Opinions Please: Decaf Pouch, a Bold New Way to Decaf

samuelngdj

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Aug 27, 2019
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Hi everyone,

I'm Sam and my company in Seattle, Decafino, created a new decaffeination method using a product called the Decaf Pouch. The Decaf Pouch is something like a teabag, where you put it into your coffee while brewing or post-brew, and it removes the caffeine from the coffee. It works with any coffee beans, and any caffeinated beverages. Our goal is to allow more people to have more decaf coffee options, especially for those who can't take too much caffeine, but want to enjoy a good cup of joe.

We are launching a Kickstarter soon, but before that, I would like to know what everyone thinks about it? Would you buy it? Do you think there is a market for it?

Any feedback would be lovely :coffee:
 

PinkRose

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Feb 28, 2008
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Hi everyone,

I'm Sam and my company in Seattle, Decafino, created a new decaffeination method using a product called the Decaf Pouch. The Decaf Pouch is something like a teabag, where you put it into your coffee while brewing or post-brew, and it removes the caffeine from the coffee. It works with any coffee beans, and any caffeinated beverages. Our goal is to allow more people to have more decaf coffee options, especially for those who can't take too much caffeine, but want to enjoy a good cup of joe.

We are launching a Kickstarter soon, but before that, I would like to know what everyone thinks about it? Would you buy it? Do you think there is a market for it?

Any feedback would be lovely :coffee:

Hello Samuel,

Welcome to the Coffee Forums website.

Your Decaf Pouch sounds interesting. Has it been tested to prove that it actually removes the caffeine from the beverages?

Does the pouch leave chemicals in the beverage? Where does the caffeine go? How much does it remove?

I may be wrong, but I'm not sure if there is a market for it, considering that there are so many decaffeinated options for beverages now-a-days. Plus, how would a person know if it actually removed the caffeine from the beverage?

I guess there are too many unanswered questions . . . .

~ Rose
 

Mr.Peaberry

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Aug 7, 2013
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Welcome Samuel! I am intrigued with the concept. Rose' reaction will undoubtedly be the common reaction to hearing of your "game changing" new product. The resistance will be strong, and the logic behind your approach to fixing something isn't perceived as being broke will be criticized. What is your value proposition?
 

samuelngdj

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Aug 27, 2019
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Hello Samuel,

Welcome to the Coffee Forums website.

Your Decaf Pouch sounds interesting. Has it been tested to prove that it actually removes the caffeine from the beverages?

Does the pouch leave chemicals in the beverage? Where does the caffeine go? How much does it remove?

I may be wrong, but I'm not sure if there is a market for it, considering that there are so many decaffeinated options for beverages now-a-days. Plus, how would a person know if it actually removed the caffeine from the beverage?

I guess there are too many unanswered questions . . . .

~ Rose


Hi Rose, thank you for your feedback and interest!

Yes, the Decaf Pouch will work and remove caffeine effectively. Inside the pouch, there are many small beads that act like magnets that can pull out caffeine from coffee through a physical process called adsorption. The caffeine molecules are attracted and held tightly to the surface of the beads, unable to escape, and the beads will remain in the pouch.

The Decaf Pouch has been under development for more than 3 years by a team of scientists and engineers. HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) is utilized to accurately measure the caffeine concentration.

The best thing about the Decaf Pouch is that is can work with any coffee, regardless of roasting degree and origin. It is made from natural food-grade ingredients and contains no harmful chemicals.

~Sam
 

samuelngdj

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Welcome Samuel! I am intrigued with the concept. Rose' reaction will undoubtedly be the common reaction to hearing of your "game changing" new product. The resistance will be strong, and the logic behind your approach to fixing something isn't perceived as being broke will be criticized. What is your value proposition?

Hello Mr.Peaberry, it's nice to hearing from you.

I am a chemical engineer myself, and I value health and environment highly. However, I have seen many disadvantages with the current decaf coffee and decaffeination methods. My team and I really want to improve it by putting all our efforts into developing the Decaf Pouch. We want to create a healthier and more sustainable solution to produce higher-quality, better-tasting decaf coffee and reduce wastage.

~Sam
 

samuelngdj

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Aug 27, 2019
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Hello Samuel,

Welcome to the Coffee Forums website.

Your Decaf Pouch sounds interesting. Has it been tested to prove that it actually removes the caffeine from the beverages?

Does the pouch leave chemicals in the beverage? Where does the caffeine go? How much does it remove?

I may be wrong, but I'm not sure if there is a market for it, considering that there are so many decaffeinated options for beverages now-a-days. Plus, how would a person know if it actually removed the caffeine from the beverage?

I guess there are too many unanswered questions . . . .

~ Rose


Hi Rose, thank you for your feedback and interest!

Yes, the Decaf Pouch will work and remove caffeine effectively. Inside the pouch, there are many small beads that act like magnets that can pull out caffeine from coffee through a physical process called adsorption. The caffeine molecules are attracted and held tightly to the surface of the beads, unable to escape, and the beads will remain in the pouch.

The Decaf Pouch has been under development for more than 3 years by a team of scientists and engineers. HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) is utilized to accurately measure the caffeine concentration.

The best thing about the Decaf Pouch is that is can work with any coffee, regardless of roasting degree and origin. It is made from natural food-grade ingredients and contains no harmful chemicals.

~Sam
 

Musicphan

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May 11, 2014
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Hi Rose, thank you for your feedback and interest!

Yes, the Decaf Pouch will work and remove caffeine effectively. Inside the pouch, there are many small beads that act like magnets that can pull out caffeine from coffee through a physical process called adsorption. The caffeine molecules are attracted and held tightly to the surface of the beads, unable to escape, and the beads will remain in the pouch.

The Decaf Pouch has been under development for more than 3 years by a team of scientists and engineers. HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) is utilized to accurately measure the caffeine concentration.

The best thing about the Decaf Pouch is that is can work with any coffee, regardless of roasting degree and origin. It is made from natural food-grade ingredients and contains no harmful chemicals.

~Sam

Sam - you put that in your value proposition or at a minimum put something on the website. I looked at your website prior to making my comment since the process wasn't being addressed. Clearly, you are going to hit skeptics but if it works it works.

What percentage of caffeine is left in the coffee?
 

Mr.Peaberry

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Aug 7, 2013
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Hi Rose, thank you for your feedback and interest!

Yes, the Decaf Pouch will work and remove caffeine effectively. Inside the pouch, there are many small beads that act like magnets that can pull out caffeine from coffee through a physical process called adsorption. The caffeine molecules are attracted and held tightly to the surface of the beads, unable to escape, and the beads will remain in the pouch.

The Decaf Pouch has been under development for more than 3 years by a team of scientists and engineers. HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) is utilized to accurately measure the caffeine concentration.

The best thing about the Decaf Pouch is that is can work with any coffee, regardless of roasting degree and origin. It is made from natural food-grade ingredients and contains no harmful chemicals.

~Sam

What other compounds in the coffee flavor spectrum are removed in your process?
 

samuelngdj

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Sam - you put that in your value proposition or at a minimum put something on the website. I looked at your website prior to making my comment since the process wasn't being addressed. Clearly, you are going to hit skeptics but if it works it works.

What percentage of caffeine is left in the coffee?

Hey Musicphan! Thanks for the feedback. The Decaf Pouch works in such a way that the longer you leave it in your coffee, the more decaffeinated it becomes. 5 to 6 minutes in your cup of coffee from start of brew to post brew is able to remove caffeine to a level comparable to the decaf coffee in the market now.

~Sam
 

samuelngdj

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What other compounds in the coffee flavor spectrum are removed in your process?

We have yet to analyse compounds removed besides caffeine. However, we did host plenty of blind tasting events with coffee shops and roaster in Seattle, and they were happy with the taste of their coffee after using the Decaf Pouch.
 

Musicphan

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May 11, 2014
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Hey Musicphan! Thanks for the feedback. The Decaf Pouch works in such a way that the longer you leave it in your coffee, the more decaffeinated it becomes. 5 to 6 minutes in your cup of coffee from start of brew to post brew is able to remove caffeine to a level comparable to the decaf coffee in the market now.

~Sam

So you're getting 98-99% of the caffeine out in 5-6 with this product?
 

samuelngdj

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So you're getting 98-99% of the caffeine out in 5-6 with this product?


So the amount of caffeine in coffee is actually not an easy question to answer. Caffeine concentration can vary a lot depending on where the coffee was grown, which brand of coffee, and even how it was prepared (such as grind method, water quality, or tamping your grounds for espresso, etc)--this is true even for decaf. So rather than focusing on %, we think perhaps a better way to describe it would be the amount of caffeine that the Decaf Pouch can remove. By dunking the Decaf Pouch, you can remove about 200mg of caffeine in 4mins. And often, we recommend you to just stick it in your brew pot or mug for pour-over so that you don't have to wait for the decaffeination process to finish and can just enjoy your cup of coffee when your coffee is prepared. If you are concerned about your caffeine intake or brewing a larger amount of coffee, you can use multiple pouches, wait longer, or stir your cup of coffee to move even more caffeine. Hope this help clarify the Decaf Pouch.

In terms of sales, we hope people will support us on Kickstarter when we launch in September. Thank you!



 

PinkRose

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Feb 28, 2008
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Near Philadelphia, PA
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So the amount of caffeine in coffee is actually not an easy question to answer. Caffeine concentration can vary a lot depending on where the coffee was grown, which brand of coffee, and even how it was prepared (such as grind method, water quality, or tamping your grounds for espresso, etc)--this is true even for decaf. So rather than focusing on %, we think perhaps a better way to describe it would be the amount of caffeine that the Decaf Pouch can remove. By dunking the Decaf Pouch, you can remove about 200mg of caffeine in 4mins. And often, we recommend you to just stick it in your brew pot or mug for pour-over so that you don't have to wait for the decaffeination process to finish and can just enjoy your cup of coffee when your coffee is prepared. If you are concerned about your caffeine intake or brewing a larger amount of coffee, you can use multiple pouches, wait longer, or stir your cup of coffee to move even more caffeine. Hope this help clarify the Decaf Pouch.

In terms of sales, we hope people will support us on Kickstarter when we launch in September. Thank you!






What's your best guess regarding how much the pouches will cost to the consumer, once they're ready to package and sell?

Will they be sold individually - from a display on a counter in a café or restaurant?
Will people need to buy the pouches (on-line or in a supermarket) and bring one with them when they go out for coffee?

I know some people who are lactose intolerant, and they carry Lactaid with them when they go out to eat. Some of them say it's too much trouble to remember to take it, and it's better that they just avoid foods that cause problems. I'm wondering the same thing about the decaf pouches. Would they just be a phase and then fizzle out?

~ Rose
 
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