Our Favorite Instant Decaf Coffees – Fourth Estate

First up in our review is a Swiss Mocha coffee from Maxwell House that’s stripped of both caffeine and sugar.

You can drink this coffee as it comes with some hot water or use it as a novel way to cream your coffee. This second method adds an extra burst of flavor with a naturally sweet edge.

If this version doesn’t float your boat, you can also opt for French or Viennese-style giving you plenty of choice with nothing added but a wealth of aroma and flavor.

The inbuilt advantage of this lip-smacking decaf coffee is that you’ll be able to drink it directly before bedtime–we might not drink a lot of instant coffee but we drink a lot more of it than hot chocolate!

If you’re looking for a vibrant pure Arabica coffee from an industry legend, this Starbucks will surprise you in only one way – it’s got no caffeine in it! When you taste this decaf, you’ll probably reconsider what you previously thought about low-caffeine coffee since it really is almost as good as the real thing.

The only thing we’d complain about is the fact it’s packaged in 50 individual sachets which might be convenient but does little for the environment and is pretty unnecessary.

If you fancy a deep, rich decaf coffee in seconds flat, though, you probably won’t be griping about that extra bit of plastic.

One of the most frequent issues coffee fiends have with decaf is that it just doesn’t taste right. Café Bustelo coffee proves that doesn’t need to the case with this potent decaffeinated espresso.

As with the Starbucks offering above, you’ll get single serve sachets so it’s great to take with you if you want a decent decaf at work even if it’s not exactly eco-friendly.

The aroma is astonishingly fragrant for a low-caffeine coffee and, while you won’t get the jolt a regular espresso provides, you will be able to safely sup this instant down all throughout the day.

If you fancy a taste sensation cappuccino without the sleeplessness caffeinated drinks can bring about, this French vanilla coffee from Hills Bros will hit that sweet spot perfectly.

You’ll get all the froth and creaminess you’d associate with a regular, leaded cappuccino but none of the jaggedness from drinking too much at the wrong time of day. The undertones of vanilla are subtle but unmistakable.

With a full 17 servings in each 16oz container, you’ll also find this instant decaf coffee represents outstanding value for money. For anyone reluctant to try decaf for the fear it will be weak and tasteless, give this Hills Bros instant a shot and let us know if you change your mind.

We’ve got to be honest, we’re normally not the biggest Nescafe fans but this Taster’s Choice decaf is a notch up from their usual run-of-the-mill instant.

The light-medium roast strikes that balance between robust flavor and balance but this is not the smartest choice if you like your coffee strong even if it’s caffeine-free.

We went for the House Blend but you’ve got 5 other flavors at your disposal including hazelnut and vanilla if you hanker for something a little more decadent without needing to revert to leaded coffee. If, like us, you tend to give Nescafe a swerve, why not make an exception and see if you agree with our verdict?

As we edge to the end of our instant decaf coffee reviews, up steps Mount Hagen with this delicate organic instant.

You’ll once again get single serving sticks so make sure that sits OK with you before committing to purchase. You’ll get 25 sachets in each pack at a price you’ll love while 4-packs are available at an even keener relative price.

Made from pure Arabica beans, this is the world’s first freeze-dried coffee that’s certified organic. The caffeine is removed using liquid carbon dioxide. This is a completely safe method that removes 99.9% of all caffeine leaving you free to chug it down just before bedtime with no concerns about a restless night.

Rounding out our decaf coffee reviews, the highly reputable Folgers has a pocket-friendly instant perfect for consumption all throughout the day.

You won’t need to compromise on taste either since the absence of caffeine does nothing to weaken it here.

The crystals dissolve in an instant even if the water isn’t piping hot. And let’s face it, there’s nothing worse than getting a half-dissolved chunk of coffee on your tongue even if you absolutely love the stuff.

While the decaf is a strong performer, the regular red from Folgers is even tastier although it falls outside the scope of our reviews today.

So…

With our brief decaf coffee reviews put to bed – and with no problem sleeping either! – it’s time for a quick glimpse at how decaf instant is actually produced.

The concept of decaf coffee first cropped up way back in 1903 when Ludwig Roselius discovered how to extract the caffeine from coffee beans. The benzene he used for the purpose is no longer since it’s a known carcinogen.

Instead, today 4 main methods are used to decaffeinate coffee.

2 methods of extraction use chemical solvents. Green coffee beans are soaked in either methylene chloride or ethyl acetate. The water is used to soften them up while the chemical solvent acts to draw out the caffeine. When the solution is drained, this is re-used to perpetuate the cycle until the caffeine content is at the required level. This should be no more than 0.1% but often you find decaffeinated coffee which actually contains a little more than that amount.

Although a range of studies have indicated these solvents are safe, that’s not enough for many people who wanted a non-chemical approach so they could enjoy decaf without worrying about potential harm from chemical solvents.

To this end, 2 non-chemical approaches to decaffeinating coffee beans sprang into being.

Arguably the most well-known and most popular is the Swiss Water Process. This is named for the country of origin rather than for the source of the water. Firstly, green coffee beans are soaked in water to dissolve the caffeine. Since some of the flavor seeps out, artificial flavor is added to compensate. Filtering gets rid of 99.9% of the caffeine and then the process is repeated for the next batch.

The liquid CO2 method follows pretty much the same procedure except the gas used in sparkling water comes into play.

Despite the differences in these methods, they have a few common elements:

• Without exception, coffee is decaffeinated when in its unroasted, green state
• Water is used across the board for the reason that caffeine is water-soluble
• Due to the way water used alone can strip away sugars and proteins along with the caffeine, another decaffeinating agent is used so the taste remains more robust while the process is quicker

You might also see reference to direct processes and indirect processes but what does this mean in plain English?

It’s quite simple really. With a direct method, the caffeine is removed after the beans are soaked directly in a solvent. It’s applied directly to the beans. Indirect methods see the caffeine-infused water shifted to a separate tank where it’s treated with a solvent. That solvent never touches the beans itself.

Overall, perhaps 10% of coffee drinkers actually prefer their beverage caffeine-free – or as close to that as possible – so while it’s a small sub-section of the market, it’s still sizeable enough for all major manufacturers to provide a decaffeinated option. If not, they’d simply be leaving money on the table.

The guidelines for decaffeinated coffee vary depending on where you are in the world. According to the USDA, a coffee with 3% caffeine can still legitimately be termed decaffeinated so, if you have any reason to cut out caffeine completely, it pays to be aware that decaffeinated certainly doesn’t always means caffeine-free. For anyone not absolutely required to go caffeine-free, you’ll only end up with 5 or 6 mg of caffeine in a 12oz pack rather than the 180mg you’d find in a pack of leaded coffee.

Before we round out for today, we thought we’d cut through the options listed out above and give you our thoughts on our choice for the best tasting instant decaf coffee