Decaf Coffee
 

I am wondering if I will have any difficulty ordering decaf coffee in Germany. I recently had to give up caffeine due to health problems. This really stinks! I've never paid much attention to decaf. until now. I seem to remember small packets of decaf in France at the hotel, but I can't be for sure. Anyway, willl it be difficult to obtain decaf. in Germany?

Shouldn't be a problem. Nestl&eacute; is an international company, and their Nescaf&eacute; decaffeinated is marketed everywhere in Europe that I know of. Here's the product sold in Germany (<i>Entkoffeiniert</i> means decaffeinated):

http://www.nescafe.de/Home/Produkte/...offeiniert.htm

YOu probably will be able to get the powdered instant decaf. Gettng BREWED decaf is another matter... at least I have found it so in Greece. They seem to drink lethally strong coffee at 1 am with no ill effects -- Well, I could too when I was a young journalist... now I am an OLD ex-journalist, and no caffeine after about 2 pm!!

The Greeks actually, don't understand the &quot;non&quot; appreach at all. They have started selling &quot;Zero&quot; Coke, but they shrug about DeCaf &quot;what's the Point?&quot; and SweetnLow sweetener &quot;what's the point?&quot; -- and dont even go there about non-alcohol beer.

You will see instant decaf at most hotel breakfasts, but it tastes awful. Take some Folger's Decaf Singles with you (they are like tea bags, but with coffee). They aren't great, but will taste much better than the instant.

some restaurants will have decaf - but it isn't that common. I agree, take some decaf singles w/ you

-- or drink beer instead :D

Do not ask for &quot;decaf&quot; - no one will understand what you mean. Ask for &quot;caffeine-free&quot; as it sounds almost like the German term &quot;koffeinfrei&quot;.

All German cafes and restaurants etc. have it. (Italian coffee places maybe, maybe not.) The clientele who wants it is large. Kaffee HAG is the most common brand, you may find this written on menus.

i have never had prroblems finding de-caf coffee at caf&eacute;s in germany.

unless my pronunciation is off, i believe you say (as noted)&quot; Koe-fayne-fry &quot; Ka-fay

Hi E,

Cafe Haf is decaf only, even if it doesn't say &quot;koffeinfrei&quot; on the label.

It is very good.

We brought back 1 kg of the instant our last trip.

Available at all groceries throughout Germany.

Ask for &quot;koffeinfrei&quot; at restos.

((I))

OOOPS,

Cafe Hag, not Haf.

My mom is having decaffeinated coffee most of her life here in Spain and also when travelling in France, Italy , Portugal or London (the places where she had been to, and some of them almost 20 years ago). So I don't think you will have any problem ! No brewed one, that's right...but in my experience, brewed is not that good ;)

to clarify my post - I was referring to <u>brewed</u> decaf coffee. Instant is widely available.

Here in the Netherlands in decent restaurants you can get a good &quot;real&quot; Decaf coffee. The coffee machines they use are capable of any coffee from an espresso upwards, so using decaf beans or ground is not a problem for them. I usually opt for a decaf after a meal so I can have half a chance of some sleep at night. Our local restaurant even does decaf espresso which is just wonderful!
I buy beans from our local coffee burner and get decaf espresso beans from them, as well as full strength wake me up Espresso beans.
For drinking in your hotel room if it has coffee making facilities you can buy ground decaf in any supermarket, but failing that Hag or Douwe Egberts is the way to go.

I haven't been to Germany but there were tons of Starbucks in France and Italy and I understand they are in Germany too. They serve decaf coffee, if you just need a coffee fix.

For a couple health reasons, I switched to decaf about a year ago. The problem was that all decaf's did not affect me the same. Sometimes I got a terrible buzz.

Then a few months back consumer reports ran a short article on decaf coffee. Its findings explained my &quot;buzz&quot;. It said that there was no standard on how little caffeine could be present in a cup of coffee. That decaf in coffee shop A might have more caffeine than regular in coffee shop B. It also found that there was great variance day to day of caffeine levels in decaf coffee at some of our major chains.

It also found that McDonald's had the lowest consist level of caffeine in its decaf coffee. I have no idea if this extends to Germany. I wonder if McDonalds.de has decaf coffee.

Years ago I read that dark roasted beans (French roast) naturally had less caffeine. So, I limit my coffee to McD's decaf and Einstein Bagels' French Roast. I am not sure what to do in Germany myself.

Regards, Gary

Processes for decaffeination vary and some decaf can put you at risk if you have underlying health problems such as osteoporosis. You might be better off drinking the stuff with caffeine.
http://www.hwfc.com/CoopScoop/Jul03/main2article.html

In restaurants ask for Cafe Hag and you'll get decaf.

Sometimes it's brewed and sometimes it's instant....just like in the U.S.

I'm not sure where janis has looked, but for the last 5+ yrs I've had no problem finding brewed decaf all over Germany - N/S/E/W.

quokka has it correct - just ask for &quot;caffeine-free&quot; as it sounds almost like the German term &quot;koffeinfrei&quot;.

Thanks for all of the info. I do hope to drink some beer, but coffee is something I can't live without!

thank you hetismij for mentioning Douwe Egberts. Whenever I am in Europe I try to find their blue-labeled jars of decaf.

A beautiful, almost unique taste compared to anything I can find here.

I am sure you will be able to locate a supermarket that has it in stock, perhaps to use in your hotel bedroom?

Joe

Don't expect the average German hotel bedroom to provide any water-heating devices for coffee-making. Don't expect cups to be there either.

If anyone is looking for decaf in Italy, rest assured. My friends drink only decaf at night and every place we ate on a recent trip offered brewed decaf. The days of that powdered instant stuff are long gone, at least in Italy..

Remember Kaffee Hag is pronounced 'Caf&eacute; Hark' - you find in every coffee shop, bar and restaurant in Germany.

good point quokka, we have been twice in Berlin and each time there were no water heating devices or cups in the bedrooms.

It's lucky that we anticipated that, and took our own little single cup water heater and our own cups too. We still got our Douwe Egberts de-caf fix!

Joe