Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Key takeaways
- Decaf drinkers choose coffee purely for taste, not caffeine.
- Demand is rising fast, but supply is struggling to keep up.
- Decaffeination processing is improving, but roasters and coffee shops need to pay equal attention to quality.
- A quality decaf espresso offering is a worthwhile investment.
Decaf was once the afterthought of the coffee industry. For much of its history, the category had a reputation for poor-quality green coffee, aggressive chemical processing, and over-roasted beans. Behind the bar, baristas rarely awarded it the same attention as caffeinated coffee, resulting in overly bitter flavours.
But the “death before decaf” sentiment seems to have faded in recent years. Decaf coffees are winning US Brewers Cups and now have their own subcategories at roasting competitions.
That said, roasters and coffee shops worldwide can still overlook decaf too easily. As James Hoffmann said on A Diary of a CEO: “The great frustration of decaf is that decaf drinkers are typically very poorly served by the coffee industry.
“They are the purest coffee consumer, actually, because they just want the flavour,” he continued. “They don’t even want the caffeine.”
As decaffeination plants invest in facilities to scale and improve processing methods, it’s important to ask whether roasters and coffee shops are keeping up with the new standards for decaf.
You may also like our article on why the demand for decaf is growing.
Demand for decaf is rising, but supply can’t keep up
As younger consumers drive the trend of all-day coffee consumption, the desire to monitor caffeine intake is increasing. Euromonitor International’s most recent Voice of the Consumer: Consumer Health report found that self-reported interest in reducing or eliminating caffeine reached a record high in 2024, with 46% of respondents reporting it.
This means that consumers choose decaf purely for flavour rather than for a caffeine fix – a point many roasters and cafés often overlook.
“I agree that decaf is often overlooked, but I think this is changing slowly as demand increases,” says Bee Southworth, Coffee Partnerships and Training Manager at North Star Coffee Roasters in Leeds, UK.
Demand for decaf is growing worldwide. The National Coffee Data Trends Spring 2025 report shows that decaf’s share of US coffee consumption rose from 9% in 2024 to 12% in 2025. In Europe, Mintel reports that one in five UK coffee drinkers regularly chooses decaf, while the Asia-Pacific market is growing the fastest.
But supply can’t keep pace, particularly in Colombia. Traders will often ship higher volumes than usual to secure decaffeination slots, which can create bottlenecks and backlogs, risking a drop in freshness and quality.
Those unable to reserve slots at Descafecol, Colombia’s main decaffeination plant, may send coffee to Mexico, North America, or Europe for decaffeination before importing it back to Colombia. Inevitably, this adds cost, time, and carbon emissions at every level of the supply chain, making decaf a more expensive offering for roasters and consumers.
To avoid additional costs and retain value, the temptation is to cut corners by sending past crop or lower-quality coffee for decaffeination processing. Some facility operators are also hesitant to invest in major capacity expansion, uncertain whether the surge in decaf demand is permanent or could reverse.
Decaffeination processing has improved
As traders and roasters use higher-quality green coffee for their decaf offerings, quality has genuinely improved in recent years. Decaf processing methods also play a key role in this. There are four main approaches: solvent-based methods using methylene chloride or ethyl acetate; the Swiss Water Process; the Mountain Water Process; and CO2 extraction.
The Swiss Water Process is one of the most popular. Processors soak green beans in a solution containing all coffee compounds except caffeine, allowing caffeine to migrate out naturally while the beans retain their flavour and aroma compounds.
The Mountain Water Process uses a similar approach, but the plant’s location in Mexico offers producers, exporters, and roasters in Latin America a geographical advantage.
Meanwhile, the CO2 process introduces carbon dioxide at high pressure, creating a fluid that extracts caffeine with minimal impact on flavour. Since CO2 is a naturally occurring compound, it leaves no chemical residues behind.
“Our house Brazilian coffee is CO2 decaffeinated to ensure it’s sourced in line with our policy and buying ethics, and to keep quality high,” Bee says. “We also have traceability on the decaffeination process, and this feels like the way forward for roasters to improve quality.
“I don’t overly have a preference for one decaf processing method, as I think they have all improved from the old ‘chemical’ taste,” Bee adds.
The ethyl acetate or sugarcane process has also become more popular in recent years, particularly with Colombian beans, but many consider ethyl acetate to have the greatest impact on a coffee’s original taste among the available methods. Even so, the winner of the 2024 US Brewers Cup used ethyl acetate processing, showing that the method can produce outstanding results when applied to exceptional green coffee.
Are roasters and coffee shops investing enough in decaf?
Historically, the perceived lower quality of decaf coffee was the biggest factor limiting its market potential. Today, however, roasters around the world offer a growing range of decaf, half-caf, and low-caf options, acknowledging the shifts in consumption habits and catering to them.
In December 2024, James Hoffmann hosted the Decaf Project, an interactive, side-by-side tasting of the same coffee decaffeinated using three different methods: the CR3 Carbonic Natural CO2, ethyl acetate/sugarcane, and Swiss Water. The coffees were sent to local roasters worldwide and shared with participants in the live tasting, further demonstrating how far quality has increased.
But as decaf processing continues to improve and more consumers look to lower their caffeine intake, roasters and cafés should reconsider how they roast and serve these coffees.
Starting with higher-quality green coffee makes an obvious difference. Some brands have historically used cheaper, lower-quality robusta for decaf, despite its higher caffeine content compared to arabica. Using single origin arabica coffees that can be traced back to farm level provides the level of transparency that many decaf consumers now demand.
Roasting & brewing decaf
Roasters need to consider that decaffeinated beans behave differently during roasting. The decaffeination process opens up the bean’s cellular structure, which means it absorbs heat faster and can tip towards over-roasting more easily than caffeinated green coffee, according to Sweet Maria’s. Moisture also escapes more easily during roasting, and more oils will rise to the surface post-roast, so roasting to a lighter profile could help retain more flavour.
Decaf coffee also stales more quickly, so buying smaller quantities more often can maintain freshness.
Baristas should also be properly trained in preparing decaf. Because the bean’s cell structure is more open after processing, decaf extracts slightly faster than caffeinated coffee. Small adjustments to grind size, slightly coarser than for caffeinated coffee, can prevent over-extraction and bitterness.
With most cafés only having one decaf espresso option, Bee suggests expanding decaf offerings. “Having a decaf filter option would be great,” she says.
Investing in a quality decaf offering doesn’t require a complete menu overhaul. It means sourcing high-quality green coffee, processing it at trusted decaffeination plants, roasting it with the same care as other coffees, and training baristas to brew it correctly.
The cost difference is manageable, and the impression it leaves on consumers who choose decaf because they care about flavour, rather than a caffeine fix, is significant.
Need more leads for your coffee business? Get in touch with PDG Media, our marketing agency dedicated to specialty coffee, here.
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