Decaf Explained
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters recommend it as a well-researched overview of decaf processes and quality, and cite it for the claim that decaf stales faster.
What it is
James Hoffmann explains how decaf coffee is made, how the decaffeination processes differ, and why decaf is roasted and stales differently. He also discusses decaf quality and health questions.
Recommended by 3 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2024 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec erikrothoff · 2025-12 · on “Adenosine on the common path of rapid antidepressant action: The coffee paradox”
I went to the US recently and was fully prepared to drink caffeine on the trip because of all the cool coffee shops and roasters. But I was amazed that decaf was basically a first-class citizen there. The hotel breakfast had one giant brewer for regular and the same giant brewer for decaf. It was amazing. And it’s pretty important to realize that well-made decaf doesn’t have to taste worse than regular coffee. James Hoffmanns decaf project proved this for me, and his video about decaf sold me on the idea: decaf drinkers are the OG coffee drinker, drinking it purely for the taste, even without the drug-induced high that caffeine gives you. [this video]
Recommends gruez · 2024-02 · on “The case against caffeine”
James Hoffmann did a video on decaff coffee recently[1]. In it he basically says the "scary chemicals" aspect of other caffeine removal processes is basically overblown, and the reason why decaf coffee sucks has less to do with the solvents used and more to do with how the decaffination process makes the beans more prone to staling. In short, there's nothing really special about the swiss water process in particular and there are more important factors to worry about. [1] [this video]
Recommends rubslopes · 2024-02 · on “The case against caffeine”
> Decaf can taste very good. I've certainly had decaf that was better than most caffeinated coffee I've had. But it's harder to find serious attempts at decaf roasts, sadly. James Hoffmann made a great video about this recently: [this video]
Cites gruez · 2024-06 · on “Coffee helped the Union in the Civil War”
That's one way of making it, but it's by no means the only way. Also, the reason why it tastes bad isn't because it's "same chemicals used to do dry cleaning", it's that the decaffination process changes the physical structure of the beans, making it easier to stale. source for both claims: [this video] , [LINK]