CoffeeForums Coffee Facts

As you walk through the coffee and tea aisle in your local grocery store take a look at the wide variety of coffees that are on the shelf. While you may think that the Maxwell House or Folgers containers look all the same you will find that they really are different. Read the fine print. Many of the most popular ground decaffeinated coffees we use today are made from Colombian Arabica beans. These beans are lower in caffeine and they are the basis of the Colombian decaf coffee in those coffee containers.

Colombian decaf coffee made from Arabica beans is a full flavored coffee with a taste that can range from chocolaty to fruity and everything in between. The beans are roasted to varying degrees to help give the coffee more robust flavor. Arabica beans are grown in Colombia and other South American countries at altitudes of 3,500 to 7,000 feet. Why are coffees made with Arabica beans more expensive than others? The altitude in which the coffee plant grows makes it hard to cultivate.

But farmers manage and when the beans are ready they are processed into numerous types of coffee, including Colombian decaf coffee. The larger and denser the bean, the better the grade which is also why coffee made from Arabica beans are also more expensive. These are considered premium beans.

In order to make Colombian decaf coffee the Arabica beans must be stripped of any caffeine that is in them. Remember, these beans already start out with less caffeine than other types of coffee beans. The remainder of the caffeine is removed from the beans by the use of chemicals, water or carbon dioxide. Determining the flavor of the Colombian decaf coffee is dependent on the method used to remove the caffeine from the bean. Most Colombian decaf coffee manufacturers prefer the water or carbon dioxide method although the chemical method is the most cost effective.

If you order Colombian decaf coffee from a specialty coffee shop make sure the beans come to you whole and not ground. It is worth the money to invest in a coffee grinder for your home in order to get a full flavored Colombian decaf coffee. If you order the coffee already ground, you will lose quite a bit of the full, robust flavor Arabica beans are known for. You want to enjoy the coffee without caffeine but you want to be sure that the flavor is still there.