Coffee Addicts Unite!

One thing you will find is that the UK is rife with instant coffee.  For many people that's all they know.  Cheap, nasty instant coffee.  Ah well, it's still a tea-drinking nation.

DW would disagree with you on that point, she thinks we have some very good instant coffees, certainly far better and more choice that in the US. Said it's one of the things she'd miss about the UK. Her dad drinks instant and we are going to take some Kenco over for him.
I'm not saying it's better than filter coffee.

DW would disagree with you on that point, she thinks we have some very good instant coffees, certainly far better and more choice that in the US. Said it's one of the things she'd miss about the UK. Her dad drinks instant and we are going to take some Kenco over for him.
I'm not saying it's better than filter coffee.

Hmmm.  There certainly is a big selection of instant coffee here.  Everything from cheap and nasty to the more expensive types.  Maybe some of the more expensive ones are better.  Most of the people I work with don't even drink "real" coffee.  When they say coffee they mean instant--it's all they know.  They don't know what they're missing!

The best instant I've come across is the Starbucks VIA. It's quite expensive close to £4-£5 for a 12 packet box.

But I agree that most places you'll find that if you order coffee it's the nasty instant stuff unless you happen to be in a proper sit down resturant or a coffee shop. I despise instant and will only drink it when I am desperate for a cup of caffeine or am so broke that it's all I could afford.

VIA is pretty good, but way too expensive for me to justify. 

If you can find it (I don't know if they make it any more), 8 O'clock instant coffee in the States is pretty good.  I think their coffee in general is under-rated, and is an excellent value if you can't afford to buy it from other sources.  Anyway, I used to drink my coffee black and unsweetened, and I used to buy 8 O'clock instant for when I needed to finish a paper for school and didn't want to make a full pot of coffee.  I could never drink any other instant black.  Even VIA was a bit much for me when I tried it black.

I've gotten a bit used to instant since moving here, and I personally think Clipper is one of the best choices for instant.  I've not tried their decaf yet.  I think the problem is that most of the time, people choose Nescafe for instant. It's sort of like in some areas, if someone offers you tea in your house, you're going to get PG Tips (shudder).  So for all the choice, to a lot of people, Nescafe is coffee.

Chary, I've decided to find a good decaf.  Last night, I followed people's lead here, and bought Taylor's of Harrogate Decaffe.  I just made a pot, and it's okay.  Not great.  It has a very strong "decaf smell" and has that weird foretaste and  a different after taste.  I really hate that decaf smell, and I usually avoid decaf because of it.  It's not horrible.  Sort of smooth other than the slight decaf tastes, but a bit like drinking decaf Maxwell House.

I will try it in my press pot and moka pot.  Next week I am trying Sainsbury's Decaf Colombian.

It has a very strong "decaf smell" and has that weird foretaste and a different after taste.  I really hate that decaf smell, and I usually avoid decaf because of it.  It's not horrible.  Sort of smooth other than the slight decaf tastes, but a bit like drinking decaf Maxwell House.

I will try it in my press pot and moka pot.  Next week I am trying Sainsbury's Decaf Colombian.

That 'decaf smell' is from the decaffeination process that use a wide variety of chemicals to remove the caffeine. For me I'd rather have the caffeine than unknown chemicals in my brew. Since there are about 6 different ways to decaffeinate coffee & most labels don't state which method they use it's not a good thing.

Something you may want to try is an Arabica bean coffee that naturally has 1/2 the caffeine of a Robusta and is more smooth and less acidic. If you can find it then Ethiopian Arabica has about the same amount of caffeine as a standard decaf.

Something you may want to try is an Arabica bean coffee that naturally has 1/2 the caffeine of a Robusta and is more smooth and less acidic. If you can find it then Ethiopian Arabica has about the same amount of caffeine as a standard decaf.

Nope. I can't have caffeine full stop. Half the amount would perhaps only make me half as ill? 

Chary, I've decided to find a good decaf.  Last night, I followed people's lead here, and bought Taylor's of Harrogate Decaffe.  I just made a pot, and it's okay.  Not great.  It has a very strong "decaf smell" and has that weird foretaste and  a different after taste.  I really hate that decaf smell, and I usually avoid decaf because of it.  It's not horrible.  Sort of smooth other than the slight decaf tastes, but a bit like drinking decaf Maxwell House.

I will try it in my press pot and moka pot.  Next week I am trying Sainsbury's Decaf Colombian.

Keep me posted on your research, Legs!

As for VIA, the last time I checked, they didn't even do a decaf. Or, at least, it wasn't available at the Starbucks near (near being a relative term) us. I would be interested in trying it if they decided to cater to decaf drinkers, though. While I almost always do proper coffee, sometimes in a pinch it would be nice to have instant on hand for those times I'm in a hurry or just can't be bothered.

Something you may want to try is an Arabica bean coffee that naturally has 1/2 the caffeine of a Robusta and is more smooth and less acidic. If you can find it then Ethiopian Arabica has about the same amount of caffeine as a standard decaf.

Even when I was drinking caffeine, I only bought Arabica.  Even my instant was usually Arabica. I think you have to actually look hard to find Robusta outside of cheap coffees or blends nowadays, and I can taste Robusta a mile away...

I don't drink much decaf.  When I first gave up caffeine (this time), I drank only herb tea and water.  I did miss that morning creamy mug, and while I can put cream in rooibos, I don't like drinking too much of that stuff.  I avoided decaf for years because of the reports of the chemical process raising cholesterol and messing with you, but has there been any research into it?  I'd be interested in reading any research, and if not, they should do it.  I am hoping a cup or two a day (sometimes none) won't kill me.

ETA: According to Taylor's of Harrogat's site on that coffee I bought:

Many processes for removing caffeine from raw coffee beans use chemical solvents. With our decaffeinated coffee, the caffeine has been gently removed using the Pure Water Process, a technique developed in Switzerland. The unroasted coffee is soaked in water, which has been enriched with only the natural compounds found within coffee: sugars, minerals, and so on.

This water draws the caffeine from the beans so that it becomes dispersed equally throughout the water. It is then washed away, and the process is repeated until no caffeine remains within the beans.

We have chosen excellent arabica coffees from Brazil and Guatemala.

Yep, there ought to be more water-processed decafs. I used to buy it in the US, but can't seem to find any here. I need to do more research!

I've heard of a few studies done about cholesterol levels, arthritis & decaf links. Here's one: http://www.steadyhealth.com/articles/Is_Decaffeinated_Or_Decaf_Coffee_Healthy__a800.html

The above article mentions studies from US NIH & American College of Rheumatology.

If going as caffeine free as possible is a goal and keeping your coffee too, the Ethiopian Arabica has the same amount of caffeine as decaf. I haven't seen it anywhere but I really haven't been looking for it... it may be an option.

Well, it's made me reconsider my need for caffeine coffee decaf or otherwise.  If, according to the Wikipedia article Weby posted, there's only one plant which does the Swiss water process, transporting the coffee from its source to Vancouver and then sending it to wherever it's packed (hopefully there), then onto us is a lot of air miles.  I used to justify my coffee with the thought that I drank mostly African coffees, and I hoped it was packaged in Europe (better still the UK).  So, when all was said and done, I drank coffee with fewer air miles than some people's produce.

I've heard of a few studies done about cholesterol levels, arthritis & decaf links. Here's one: http://www.steadyhealth.com/articles/Is_Decaffeinated_Or_Decaf_Coffee_Healthy__a800.html

The above article mentions studies from US NIH & American College of Rheumatology.

If going as caffeine free as possible is a goal and keeping your coffee to the Ethiopian Arabica has the same amount of caffeine as decaf. I haven't seen it anywhere but I really haven't been looking for it... it may be an option.

Are you talking about this? All Arabica is Ethopian because IIRC, that's where it was first found.  The Sainsbury's TTD Sidamo I used to buy is Arabica grown in Ethopia.  But I would have never known they found a naturally decaf coffee if you hadn't posted it.  Thanks for that.

Are you talking about this? All Arabica is Ethopian because IIRC, that's where it was first found.  The Sainsbury's TTD Sidamo I used to buy is Arabica grown in Ethopia.  But I would have never known they found a naturally decaf coffee if you hadn't posted it.  Thanks for that.

Not all Arabicas have the same caffeine level - whilst they are, overall, lower than the Robustas, there is one variant that seems to have almost no caffeine at all.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea_arabica#Research

There is an Ethiopian Coffea arabica that naturally contains very little caffeine. Maria Bernadete Silvarolla, a researcher of Instituto Agronomico de Campinas (IAC), published findings in the journal Nature about these strains of Coffea arabica plants. While beans of normal Coffea arabica plants contains 12 milligrams of caffeine per gram of dry mass, these newly found mutants contain only 0.76 milligrams of caffeine per gram with all the taste of normal coffee.

Yeah, according to the blurb under the link I posted, they are hoping to cultivate it.  It's not for sale yet.  It's a hopeful development. The name of it is coffea charrieriana.  Someone needs to enter Wikipedia edit mode and clean up some of the info on it.  It's all over the place.

For those interested:

http://www.swisswater.com/ There's a bit of a guide to the Swiss Water process.  It's only done in Vancouver, BC.  The search for retailers function didn't work for me as the place I got that Taylor's of Harrogate stuff is not all that far from me.  It definitely means that I will stick with either this decaf or find another with that process (if I don't reconsider my need for decaf altogether and just stick to herb tea).

The search for retailers function didn't work for me as the place I got that Taylor's of Harrogate stuff is not all that far from me.  It definitely means that I will stick with either this decaf or find another with that process (if I don't reconsider my need for decaf altogether and just stick to herb tea).

I found quite a few other water-processed decafs, but they were all online retailers. Taylor's was the only physical shop I came up with - though I didn't really look all that hard.

Well, it looks like anything organic needs to have a chemically free decaffeination process.  So anything certified organic would be done either with the Swiss Water Process or CO₂ process.  So Clipper Organic decaf instant (or any other certified organic decaf) would be made without solvents.

http://www.ethicalsuperstore.com/products/clipper/clipper-organic-instant-decaffeinated-coffee-100g/  Scroll down, and the Q&A explains the criteria.

ETA: Look what I found when I was looking for stuff: http://www.cartenoire.co.uk/cartenoire/page?PagecRef=1  Totally not anything to do with coffee (really), but some people might like to have a guy read them the classics.