Hacker News Reader

Comment by tadfisher | Hacker News Reader

Decaf works great for this.

I'm like 100% a rat pulling levers now that I'm vaping 0% nicotine and drinking decaf in the morning. If they start ringing bells before lunch I'm done for.

View on HN

As an alternative perspective I found no good decaf coffee. I tried maybe 8 different coffees, all very well regarded, very hipster, none came close to creating good pour-over coffee. I admit it’s all about expectations but if you’re currently enjoying pretty fancy coffee and want to go decaf you’re going to be disappointed. Decaf black tea was even worse…

Why not both! Delicious caffeinated in the morning, less-delicious-but-still-quite-nice decaf after 12:00. You don’t need to go entirely caffeine-free to enjoy most of the benefits.

You're right in that there is much less variety amongst decaf coffee options, but there are a few good single origins out there.

BlendIn's Los Nogales typica is outstanding. It's the bean that convinced me to go full-decaf two years ago. (I drink caffeinated coffee now.)

Manhattan Coffee Roasters also has El Vergel, which is a good single origin with a dark, chocolatey taste profile. Great as a pour-over or as an espresso.

One Line Coffee in Columbus, OH also has a great decaf single origin. They deliver!

But, yeah, most decaf options are meh at best and pretty bad on average. Starbucks, of all places, has a reliable decaf roast that's alright and consistent.

There is great decaff out there but the choice is nevertheless limited compared to caff and the processing (ethyl acetate, supercritical CO2, swiss water) causes flavour changes which mean that you won't get the same range of flavours as you will with caff. Although ethyl acetate causes some unique positive changes (IMO) so there is that.

Yep, I think in year two or so I started having decaf. It was not bad.

All the decafs I tried did not taste as good as the OG.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com