Some Factors Add Caffeine To Decaf Beans

Decaffeinated coffee is at least 97 percent caffeine-free, with an average of 2-3 mg. of caffeine, but there are several factors that can slightly alter the caffeine level of your cup of decaf coffee.

Those factors include:

Blend composition

Brewing extraction rates

Grind

Roast color

Water temperature

Higher extraction rates, warmer water, a finer grind, and a lighter roast all result in a higher caffeine level in decaf coffee. This could potentially increase the caffeine level from approximately 2 mg to 6 mg per cup.

Even should these factors increase the amount of caffeine, your decaf coffee will still have far less than the caffeine per cup in regular coffee. It will even have less caffeine than some 1-ounce servings of chocolate.

How does the caffeine in decaf compare with other foods and beverages?

Coffee, 8-ounce drip: 104-192 mg.

Tea, 8-ounce brewed: 20-90 mg.

Iced tea, 8 ounces: 9-50 mg.

Soft drinks, 8 ounces, 20-40 mg.

Cocoa Beverage, 8 ounces, 3-32 mg.

Milk chocolate, 1 ounce: 3-32 mg.

Dark Chocolate, 1 ounce; 5-35 mg.

Can Coffee Protect Against Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Disease?

You might grab that last to-go cup of coffee because it will help you through the morning meeting but there might be longer lasting benefits of coffee. A coffee health study has indicated that drinking coffee might provide some protection against Parkinson’s disease, at least in men. There is also a study that caffeine can offer protection against Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Sally Vater, speaking at a symposium, Coffee: Breaking News about Health, Fitness and Performance, said men who drank more than three cups of coffee per day showed reduced incidence of Parkinson’s.

Women did not have the same results. Vater said postmenopausal women who take hormone supplements could cause for less dramatic results in women because of the interaction of caffeine and estrogen.

The reasons coffee could protect against Alzheimer’s, she said, are coffee’s antioxidant component and the fact that caffeine interacts with brain receptors.

Vater says that while data supports the idea that caffeine in coffee can help protect against the disease, it is not definitive.

The National Parkinson Foundation agreed that the study was not conclusive and that the protective effect should be studied further. The Alzheimer’s Society said research suggesting protective powers has been conducted on a small sample and more research must be done.

Great Roasted Coffee Starts With The Beans

A great cup of roasted coffee starts with the beans. Whether you buy coffee beans and ground them yourself or prefer to use ground coffee, the bean makes a big difference in what your coffee is going to taste like.

The most popular type of beans today, according to the Coffee Research Institute, are Arabica coffee beans. They make up 75-80 percent of the world’s production.

Factors that will affect the flavor and quality of the coffee including the growing region, variety of plant, chemistry of the soil and the weather in the region, according to the National Coffee Association of the U.S.A.

Then there is the roasting. Every type of bean will have a different flavor at different roasting temperatures, according to the Coffee Research Institute. This is where the roaster’s skill comes into play:

• A light roast coffee is light brown and this roast is preferred for milder coffee varieties, according to NCA.
• Medium roasts are medium brown and have a stronger flavor, according to NCA.
• Medium to dark roasts have a rich, dark color with some oil on the surface and a slight bittersweet aftertaste.
• Dark roasts
  are shiny black beans with an oily surface and a pronounced bitterness.
  The darker the roast, the less acidity will be found in the beverage,
  according to NCA.

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There Is Caffeine In Decaf Coffee

When coffee is labeled decaffeinate, what does that mean? Most of the caffeine is removed, but there is some caffeine in decaf coffee. Caffeine is not added during the processing. Coffee beans by nature have caffeine and the decaffeinating process does not complete strip it all away. So how much caffeine is in decaffeinated coffee?

To be call decaffeinated, green coffee must be less than .1 percent caffeine. This is equivalent to about 3 mg per cup of coffee. How does the caffeine level of decaffeinated coffee compare with other beverages?

Drip coffee has an average 115 mg. per 5-ounce cup. Percolated coffee has an average 80 mg. per 5-ounce cup. The recommended daily caffeine intake is less than 300 mg. This is equivalent to:

• 3-4 cups of roast and ground coffee
• 5 cups of instant coffee
• 5 cups of tea
• 6 servings of some colas or
• 10 tablets of some painkillers

Caffeine intake is broken down into low, moderate and high caffeine use:

• Low: less than 200 mg. per day
• Moderate: 200-400 mg. per day
• High: More than 400 mg. per day

Buying The Right Coffee Equipment

Choosing coffee equipment can be as challenging as deciding on any other kitchen appliance.

Do you live alone? You might want a single-cup machine. Have a family of coffee drinkers? You probably need a multi-cup brewer that makes 10 to 12 cups. Can’t live without cappuccino or espresso? You can have your own automatic machine right on your countertop? For a throwback a more glamorous era, there is the French press.

Don’t forget about the type of coffee you drink. If whole beans are your passion, you’ll need a good grinder, one sized appropriately for your coffee drinking and serving habits.

Coffee Nations Still In Crisis

In 2001, coffee prices hit a 30-year low in 2001, affecting tens of millions of small-holder farmers and farm workers around the developing world. The crash of 2001 was part of a long trend in which coffee farmers, workers and coffee-exporting countries have seen the value of coffee diminish. It forced many farmers to lose their farms and move to cities or other countries.

In Colombia, some farmers who once could make a good living harvesting coffee turned to growing coca, the base ingredient for cocaine, to support themselves and adding to the illegal drug problem.

Market volatility and declining terms of trade were part of the problem. According to the International Coffee Organization, coffee production was increasing an average of 3.6 percent per year as of 2002, while coffee consumption was growing only 1.5 percent.

Another part was lack of resources, marketing expertise, technical knowledge and access to money, making it difficult for farmer to compete in the global market and earn a sustainable livelihood.

Have Coffee, Will Travel

When it comes to coffee, most people are looking for the best coffee they can get as fast as possible, so it is no surprise that people would embrace coffee solutions that provide coffee in less time with the same quality you’d get in a coffee shop.

Single-serve coffee makers make a quality cup of coffee quickly. In about 60 seconds you can have a hot cup of just about any kind of coffee you drink. Because this type of machine works so quickly, there is no need to set a timer so that your cup of coffee is ready for you when you wake up in the morning.

There is also no need to grind beans because the single-serving cups are all you need to make the coffee.

Because the one-cup coffee maker has neither a pot nor a burner, you don’t have to worry about leaving the burner on after you leave the house for work or to go shopping for the day. There is also no mess to clean up because there is no basket - no filter filled with coffee grounds to empty out each day.

Unlike coffee bags, which are like tea bags filled with coffee, single-serving coffee gives the same great taste of brewed coffee because it is brewed coffee.

Corporate Social Responsibility Includes the Office Coffee System

Has your office been working toward being more socially responsible and environmentally friendly through business practices and choice of office supplies? The sense of socially responsibility can easily extend into your coffee order and choice of office coffee maker.

With a single-serving coffee maker, you no longer use paper filters so you can reduce your paper waste a little more. There is no pot of coffee, so you will not be throwing away water used to brew coffee no one drank.

And the single-cup brewing containers come in many roasts and flavors, including a couple of lines of Fair Trade and organic coffees. Fair Trade coffees help foster sustainable development in coffee growing communities, while organic coffees are made in tune with the environment.

Those lines include many of the flavors popular in an office setting, so your employees with only notice a difference when they read the package. By moving to a one-cup coffee maker, your socially responsible business can become even more socially responsible, one cup at a time.