Specialty coffee is built on precision, excellence, and careful selection. Sometimes, technical quality—the score, defect count, density—takes precedence over the story behind the coffee. A coffee that means a lot to someone might, on paper, not score above 84 points.

Fortunately, this mindset is beginning to change. Increasingly, emotion, personal connection, and pure taste are gaining weight over numbers. Coffee is once again about taste, ethics, and the stories surrounding it.

And in this shift, decaffeinated coffee is beginning to find its place, with a growing offering of truly exceptional decafs within the world of specialty coffee.

The caffeine limit

The average consumer—even professionals who cup hundreds of samples a day—can realistically only consume 2 to 3 cups of coffee per day (about 280–300 mg of caffeine). Caffeine is potent, and too much can lead to discomfort, headaches, or insomnia.

Those who love coffee for its flavor, and not just its stimulating effect, have begun to seek out decaffeinated options. For a long time, decaf coffee was considered a purely commercial product, made in huge batches with little attention to quality. But that, too, is changing.

Today, producers and consumers are rediscovering decaf, treating it with the same respect, precision, and care as any other specialty coffee—from the farm to the roast.

A century of decaf

The decaffeination process was researched and developed in Germany, where the first industrial plant opened in Bremen in 1905.

The goal was simple and humane: to create caffeine-free coffee so that people with health issues or sensitivities could continue to enjoy it.

Caffeine is a white, odorless, and tasteless powder, firmly bound to the structure of the roasted bean. To break that bond, a lot of energy must be applied: with solvents, pressure, or steam.

Today, two main methods are used:

Swiss Water Process – uses only hot water as a solvent; it is considered more natural and "clean," as it avoids aggressive chemicals.

CO₂ Process – uses pressurized carbon dioxide as a selective solvent that removes only caffeine, preserving aromatic compounds.

The great challenge

For producers, one of the biggest challenges has been scale. Decaffeination plants require a minimum of about 60 bags (3,600 kg) per batch, whereas a specialty microlot typically ranges from 1,000 to 1,200 kg.

This means that coffee growers must produce and sort three times more coffee than usual—a huge effort, in terms of both labor and risk.

But thanks to the joint work of producers, exporters, and passionate professionals, the demand for quality decafs is growing, and with it, the supply.

Our decaf: Kenya Nyeri AA

One of the best examples is our Kenya Nyeri AA, processed in Bremen with the CO₂ method. The result? All the bright acidity, fruity sweetness, and complexity of a good Kenyan coffee—but without caffeine.

A coffee you can proudly brew and share with your family, even at night.

Our Kenya Nyeri AA Decaf is now available in the store.
Choose your favorite format:

☕️ For filter
⚡️ For espresso
🇮🇹 For Italian coffee maker

A new ritual

We've discovered the pleasure of enjoying a cup of coffee at night—something that recently seemed impossible for those sensitive to caffeine or suffering from insomnia after a coffee past 6 PM.

As they say:
Those who drink decaf do so because they truly love the taste, not just the effect.