Decaffeination
Before working in a coffeeshop, I believed in "death before decaf" simply because I was young and foolish and thought decaf was uncool. Once I got my start at Buzz and learned a little bit about the decaffeination process, I held to my anti-decaf leanings, not liking the idea of sacrificing flavor for the sake of reduced caffeine intake. After reading wikipedia's article on decaffeination, I'm sure I made the right choice in avoiding decaf. I prefer my beverage ingredients to not be made with hydrocarbon-based solvents. Not that all of the methods of removing the caffeine use such solvents, but how often is the end-consumer fully informed of processes involved in growing, decaffeinating, and roasting the beans used to make the coffee he drinks?
Of the available methods, Swiss Water Process intrigues me the most: http://www.swisswater.com/
There may be hope on the horizon for the caffeine intollerant, without resorting to charrieriana or anthonyi beans, naturally caffeine-free aribica was discovered -- http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6064, http://www.roastmagazine.com/backissues/janfeb2005/caffeinecontrol.html -- as long as they're not resorting to GMO's that is.
Of the available methods, Swiss Water Process intrigues me the most: http://www.swisswater.com/
There may be hope on the horizon for the caffeine intollerant, without resorting to charrieriana or anthonyi beans, naturally caffeine-free aribica was discovered -- http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn6064, http://www.roastmagazine.com/backissues/janfeb2005/caffeinecontrol.html -- as long as they're not resorting to GMO's that is.