Decaf Coffee Not So DeCaf

I have never really gotten the point of decaffeinated coffee, probably because I feel like the point of coffee is that it has caffeine in it and will therefore wake you up/keep you awake. If you don't want that, then I think "why would you drink coffee at all?"

The only reasons I can come up with are that you want to "look" like you are drinking coffee when you can't actually consume caffeine (maybe you're hiding a pregnancy? or the doc has given you a caffeine ban), or because your host offers you coffee after dinner and you don't want caffeine right before bed, but you don't want to appear rude so you accept, or you are trying to ween yourself off coffee and are using decaf as a poor substitute.

If those are your reasons (or if you have another one, let me know), then this article on the caffeine levels in decaf might be a bit disheartening for you. But, I will tell you about it anyway.

Here we go: Undercover coffee cops from Consumer Reports recently tested 36 cups of decaf coffee brewed at Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, 7-Eleven, McDonald's and Burger King, and found the caffeine levels in some of the cups to be surprisingly high.

A normal full-caffeine packed coffee has between 85 and 100 milligrams of caffeine, and most decafs have less than five milligrams - but not all. One decaf from Dunkin' Donuts had 32 milligrams of caffeine (the same as a can of coke classic), a cup of Seattle's Best had 29 milligrams of caffeine, and a tall cup of Starbucks had nearly 21 milligrams

Now, I don't think anyone expects a decaf cup of coffee to be completely caffeine-free, but I think most people assume that they come a lot closer than that (and most do). But, what this study really demonstrates is that the decaf process is unreliable, so while sometimes you're going to get a near perfect decaf, other times it might provide a little buzz than you would like.

In response to this study, I want to say "don't drink decaf, drink the real thing," but I realize that this is a little harsh - there may come a time when I find myself having to drink decaf. So, instead I will say, "Be aware that coffee is coffee, and coffee has caffeine, so even decaf has the potential to keep you awake."