<p>In short: <strong>Very probably, you will lose the very best part of your coffee.</strong></p>

<p>Caffeine is highly soluble, yes. But, also the other lipids and aromatics, too. So, you cannot obtain the benefits of <em>specialty coffee</em> if you ruin that first brew. The main taste we gain from coffee grounds are received from the soluble aromatic oils in the coffee. You don't want to loose them by pouring.</p>

<p>Normally, decaffeination process is made when the beans are green. That's why the aromatics are kept inside the beans when the beans are over-hydrated and then dried (in the Swiss process, which is the common way recently) a few times in a cycle to near completely remove the caffeine.</p>

<p>You can check the decaffeination process in the following question:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://coffee.stackexchange.com/questions/120/how-is-decaffeinated-coffee-made">How is decaffeinated coffee made?</a></li>
</ul>

<p>And also watch a nice explanatory animation <a href="https://counterculturecoffee.com/learn/resource-center/natural-decaffeination-explained" rel="noreferrer">here</a>.</p>

<p>Still, if you wonder how to use the grounds for a second time, please see this discussion:</p>

<ul>
<li><a href="https://coffee.stackexchange.com/questions/1749/brewing-with-the-same-coffee-grounds-twice">Brewing with the same coffee grounds twice?</a></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-01T17:02:10.930Z
While waiting for an answer, I tried it and you are right.  The coffee tasted like a weak, watered-down brew.  A better way might be to make a 50/50 mix of regular beans and decaff beans then grind them together.
Penny11
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-05-31T14:09:34.893Z
2018-05-31T14:09:34.893Z
MTSan
<p>I saw this on a coffee site:  </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>As we all know, it is really hard to get a good decaf specialty
  coffee. The decaf process removes oils and flavors as well as the
  caffeine, leaving a blah cup behind. It's a little known trick that
  you can "decaf" your coffee using a french press. Pour just enough hot
  water to cover the grounds. Let sit briefly. Press the grounds and
  pour off the water. As caffeine is highly soluble in water, this first
  extraction should pull off most of it. Then add more water to the pot,
  and extract as usual. Voila! A ‘decaffeinated’ coffee.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Is there any validity to this?  Are you just tossing out good coffee or does this actually work?  Many thanks.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-06-02T20:02:30.260Z
My suggestion is to keep looking for good decaf specialty coffee. I found some decaf Ethiopian Sidamo that tastes wonderful.
Jerry101
<flavor><ground-coffee><decaffeinated>
Decaf coffee, how to make our own
Penny11
# Decaf coffee, how to make our own

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-05-31)

I saw this on a coffee site:

> As we all know, it is really hard to get a good decaf specialty
> coffee. The decaf process removes oils and flavors as well as the
> caffeine, leaving a blah cup behind. It's a little known trick that
> you can "decaf" your coffee using a french press. Pour just enough hot
> water to cover the grounds. Let sit briefly. Press the grounds and
> pour off the water. As caffeine is highly soluble in water, this first
> extraction should pull off most of it. Then add more water to the pot,
> and extract as usual. Voila! A ‘decaffeinated’ coffee.

Is there any validity to this? Are you just tossing out good coffee or does this actually work? Many thanks.

**Tags:** flavor, ground-coffee, decaffeinated

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: My suggestion is to keep looking for good decaf specialty coffee. I found some decaf Ethiopian Sidamo that tastes wonderful.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-05-31. Score: 5

In short: **Very probably, you will lose the very best part of your coffee.**

Caffeine is highly soluble, yes. But, also the other lipids and aromatics, too. So, you cannot obtain the benefits of *specialty coffee* if you ruin that first brew. The main taste we gain from coffee grounds are received from the soluble aromatic oils in the coffee. You don't want to loose them by pouring.

Normally, decaffeination process is made when the beans are green. That's why the aromatics are kept inside the beans when the beans are over-hydrated and then dried (in the Swiss process, which is the common way recently) a few times in a cycle to near completely remove the caffeine.

You can check the decaffeination process in the following question:

* [How is decaffeinated coffee made?](https://coffee.stackexchange.com/questions/120/how-is-decaffeinated-coffee-made)

And also watch a nice explanatory animation [here](https://counterculturecoffee.com/learn/resource-center/natural-decaffeination-explained).

Still, if you wonder how to use the grounds for a second time, please see this discussion:

* [Brewing with the same coffee grounds twice?](https://coffee.stackexchange.com/questions/1749/brewing-with-the-same-coffee-grounds-twice)

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: While waiting for an answer, I tried it and you are right.  The coffee tasted like a weak, watered-down brew.  A better way might be to make a 50/50 mix of regular beans and decaff beans then grind them together.  

---

