Which are the best tasting decaf coffees?

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“Is decaf coffee any good?!” It certainly gets a bad rap, but it’s not always deserved. Whether you have caffeine sensitivities, or just want a cup of coffee that won’t ruin your beauty sleep, there are some good, satisfying decafs to be had. We went on a hunt for the best and put several to the test here. Of course, coffee preferences are highly subjective, so don’t be put off by any that have a lower rating. Your tastes may differ from those of our reviewer 🙂 Let us know if you have a favorite decaf we should check out.

Top recommendations

Counter Culture Coffee – Slow Motion

Coffee Origin: Brazil
Roaster Location: Durham, North Carolina
Roast Level: Medium-Light

Slow Motion stands apart as a singular selection that’s offbeat and perhaps even a little crazy. The selection would blend in well among other light roasts with lively flavors if it were caffeinated. The decaf tends toward darker roasts with more tame sweet, nutty and rustic notes, though. In that generally dark-roast world, a lively medium-light roast that has multiple complex flavors stands out.

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The Coffee Lover’s Guide to Decaf Coffee

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Coffee has over a thousand different compounds in it, the most well-known of which is caffeine. While many consider caffeine a desirable stimulant (and sometimes the only reason to drink coffee), a significant number of people can’t have or don’t want to have caffeine. That’s where decaffeinated coffee comes in, of course.

Here’s a look at what qualifies coffee as decaffeinated, how decaffeinated coffee is made and perhaps the most important question of all — do you really want to drink the stuff?

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How to Roast Coffee Beans at Home

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Roasting coffee adds another dimension to your understanding of and enjoyment of the beloved beverage. It’s easy to get started, and you don’t need to invest in a lot of expensive equipment. With some green coffee beans and a basic setup, you can begin roasting coffee at home.

As soon as you brew your first batch of roasted coffee, you’ll immediately notice the difference that fresh roasting makes. Beans that were roasted just a few days ago are much more aromatic, flavorful and lively than those that were roasted months or years ago (like those that you might buy at the store). Even if you don’t get the first batch absolutely perfect, you’ll pick up on finer notes that aren’t present in stale coffee and you won’t want to go back to the old stuff.

From sourcing green coffee beans and selecting a roaster to actually roasting that first batch, here’s how to roast coffee beans at home.

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Different Coffee Roasts: From Light to Dark

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We all have our preferences when it comes to coffee. Some of us love our single-origin coffees meticulously brewed with a pour-over, while others prefer a classic milk-based espresso drink such as a cappuccino or latte. But there’s one thing that has a huge impact on the flavor of our favorite coffee before it ever hits our cup: roasting.

Before it’s roasted, coffee doesn’t look, smell, or taste anything like the coffee that we drink. After it’s picked from the fruit (yes, coffee is a fruit) and processed, coffee starts as a green bean that is soft, spongey, and smells a bit like grass. It’s the heat introduced during the roasting process that causes chemical changes within the beans and ultimately creates the coffee that we know and love.

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Coffee Flavor Profiles by Region

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If you ever buy single origin coffee, either at your local coffee shop or from the grocery store, you might be a little lost when it comes to choosing your coffee based on country. Should you stick with the classic, full-bodied coffee from Colombia? Or should you try the exotically fruity Ethiopian coffee that the barista recommended? Does it even make a difference?

Believe it or not, it does.

Coffee is grown in more than 50 countries around the world. Thanks to regional differences in factors such as altitude, climate, soil, and processing methods, each country produces unique coffees with very distinct characteristics. Some countries produce smooth, chocolatey sweet coffees while others produce bright, intensely fruity coffees. Coffees from one country could have a thick, syrupy mouthfeel while others are so thin that they’re almost tea-like. The possible combinations are endless.

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How to Taste Coffee

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If you’ve been in a coffee shop lately, you’ve probably seen a menu with coffee that has “amazing notes of blueberry with bright acidity and a clean finish” or “hints of milk chocolate and apple with a jasmine aroma and a syrupy mouthfeel”. And unless you’re a professional barista, these highly detailed descriptions likely left you either feeling confused, left out, or just flat out convinced that the barista is a liar. But the truth is that, believe it or not, you really can taste all of these things (and more) in just a single cup of coffee.

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The Best Way to Make Coffee While Traveling

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When I sold off most of my things and moved abroad, there was one collection of things that I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of: my coffee set up.

Over the years, I had built a small arsenal of different coffee equipment in my kitchen (much to my girlfriend’s dismay). As I was getting ready to fit my life into 2 backpacks and move abroad for the foreseeable future, I knew good coffee wasn’t something I could leave behind completely. I had to put together a travel set up that was consistent, reliable, and didn’t take up too much space in my bag. 

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What Is Single Origin Coffee? Everything You Need to Know

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“Is this a coffee shop or geography class? Why are there so many countries listed?”

If you’ve been inside a coffee shop lately, you’ve likely asked yourself some variation of these questions. It probably happened when the barista asked for your preferred origin of coffee beans — Brazil, Ethiopia, or Papua New Guinea. Unfortunately, your knowledge of coffee descriptors extends only to terms like ‘dark roast’ or ‘breakfast blend,’ so you just took whichever one was cheapest. I mean, what is the origin of coffee anyway?

Your barista wasn’t giving you a pop quiz. Those countries listed on the menus of your local coffee shops describe different single origin coffees.

Single origin is a term that has become increasingly popular recently. Today, you seemingly can’t even walk into a coffee shop without hearing the term.

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The Bonavita Immersion Dripper: The Most Underrated Manual Brewer

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The awesome thing about manual coffee brewers is that there are so many great options out there and everyone’s got a favorite. But once you get past the staples like a French press and pour over cone, it’s hard to know which brewer should be next on your list.

So if you’re looking to upgrade your coffee setup, let me help you narrow it down by introducing the Bonavita Immersion Dripper.

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Why You Should Ditch Your Cold Brew for Japanese Iced Coffee

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I remember a few years ago when a small coffee shop near my house started carrying cold brew coffee. I heard about it from a friend who told me that, as a coffee lover, I absolutely had to try it.

Soon enough, people everywhere were swapping out their boring iced coffee for this artisanal beverage. Cold brewed coffee was special because it took hours to make and it removed a lot of the undesirable characteristics of the usual iced coffee. It was a fresh take on the stale taste of traditional iced coffee.

But if you’re one of the many people, like me, who just don’t think cold brew coffee is all it’s cracked up to be, fear not. Japanese iced coffee might be just what you’re looking for.

Read moreWhy You Should Ditch Your Cold Brew for Japanese Iced Coffee