What is Low Caf Coffee?

 

What is Low Caf Coffee?

Low caf coffees are species or varieties of coffee with naturally lower levels of caffeine. A common low caf coffee is an Arabica variety, Laurina. This variety was first discovered on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. In 1715 the French transported Arabica coffee of the Bourbon variety from Yemen to Reunion. Around 100 years after this, the unusual Laurina was noted due to its small, pointed beans. Academic research has shown that Laurina is a natural mutation from the Bourbon varieties that were transported by the French.Laurina remains rare, partly as it is difficult to grow - the lower caffeine level makes them more susceptible to pests.

Other factors can influence caffeine content

Coffee species and variety aren’t the only factors that can influence the caffeine content of a coffee. Environmental factors can also have an impact. It has been shown that within the same variety of coffee, caffeine content varies depending on the altitude of the plant. Decreasing altitude can result in higher caffeine content. One study looked at Arabica Coffee of the same variety planted at three elevations in the same region of Ethiopia. Plants were observed at 1950m, 1750m and 1200m elevation. The increase in caffeine content at lower elevations was significant – at 1750m the coffee had around 10% more caffeine content than at 1950m. The coffee at 1200m had around a further 10% increase in its caffeine content. This is thought to be due to the plants adapting to their environment – as they face more pests at lower elevations they produce more caffeine to provide resistance.

It is also believed that coffees grown under shade develop lower caffeine contents due to the slower maturation of the fruit and overall less-stressed growth cycle. Shade grown coffee is common in Ethiopia where farms are semi-wild. Other small scale farms can also introduce canopy growth amongst their coffee trees. On larger coffee estates in Brazil, it is unlikely to find shade grown coffee.

Other low caffeine coffees 

There are other low caffeine coffees apart from Laurina – these are from species other than Arabica, or hybrids between species.

Aramosa is a hybrid of two coffee species – Arabica and Racemosa. Racemosa is a species of coffee found in South Africa and Zimbabwe that naturally has around half the caffeine content of Arabica coffee. These two coffees were purposefully cross bred to create a naturally low caffeine coffee.

Eugenioides is an extremely rare coffee variety indigenous to East Africa that is thought to be one of the parent species of Arabica coffee. The coffee world became aware of Eugenoides after it was used in World Coffee competitions in 2021. It is currently considered an experimental crop and isnt generally found available for consumers (or roasters!).

Taste profile of low caf coffee

There does seem to be some general trends in taste profiles observed across different types of low caf coffees .These coffees tend to have a lower bitterness and higher perceived sweetness. They are often said to have lighter body producing more of a ‘tea-like’ coffee. This is certainly the case with our current low caf coffee Guatemala Nueva Granada.  Laurina variety coffees are often described as delicate, sweet and mild.Caffeine is a bitter tasting substance, so the lower caffeine content of these coffees does play a role in the reduced bitterness. However there are other components in raw coffee that impact the bitter flavours of coffee more significantly than caffeine.

Why drink Low Caf Coffee?