Hacker News Reader

Comment by mjn | Hacker News Reader

> I like the taste of it so much, that I always have to fall back to it

I find decaf actually helps with this. I like both the taste and the ritual of coffee, but don't like the jitters it gives me if I have more than one or two cups a day. So I typically switch to decaf after the first cup, and still enjoy the rest.

Unfortunately this was easier to do before I moved from California to Denmark. Here it's easier to find nonalcoholic beer (every supermarket carries it) than decaf coffee (fewer than half do), and it seems to be regarded with a degree of cultural suspicion.

View on HN

I'm also having decaf every couple of days out of the same reason. For what it's worth, the Nespresso from Nestle has really good decaf espressos. They taste very close to a normal espresso. Half the time I'm using my Nespresso only for decaf (my normal coffee is usually handpicked local-roasted that I prepare in a french press). Nespresso also has three different decaf variants.

Where do you get ones that you like? Do you check expiration or something like it so as to get fresher ones? I've only ever found them awful. We have a machine at work that I avoid, but I'd experiment if I had hope.

Yep, i am drinking mostly Nespresso decaf for the same reason, they almost taste like the real deal and let me avoid too much caffeine.

Try getting www.hasbean.co.uk to ship you their decaf.

I think they ship to Europe, and their decaf coffee is the best I've found anywhere in the world. (I'm a serious coffee snob, as the PID-controlled kettle currently reaching 92C in my kitchen will attest.)

Thanks! They do indeed seem to ship to the continent. Found this blog post about one of their decafs: http://www.hasblog.co.uk/imparting-taste-and-decaf-process

I've been drinking the decaf they talk about in that article today, and it's absolutely ace - it's pretty good for a coffee, and stunning for a decaf. Give it a go!

Did you try Illy coffee? It's believed to be among the best coffees in the world. The best, if you ask me.

Yes, I'm familiar with Illy. It's one of the better mass-market coffee brands, but it can't compete with a fresh roast from a speciality roaster. The freshness alone makes a huge difference.

Having said that, if you like the coffee that it produces, that's all that matters!

Agree. Decaf allows you to get the taste without the caffeine. Although I read a study said that the taste of beer alone can release a bunch of dopamine because of the memory of what's about to come next (alcohol). I think the same thing happens with taste of coffee and caffeine because when I started drinking decaf I noticed my appreciation of the taste of coffee went down a little.

It's interesting to consider what the enjoyment would be like if I only drank decaf. I typically drink decaf after caffeinated coffee; for example, if I'm at a coffee shop working for some hours, I'll have a caffeinated coffee or two to start, then switch to decaf. If I drank only decaf, it's quite possible the experience could change. For me its main use is to allow me to keep up a habit of sipping periodically on coffee for hours, which I enjoy, without getting really jittery from 5-6 cups of coffee, which I don't.

Fun fact: decaf actually has some caffeine in it [1], and is probably the factor in how it helps the transition from a caffeine fueled lifestyle to general normalcy.

[1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17132260

Reply on news.ycombinator.com