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Comment by VeejayRampay | Hacker News Reader

Isn't there a way to produce synthetic caffeine?

I mean, there's been a shift recently for nicotine and the market for e-cigs, I'm sure we can somehow find a way to do the same for caffeine.

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You know, some people drink coffee because they like the flavour, not because they need caffeine :P (As a matter of fact, I consider caffeine to be an undesirable side-effect of delicious coffee...)

Coffee isn't the only natural source of caffeine, and yes, it can also be made synthetically.

It's especially unfortunate because decaf coffee is usually gross.

Unsurprising when you look at the method they use for removing the caffeine.

Supercritical CO2 extraction is gross? The solvent evaporates without a trace.

I've found decaf made with the Aeropress is actually surprisingly good. I usually only have a single cup of caffeinated and then follow up with a few cups of decaf.

And some people, mysteriously, seem to be especially fond of the flavor just around the time they're struggling to wake up.

And a lot of people love coffee but hate caffeine.

Try roasted okra seeds then.

Are we producing synthetic nicotine for e-cigs?

I am of the understanding that we currently produce liquid nicotine from tobacco leaves, and use the liquid nicotine for electronic cigarettes.

We certainly can already produce caffeine independently of producing coffee, and while that may be a major reason for coffee production, i doubt many coffee drinkers would be satiated with a caffeine pill every morning instead of their cup of coffee.

Kind of akin to seeing the wine grapes are going away and saying, well we can produce alcohol independently of wine - its true, but it wont satisfy wine lovers.

If we were to replace coffee beans, we wouldn't just offer them a No-Doze; I imagine you develop coffee flavors that could be used to reproduce the actual beverage. No reason for instant coffee to ever have been coffee beans in the first place if you can do the flavors right.

Or, the culture just adjusts to a different caffeine-infused hot drink.

Nicotine patch? I want a caffeine patch!

Honestly though, I'd be less upset about coffee going away as a source of caffeine than it going away as a drink. It's so wonderfully delicious that synthetic caffeine just wouldn't really cut it for me.

You're actually in luck: https://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/caffederm.shtml

To answer your question: yes, we already create synthetic caffeine. It's widely used in soda, energy drinks, etc.

From what I understand, a lot of this caffeine is sold to soda makers as a byproduct of the decaffeination process used on coffee beans.

Does this mean the end of soda as well?

I'd love a good cola that has no caffiene. (Although I also don't want it to have sugar either.)

There's a niche in the market for somethig that tastes nice, is cold, isn't full of sugar and is not caffeinated.

Kola nut has caffeine, so a cola sort naturally does too.

(my point being more that marketers probably won't call what you are looking for cola, not the pedantry)

Diet Rite is my cola of choice. No Caffeine, sweetened with sucralose instead of aspartame. They could use some help with their product packaging, it looks a lot like generic/store-brand soda :)

> There's a niche in the market for somethig that tastes nice, is cold, isn't full of sugar and is not caffeinated.

Ice water?

(and I'm saying this as a cola enthusiast)

What do you mean by 'good cola'? Coca-Cola has caffeine free variants of both Diet Coke and Coke Zero. Up here in Canada you can usually find them at major supermarket chains. If by good you mean not Coca-Cola or Pepsi... well then ya, there probably aren't many choices.

> "But most of the caffeine used in soft drinks is actually synthetically produced in Chinese pharmaceutical plants."

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/03/13/289750754/wak...

How do you know the caffeine in soda and energy drinks is synthetic? Why not just use the leftover caffeine from decaffeination of coffee?

Synthetic is cheaper.

> "But most of the caffeine used in soft drinks is actually synthetically produced in Chinese pharmaceutical plants."

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/03/13/289750754/wak...

Coffee is much more than caffeine [1]

[1] http://www.ift.org/~/media/Knowledge%20Center/Publications/B...

Why would you do that though?

It's a funny thought for me as I only drink decaf.

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