Naturally Decaffeinated Coffee Plant Discovered. [props to Jake]
Arabica beans have been found that, on their own, do not produce caffeine. For decaf drinkers, this should be great news – modern decaffeination processes also strip some of the flavor oils from the beans. However, call me old fashioned but just like the earth is round and the sun rises in the east, coffee should have caffeine. To quote:
Other caffeine-free plants have been reported, but the latest comes from the same genetic stock as today’s elite commercial strains. This means the decaffeinated trait should be relatively easy to breed into popular types of coffee.
If there was ever an argument against genetically modified foods, this is the one for me. Now, pass me the black tea…
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
do we use pinto beans or soy beans for coffee? Noooo! why should be use Arabica beans? No caffiene – no coffee.
Actually, coffee comes in two main types, Robusta and Arabica. Arabica makes the better coffee; these are particular strains of Arabica that don’t contain caffeine.
But I agree with the sentiment. Call it something else.
But if it’s an Arabica plant, that’s what it is … caffeine or not. Heck, I would think you would rejoice over a *good* caffeine free coffee! (You know, since it’s not SBD friendly and all that… *giggle*)
Oh, I dunno. I am surprised at myself for not being as upset about this as you are because I am a purist as well, but I think it sounds kind of cool. I never drink decaf myself, however.
On a side note, I was under the impression that in most cases, it wasn’t the decaffeination process itself that makes the coffee taste like crap (especially with the Swiss water method), it was the fact that the extra cost of removing the caffeine would make it too expensive to the consumer so they use lower quality beans to make up for it.