When asked of his opinion on decaffeinated coffee, TATA Café proprietor Benjamin Lee squints his eyes in disgust, looking down his wrinkled nose at us in the same way that a Scotch lover would regard someone who’s just mixed coke with a premium glass of Macallan. “Caffeine is an essential part of the coffee experience,” says Lee. “How many people do you see smoking nicotine-free cigarettes?”

Ever since the first decaffeination process was developed by German coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius in 1903, decaf has been a subject of scorn and opprobrium among over-stimulated coffee lovers. Roselius’ technique relied on benzene, a chemical compound that was later discovered to be a harmful carcinogen. This came as a delicious irony to the anti-decaf camp, given the first decaf supplier’s rather dubious sales slogan: ‘Kaffe Hag Skaaner Deres Huerte’ (Dutch for ‘Coffee Hag Cleans the Heart’). However, the ultimate line of decaf disparagement goes to American country western singer turned mystery writer Kinky Friedman, who once wrote of the beverage’s maddeningly non-stimulatory effects, “If you drink too much decaf coffee you will cease to exist.”

But not all coffee connoisseurs are as partisan. Taking an Obama-like tone of conciliation is roaster Felix Wong of Café Corridor in Causeway Bay, “I was surprised. I roast decaf and it can be delicious.” Wong says decaf generally gets a bad rap because consumption quantity is so low that not much care is taken in refining the decaf beans.

Lee would rebut that flavour is lost long before roasting begins. “Today, there are two processes for removing the caffeine from coffee beans, one chemical, and one that uses water,” he explains. In the Swiss water process – the most popular method in use today – coffee beans are soaked in hot distilled water until all of the beans’ caffeine and coffee solids are released. The coffee infused water is then run through a filter that removes most of the caffeine. Fresh beans are then submerged in this ‘flavour charged’ water, and via the principle of osmosis, only the caffeine leaves the beans. “The suppliers will tell you almost no flavour is lost during decaffeination,” says Lee. “I doubt that, but then again, I can’t really say because I would never drink the stuff.”

As it so often does, technological development may soon dampen the time tested taste debate. In 2004, scientists discovered a high quality Arabica coffee variety in Ethiopia that naturally contains almost no caffeine. Researchers are currently at work at hybridising the trees to bring an all-natural decaf coffee bean to the mass market. Yet to Lee, the question remains, “No caffeine – what’s the point?”

Patrick Brzeski

Top coffee spots by district:
Central
Sheung Wan
Causeway Bay & Wan Chai
Tsim Sha Tsui

Profiles:
The Obsessive: Spencer Douglass
The Educator: Sanjay Ponnapa
The Indie Owner: Felix Wong
The Mechanic: Paul Pratt