If you’re like most people, you probably throw away coffee grounds after each cup or every pot. It is smarter, after all, than your natural inclination, which is to throw it down the sink.
But did you know that you can use those grounds to improve your life in a number of ways? Here is our top ten of the best:
1. Use them as an organic fertiliser.
Coffee is a good plant food because it’s high in nitrogen and provides a boost to the growth of plants. Add some ground coffee to your soil before planting your plants and watch them grow more vigorously than usual.
2. Clean your windows with coffee grounds.
Not only does this get rid of dirt and dust, but the grounds also have a cleaning effect on glass. Simply sprinkle some of those grounds on a cloth and wipe the glass clean.
3. Make natural ant-infestation killers with coffee grounds.
Coffee is a natural flea killer, and its acidic properties help deter ants from establishing colonies. Just place some ground coffee inside small bowls or cups and place them near areas where ants are active.
4. Add grounds to your compost.
Coffee grounds are high in nitrogen and electrolytes, which help promote microbial growth in compostable materials.
5. Use your coffee grounds as mulch.
Back out in the garden with summers getting hotter and drier, a layer of mulch in your flower or vegetable beds saves what water you can use in the garden from evaporating away. Coffee grounds are an excellent mulch and full of nutrients as well.
6. Use the decaf grounds to scrub pots and pans.
Coffee Grounds work well as a scrubber because they are abrasive and have a ridged texture.
7. Keep your path clear of snow.
Coffee grounds can be spread on icy paths and pavements, melting the ice and snow. The gritty texture of the grounds will also guard against slipping up by providing some traction. Coffee’s chemical make-up will prevent it from freezing in a similar way to road grit.
8. Getting rid of nasty smells.
Coffee grounds work as well as baking soda to get rid of pongs in your fridge. The same nitrogen that is good for your garden soil has an ability to absorb the foul smell of sulphur, among other dodgy scents.
9. As an exfoliant you will never see in a TV advert for £150 face-cream.
Coffee grounds are similar to sand in texture and can be used as a natural skin scrubber. You can use them directly on your skin as an exfoliant and to clean clogged pores or make them into a loose exfoliating bar with water. Because you’re worth it.
10. As a kitchen condiment.
Coffee could be considered as a staple for most kitchens, but it also has a number of culinary applications, including in cooking. For instance, coffee grounds are often used as a smoky topping for meats like brisket or steak. Coffee grounds are also required ingredients for barbecue sauces and for rubbing meat. What is more, coffee is acidic, which tenderizes meat and breaks down nutrients.
Naturally caffeine-free coffee might not strike you as either a worthy subject for a toast or the perfect drink to charge a glass with, but the health benefits of managing the caffeine intake of you and yours could lead to better outcomes and long life. That’s something we can all raise a glass to.
So, with new discoveries in the world of caffeine awareness afoot, I Love Decaf, presents a guide to what’s going on now and in the near future.
Caffeine-free coffee beans: do they mean the end of decaffeination?
Naturally, we are all used to decaffeinated coffee. We know that, given the right beans, grind, roast and decaffeination method, there’s no need to sacrifice the great taste when we ditch the caffeine.
But could the process of decaffeination be side-stepped altogether if a bean was cultivated that had no caffeine in it at all? Coffee cultivation, like all agricultural enterprises, draws heavily on scientific principles – geology, meteorology, horticultural science, biology and botany, but as it happens, there’s no need for all the boffin ‘ologies’. There are already a few half-caff and even some no-caff coffee beans out there in the wild.
Nature beat science to it and that sounds great to us. So, why are supermarket shelves not filling up with naturally caffeine-free coffee right now? Are these naturally caffeine-free beans not suitable in some way for the big time? Is it because of a global conspiracy? Is it the warped manifesto of ‘big coffee’? Perhaps it’s a shadowy Government cabal determined to keep us as busy, wired and panic-stricken as possible? Maybe it just tastes awful, you know, like Nescafé.
None of the above. If anything, its absence from the supermarket could be down to the natural properties of caffeine itself.
Just because you want to kick it out of your coffee, the plant itself doesn’t care about your twitching eyelids or what Kid Barista at Costabucks say, caffeine has a real purpose as far as the plant is concerned.
To find out what that might be, we should look at one the most recent discoveries of naturally caffeine free coffee plants.
Un-caffeinated: the answer to decaffeination?
In the wilder corners of the world, a surprising number of new species of plants and animals are discovered all the time. An average of 10,000 a year. In 2007, however, science busted the average wide open and formally identified over 18,500 plants and animals.
Among all those breakthrough species, described scientifically for the first time, was a previously unknown coffee plant. Between a Welsh, carnivorous, white slug, a bacterium that lives in hairspray and a species of palm that tries so hard for pollination it flowers itself to death, was a naturally caffeine-free species of coffee.
Charrier Coffee – Naturally Caffeine-Free
The naturally caffeine-free coffee plant, Coffea charrieriana or Charrier Coffee, was discovered in the Bakossi Forest Reserve in Western Cameroon and is the first of its kind in Central Africa. It joins an Ethiopian un-caffeinated variety of Arabica and a Kenyan coffee plant – both recently discovered – and 30 out of 47 Indian Ocean Island varieties that are known to contain very little or no caffeine.
Scientists say that the ancestors of Charrier Coffee – like most of its ilk – diverged from caffeinated coffees around 11 million years ago. So far, so good, but at its first listing millions of years down the line, wild Charrier Coffee was given a ‘red’ critically threatened conservation status. A conservation effort is underway, but seeds have also been collected and exported for commercial cultivation in Costa Rica and Brazil.
Those who have tasted Charrier Coffee report it has a much less thick texture than Arabica and has an almost tea-like quality.
What has caffeine ever done for the coffee plant?
Its endangered status might not be purely down to the usual suspects of forest clearance and habitat loss – there could be other factors at play and caffeine content might be just as important to Charrier Coffee as it is to you and me.
Some experts believe that caffeine-containing plants are safer from certain insects, vertebrates, bacteria and fungi, the caffeine acting as a kind of pesticide to protect the seeds. If caffeine has potential to safeguard the plant, caffeine-free varieties grown at scale might offer much lower yields unless they are cultivated higher up mountains beyond the range of insect pests.
Lower yields would mean much higher prices and, indeed, initial batches of cultivated naturally caffeine-free coffee sold at significant premiums.
Caffeine kills coffee plants
The jury is still out on whether caffeine’s pesticidal qualities are really all that, though other species – principally tea and cocoa – have both evolved caffeine content independently of coffee, even though that is apparently a high-stakes adaptation. Experts point to the fact that caffeine is not only a pesticide but also has the potential to kill the very plant that produces it. Caffeine produced in plants is a by-product of other processes and is physically isolated in special cell compartments called vacuoles. Ironically, concentrated caffeine is poisonous to plant cells. Even the coffee tree, it seems, doesn’t want the caffeine and operates a network of its own toxic waste dumps.
One last – and bizarre – theory for the presence of caffeine is that it is there for us and, like many other plants with psychoactive ingredients, part of their success comes from human cultivation. Like honeybees collecting nectar and pollinating flowers, we are in a symbiotic relationship with tea and coffee plants, only it’s us that gets the buzz, while they enjoy the comfort and care of the extraordinary lengths we go to in cultivation.
Half Caff Coffee
Long before Western science started going on species collection to exotic locations all over the globe (and South Wales; remember the slug?) the world knew of naturally low caffeine species of coffee plant. Liberian Coffee is one such species.
Coffea liberica or Liberian Coffee, as the name suggests, is a native of west and central Africa from Angola and Uganda in the south to Liberia at its northern range. It has also become naturalised in the Indian Ocean Islands and southeast Asia and can be found in the Philippines, Indonesia, the Seychelles, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Malaysia.
Liberian is the third most popular bean in the world, but the dominance of Robusta and Arabica beans means it amounts only to around 1.5% of all cultivated coffee. Despite this, its caffeine content – around half of Robusta’s – means that it fetches premium prices on the coffee market. Unlike Charrier Coffee, it still does contain an appreciable dose of caffeine.
If you fancy a half-caff, I Love Decaf has a Halfway House half-caff offering if you’re not sure you want to go the whole hog right away or you just want a little bit of extra go in your juice. Its 50% decaf portion is even produced using the chemical solvent-free Swiss Water Process – another tick towards a healthy lifestyle.
Health benefits of lower caffeine
People who are sensitive to caffeine already have a reason to cut it out; it simply makes them feel unwell. They lose sleep, they have hand tremors, they might even have heart palpitations.
Almost all of us will experience some heart pounding after a coffee binge, so it’s no surprise that – almost to the exclusion of all other caffeine side effects – the heart and circulation are major concerns.
There is a lot of contradictory evidence on the effects of coffee generally on your health. Everyone seems to agree, however, that as a specific stimulant, caffeine does have real effects on your metabolism and by cutting it out, you still get to enjoy some of the positive effects of coffee without caffeine.
Nothing seems cut and dried on caffeine however – as this workshop clearly shows. Before reading that link, you might want to either complete a degree in biomedicine or be prepared to consume a few cups of strong joe to get to the end.
There are some easy takeaways though. It seems that caffeine use is safer sitting down than an hour before you go out for a run or hit the gym. Caffeine and exercise do not mix well with regards to circulation, blood pressure and heart health.
If you are looking after your health, especially if you are incorporating exercise and activity into a healthy lifestyle, the message is clear; it is probably best to keep off the caffeine. Also it’s clear that caffeine won’t help with high blood pressure or hypertension.
Decaffeinating your life is one of many approaches and strategies you can try on a journey to better health. Broadly, it’s an element of ‘detox’ – while caffeine is a mild stimulant in moderation, your body and brain still get used to it being in your blood stream. Your brain, in particular, does not tolerate chemical change well and this is where withdrawal comes in. Fortunately, the most common symptom of caffeine withdrawal is a minor tension headache, and the cravings are quick to subside.
With decaffeinated tea and coffee you can even mask some of the cravings and continue to enjoy the same tastes and aromas you have become accustomed to.
So: so far, a small amount of sacrifice to decaf your body, but can it make your life better in a meaningful way?
The narrative of detox is intertwined with lifestyle woo-woo. That’s a term we just made up to describe a big wicker basket of good-intention ideas like veganism, holistic spirituality and Eastern systems of thought. Nothing wrong with any of it, but decaffeinating your life is about restoring a chemical, not spiritual, balance in your body.
You know us – we are hardly the type of people to go all yoga-crystal-dreamcatcher-mindful-woo-woo on you. As far as we are aware, we have no chakras and feng-shui is not so much a way of life but more of a storage solution. Neither do we store our socks to the west of a lucky rabbit’s foot. Think about that for a moment: It wasn’t so lucky for the rabbit, was it?
Trust us when we say, we have no woo-woo.
Your body doesn’t need caffeine
The best reason for drinking less or no caffeine is that your body doesn’t need it. Like nicotine, heroin and strong painkillers, your body has just got used to it being around. Caffeinistas claim that it helps attention and focus, and they are both right and wrong at the same time. Scientific trials have concluded that, at best, caffeine helps attention and focus get back to where it was before you became withdrawn. And that’s what caffeine withdrawal looks like – a craving for a big mug of coffee in the morning to escape the tug of withdrawal and restore the world to where it should have been. It’s not restoring the world; it’s restoring your brain chemistry. Your brain in this instance is acting like a wilful, truculent teenager. It’s refusing to get its act together until you do something nice for them. Your teen asks you for money, chocolate or the latest tech before they clean their room. Your brain won’t move until it gets a chemical leg-up. Like your teen, your brain is lazy and used to the good life of drip-fed feel-good. The good news is that the brain has its own feel-good chemistry, caffeine is a cheat code that robs it of achieving its own balance.
Your brain is the most complicated thing you own. Indeed, it is among the most complex things in the known universe. It is capable of extraordinary calculation and every minute of your waking day, it perceives, renders and constructs your entire world. Throwing additional stimulants into the sentient bucket of porridge that exists between your ears is like lighting a campfire in an art gallery.
Decaffeinating your life is one part of restoring the natural balance of this most sensitive instrument. Once the minor withdrawals are over it will make your life better simply by re-establishing its unaided potential.
While the answer to ‘Is decaf coffee free from caffeine?’ may seem obvious, the reality is more nuanced than that. The short answer is ‘yes’, the correct answer is ‘the absolute minimum’. In legal terms, to be considered decaf, at least 97% of the caffeine must be removed. Some decaf coffees, however, can improve on that and remove up to 99.99% of the original caffeine present like in one of our decaf coffees, Luxe Organic Honduran Decaf Coffee.
In short, you can’t change a leopard’s spots, but you can remove its teeth. The upshot is that you’ll be a lot calmer than either drinking a lot of caffeine or attempting dental work on a leopard.*
So, the answer is yes, decaf coffee does contain caffeine, albeit tiny amounts of the stuff.
The upshot is that you’ll be a lot calmer than either drinking a lot of caffeine or attempting dental work on a leopard.
Decaf, half-caf
There are also coffee blends that contain reduced caffeine, like our Frankenstein Monster 50/50 blend of regular and decaf. Our monster blend is a bit of a beast, to be fair, so if you’re worried about just how much caffeine remains in decaf, it’s probably not for you. If you fancy a more gradual approach to decaffeinating yourself, it might suit you as a halfway house to 99% decaffeination. Our Frankenstein Monster 50/50 has delicious notes of cocoa, praline and orange that permeate its hybrid blend. Handpicked coffee beans from the Nicaraguan Jinotega estate augment Swiss Water decaffeinated Honduran beans. It’s a great coffee with either less of the caffeine for those of you that don’t want to go all the way or more of the caffeine if you think you’ve gone too far.
This is all a long way from the very first decaffeination in history performed just over 200 years ago by German chemist Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, after being challenged to do so by German poet Goethe. Runge did not take it to the next level and do anything productive, however, being content to note the caffeine’s potential for gardening.
“After Goethe had expressed to me his greatest satisfaction regarding the account of the man whom I’d rescued … he handed me a carton of coffee beans, which a Greek had sent him as a delicacy. “You can also use these in your investigations,” said Goethe. He was right; for soon thereafter I discovered therein caffeine, which became so famous on account of its high nitrogen content.”
Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge
Germany: the world’s first decaffei-nation
Over 80 years later in 1906, a chance discovery of a decaffeination by another German – coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius – ended in a patent and the foundation of the world’s first decaffeinated coffee brand, Kaffee Hag, subsequently named Café Hag. Roselius was later implicated in a 1943 plot to blow up Hitler on his flight back to Berlin from the East. Once again, decaf is on the side of good, though we are not so sure about Café Hag.
*Please do not attempt at-home dentistry on a leopard or any other animal with a British Standards competency certificate in mauling people.
The Only Trillionaire’s Decaf Coffee (in the known universe)£11.99 – £29.99
Inca Gold Organic Decaf Coffee Pods (Swiss Water, Sustainable & Fairtrade)£13.99
Everyday Italiana Decaf Coffee£6.49 – £19.99
Luxe Organic Swiss Water Honduran Decaf Coffee£7.49 – £24.99
Happy Medium Roasted Decaf Coffee£6.49 – £20.00
Orizaba Mountain Water Decaf Coffee (Swiss Water Style)£7.49 – £27.40
New English Breakfast Brew Decaf Tea£12.00 – £37.00
Natural Brasilia Swiss Water Decaf Coffee£9.96 – £27.99
Sheba’s Small and Large Leaf Best Decaf Tea£16.99 – £59.99
