"decaf" news and stories

In yet another sign of the declining economy, Starbucks has decided to save cash by not continuously brewing decaf coffee after noon. The company, which had been brewing fresh pots every half hour, will still have decaf available anytime on request. Starbucks hopes the measure will help it save $400 million by September.

Other cost-cutting tactics include closing stores in the U.S. and Australia, trimming "waste" such as extra milk in lattes and cappuccinos, and brewing smaller pots of coffee so there's less thrown away after the 30-minute limit. Customers desiring decaf after 12 pm will have to wait approximately 4 minutes for their coffee to brew.

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Decaffeinated coffee is often less than 95% caffeine free, which is why doctors often advise caffeine-sensitive patients to avoid it in addition to regular coffee, though the vast majority of coffee drinkers would not be affected by it to a noticeable extent. A new study shows that that small amount of caffeine may be having a greater effect than previously thought. Not only could the small amount of caffeine - about .5 mg per ounce versus as much as 18mg per ounce in non-decaf - add up to a reasonably significant amount after several cups, but it could also trigger a caffeine dependency, just as regular coffee can. Who would have thought you could get hooked on decaf?

The study also noted that the caffeine content of different brands of coffee varied and, of the ones they tested (not all listed), only Folgers Instant was complete caffeine free.

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It looks like a tongue depressor and when it is stirred into a cup of regular coffee, will remove up to 70% of the caffeine in it. It could potentially revolutionize the coffee industry. The DeCaf Co., a startup based in San Francisco, has been able to apply molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) onto the sticks. As the stick is swirled in the cup, it "grabs" the caffeine molecules and when the stick is removed, so too is the caffeine - all with no change in the aroma or flavor of the coffee.

The company hopes to make the sticks available to restaurants and cafes, which would be able to dispense them with drinks or put them out with the other condiments. They also hope to be able to sell them in-stores, so consumers will always have a decaf option wherever they go.

The sticks will aIso work with other caffeinated drinks, such as teas and sodas. If paired with the caffeine litmus strips that we have seen before, those with sensitivities to caffeine wouldn't have to worry about finding caffeine in an unexpected place, since they could simply stir it out of the drink.

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When I was pregnant and thinking about limiting my caffeine a bit, I learned a handy way to "decaffeinate" tea: just brew it once. The second steeping of tea has almost zero caffeine. As I typically use each tea bag twice, I thought to myself, that means two cups of tea equals one cup of caffeine. And then I proceeded to forget I'd ever heard that caffeine was bad for my unborn child.

Evidently, coffee is decaffeinated the very same way. Except that, just like my second steeping of tea, once the beans are soaked to removed the caffeine, the flavor isn't much to write home about. According toAsk Yahoo!, this is where the science comes in: "In one practice, the beans' post-soak water is mixed with a solvent that separates the caffeine from the liquid. Alternatively, the caffeinated water can be forced through activated charcoal or carbon filters, which also separates the caffeine from the solution. After either method, the coffee beans are re-submerged in the now-totally-caffeine-free watery extract where (hopefully) they reabsorb their flavor."

I don't drink decaf coffee much - especially now that I'm a mom of a baby, I need the caffeine. But I wonder: can you coffee nuts out there taste the difference? It's a pretty chemically-charged process, and it seems when chemicals enter the mix, flavor always loses.

[Photo Sarah Gilbert]

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