haven’t needed the beta blockers since

I just have a couple of decafs in the morning. Just bog standard Kenco decaf pods in the Tassimo. I know this is probably sacrilege for the connoisseurs but it works for me.

It allows me to continue my morning routine. I suppose it tells you where you are in life that ten years ago the day started with an Americano and a B&H but nowadays it’s a decaf and a vape 😀

Just to support BadlyWiredDog’s post, Peak Bean Decaf is the best i’ve ever had in my lifetime. Quit rocket fuel grade espresso a while back to help my stress and aid my sleep.

But I missed the strong coffee hit. I use Peak Bean Decaf (Brazillian – https://peakbean.co.uk/?product=brazil-swiss-water-process-decaffeinated-coffee) as my go-to espresso in the morning. It’s better those most expensive decaf beans from larger merchants, as they use a dark roast and small batches. It’s goddam lush, and I can now drink loads of it.

I gave up caffeinated coffee for health reasons and went to decaf for a couple of years. An upset stomach had me on water only for a week or so, but long enough to detox. When I went back to decaf I realized how much caffeine was still in it.

I’ve since tried to be caffeine free for 7 years, a decaf now will blow my head off! So worth remembering it’s still got caffeine in, albeit less, but depending on your baseline it might still be a lot

Fwiw I was a one cup a day drinker at 10am

Timely thread. Since quitting alcohol and carbs 20 months ago I have been able to drink coffee all day without any adverse reactions.  I mostly have Heart and Graft ‘Barnraiser’ since it was recommended to me on STW.

Anyway I have literally just eaten more carbs this evening than I’ve had in a very long time. My Mrs who is a teacher brought home a load of chocolates that she’s been given at school. As it’s Christmas,  I thought what the hell. Anyway, I had a few chocolates with my coffee and my heart is now racing and I’m feeling dizzy too. So is it the coffee or chocolates or the combo of both?

It’s not the coffee alone that’s for sure as I’m normally fine drinking it all day.

To answer some of the recent questions:

Measuring heart rate with both my Garmin watch and a chest strap, similar results.

200 bpm is the max I’ve recorded, usually around 180-190 but that is exercising at an intensity that I would usually be registering 130ish.

Targeting coffee first because most incidents are in the morning post coffee, I’m usually a morning exerciser. If I find a significant drop in incidents then decaf tea will be next up.

What chemicals are you trying to avoid? I’ve no idea how decaf is made, it never crossed my mind to question it.

A friend bought me some decaf grounds a little while ago which is really good. I’ll have to check but it’s something like co-op’s own brand. That’s not very helpful is it.

Decaf coffee – a hot brown liquid cosplaying as coffee. Never seen the point myself.

Decaf coffee – a hot brown liquid cosplaying as coffee. Never seen the point myself.

I think it depends on the decaf. A good decaf bean will give you most of the flavour and depth of ‘proper’ coffee and is simply nice to drink, Obviously it won’t provide the full-on caffeine kick, though it’s odd how your body still ‘thinks’ it should, but if you’re someone who’s trying to cut out / reduce caffeine consumption, but also likes the taste of coffee, it’s fine. Bad decaf is bloody awful though.

See also low alcohol / alcohol-free beers.

Just to support BadlyWiredDog’s post, Peak Bean Decaf is the best i’ve ever had in my lifetime. Quit rocket fuel grade espresso a while back to help my stress and aid my sleep.

They’re also really good people. Used to own – a few years back – Rosies in Hayfield. Now roast in the little industrial estate below the legendary Furness Vale canal steps – on a good day, you can smell the coffee roasting as you pass – they quite often deliver our beans in person on their way home.

Decaf coffee – a hot brown liquid cosplaying as coffee. Never seen the point myself.

I like bitter drinks, and while I’m sure water would be marginally healthier, decaf is presumably better than caffeinated coffee.

I like bitter drinks, and while I’m sure water would be marginally healthier, decaf is presumably better than caffeinated coffee.

Apparently decaf contains many of the things like flavinoids etc – whatever they are – that nutritionists rave about, so in some respects it may actually be pretty good for you.

Decaf coffee – a hot brown liquid cosplaying as coffee. Never seen the point myself.

You need to watch that video up there! ^^^ 🙂

I was drinking far too much coffee (8 mugs a day) and went cold-turkey to decaff only this time last year.

The main thing I’ve taken from it is the things I was looking for in normal coffee came back to me with decaff. I feel far more alert and don’t get highs and lows of moods inbetween fixes.

Decaf coffee – a hot brown liquid cosplaying as coffee. Never seen the point myself.

Whilst I like the phrase, I’m not sure I agree with the sentiment!

Good decaff is much harder to come by than good caffeinated. What I would say is that whilst caffeinated coffee is often drunk by people who tolerate the taste of coffee purely for the caffeine hit (see also Red bull). Decaf tends to be drunk by people passionate about the taste of coffee – because that’s the only reason to drink it (well, maybe there’s a social element too as drinking a hot drink with other people is a social nicety). Which is unfortunate at times as the taste is not always that great! Hence to geeky search for good tasting low/no caffeine nirvana continues.

@Cougar2 – there are a couple of different methods to rid the beans of most of their caffeine prior to roasting, initially it involved solvents, traces of which would remain, several of which might be considered not something you’d want to be drinking on a regular basis. Since the 80s there have been other methods using pressure and either water or CO2, which cost more to produce than using solvents and possibly don’t remove quite so much caffeine but are less potentially carcinogenic. Which is nice.

Brown sadness water.

@Cougar2 – there are a couple of different methods to rid the beans of most of their caffeine prior to roasting, initially it involved solvents, traces of which would remain, several of which might be considered not something you’d want to be drinking on a regular basis.

Which solvents and how much is “trace”? The drinking water we’re brewing with has trace levels of mercury (something like 1 microgram per litre if I remember correctly) and tap water is subject to more stringent quality controls than bottled.

Ie, is “chemicals” in decaf an actual or a perceived concern?

I had a similar issue earlier this year (start of the summer) but also had breathing issues with the elevated HR (also had C19 a couple of times so possible long COVID too).

I already drink decaf tea & coffee.

My ‘resting’ ECG etc all came back ok, went back to the GP. I asked if it could be connected to a chest infection I got last Christmas.

Had a chest x-ray and sputem test and he gave me another course of strong antibiotics and steroids – despite them knocking me about for a few weeks it seems to have sorted it.

Ie, is “chemicals” in decaf an actual or a perceived concern?

IANAFS (food scientist, or scientist), I’d imagine it’s a case of older methods being less healthy, the stigma remaining despite techniques having improved over time. Methylene chloride is still used by decaffeinators (I understand most manufacturers don’t do the process themselves but buy in the treated product), which I guess could have a nasty effect if consumed regularly in combination with other not so healthy chemicals and lifestyle choices.

I drink decaffeinated at home, only use the stuff treated by water or CO2 pressure though. I blend a couple of brands together to produce a mildly varying flavour cup to cup.

edit: “blend” ffs – I chuck a couple of different ground beans in the same pot and give it a quick stir.

I googled this the other day and this popped up:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5pl7tvwPmfpdHSngXnzggRT/are-the-methods-used-to-decaffeinate-coffee-bad-for-me

The basics seem to be that the amount of solvent left in the actual bean after it’s been used to extract the caffeine is vanishingly small and unlikely to have any impact on your – not an expert, but the BBC is a reasonably credible source I think.

That said, the bigger picture, I suspect, is that a process involving solvents also involves safely disposing of those solvents, so if you can do the same thing useing water instead, that seems like a good thing, though I guess may also be other environmental impacts associated with either process.

 I blend a couple of brands together to produce a mildly varying flavour cup to cup.

I used to do that with Lavazza decaf and something a bit smoother. Neither was great alone,  but passable when mixed.