To caf or not to caf

Do you drink decaf? According to a recent article in Entrepreneur magazine, the number of decaf drinkers are increasing. The decaf "community" represents a segment of the market that is almost "too taboo to discuss in public." The increase in numbers, not surprisingly, has a correlation to the increase in an older population--ie, the baby boomers--who traditionally have been decaf drinkers.

One of the surprising statistics they include is that "roughly 70% of all decaffeinated coffee is consumed in the morning." I think of the morning as the time for high-octane consumption. But according to this article, Starbucks announced that they will not brew decaf past noon, unless requested by a customer. I recently read that some restaurants really don't brew regular coffee in the evening and even if you don't ask for decaf, you may get it anyway. But that is solely because they are winding down and it represents less work for them at the end of the day. Apparently restaurants have their little secrets.

This same article points out one of my wife's biggest disappointments that there isn't a great choice when it comes to decaf. You simply can't get the kind of origins and roasts that regular-coffee drinkers have. But times may change! The industry is starting to pick up on the demands of an increasing demographic.