Decaffeinated Coffee Scam - Nicole VanPutten

I gave up caffeine quite a while ago, or so I thought. I was putting away my coffee that I ordered from Sam’s Club and I read the package: 99.9% caffeine free. Ummm. It turns out that all decaffeinated coffee has caffeine in it. Yup, it may only be a little bit, but it’s there. So I know most of you are asking yourselves, “Sam’s Club coffee?”. First let me tell you that this stuff is good. It’s whole bean, organic, medium roast coffee and it works great with my Chemex. The problem is, as I just discovered, it’s not actually caffeine free.

Before I went into a caffeinated tailspin I did a little research and found that not only do all decaf coffees contain caffeine, but they contain it in varying amounts. Starbucks’ decaf has 20 mg of caffeine per 12 ounce cup while Caribou Coffee has just 4 mg. In contrast Starbucks’ regular joe has 260 mg of caffeine per 12 ounces and Caribou Coffee has 230 mg. My Member’s Mark, Sam’s Club coffee has about 2 to 4 mg of caffeine per cup depending on how it’s prepared, which is not too bad. Keep in mind that the beans I use every single day are organic, water processed beans and at Starbucks you are getting, well, who knows.

fauquierent.blogspot.com

If you’re looking for a high quality decaf coffee and you don’t have access to Sam’s club there are lots of online coffee distributors who offer water processed decaf. You might pay a premium, but you are still going to pay less per cup than a ridiculous Keurig machine or going to a coffee shop every day. Our local coffee shop, Water Street has a great selection of water processed decaf coffees that I switch to when I cannot get to Sam’s Club and they will deliver to your house.

swisswater.com

Caffeine and I have not seen eye to eye in a long time, but I had no idea that it was still part of my life in a tiny way. To overdose on caffeine I would need to ingest a whole lot of Starbucks coffee, something that is not only unlikely, but completely absurd.