Low Acid Coffee?

[peterjschmidt]

The importers who I buy from have never had robusta decaf. Your research must have been geared to the entire industry, where the canned decaf probably does use robusta. Decaf does in fact have more 'processing' but if that makes it processed food, then so is non-decaf, since you're not eating the coffee cherry, but using a bean that's been through about 9 processes before you even grind it. I would hope that anyone looking for decaf would know enough about it that a) they would understand there is some caffeine remaining, or b) not have any valid reason for ingesting absolutely zero caffeine.

 

[topher]

it's harder to source Arabica decaf. Because of the cost of production, they are primarily made from Robusta beans. So there you are serving Robusta if you don't pay close attention to what you're sourcing.
And if you do source Arabica decaf, they cost more -- hence, do you charge more for it and are your customers willing to pay more for it? If not, is it worth serving that few?

I have never in my 20+ years of roasting ever had an issue finding Arabica decaf coffee. I have bought robusta only once and that was to play with in an espresso years ago. I pay a dollar more a pound for my decaf because it is SWP. Yes I pass that on to my customers and they do not mind.


If a customer says they can not drink caffeine I advise them that our decaf is 99.9% decaffeinated. Just like if I was bartender and an alcoholic came in to order a na beer.

 

[tazzadiluna]

Hi Peter and Topher,
Thanks for the clarification, that makes sense.

 

[bigdaub]

You can also tame the acidity with a little baking soda. (If actual PH acidity is the problem) Your idea of educating the customer is spot on. You could grab a digital PH meter from Amazon to help guide your customers.