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Permalink Reply by Bob Von Kaenel on May 26, 2009 at 7:13am

I wouldn't want to discourage you from trying this, but I don't think you'll see a huge movement on this new offering. It seems to me that the majority of people who want caffine want it at full strength, and those who don't want caffine want none at all. You'll now be targeting an even smaller sub-set of customers who want a little caffine. I could be wrong, and will be curious to hear your results.

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Permalink Reply by Heath Henley on May 26, 2009 at 7:37am

Another problem is that every regular coffee has a different amount of caffeine. A blend comprised of 25% decaf and 75% reg. might have lower caffeine than 100% regular of that particular coffee, but not other coffees.

But why not give it a try? Do it in a low quantity and see if there is a market for it. As far as preferred ratio, I'd base it initially on taste. Even Swiss Water decafs have a distinct taste to me - and ironically surveys have shown that decaf drinkers are more interested in the flavor (duh, they aren't drinking it for the caffeine!) of coffee than regular coffee drinkers (this was mentioned in Roast a couple of years ago, I believe).

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Permalink Reply by Ric on May 26, 2009 at 7:40am

I think there could be legs in it. I know plenty of people who cap their caffeine in-take at a certain time of day so a low caffeine variant could appeal to them. However, when i go into a coffee shop I'm there for a caffeine hit so it may be better as a roast and ground product that people can take home and try for themselves when the time is right. I'm pretty sure there are similar products out there but I've never tried any. Maybe you could send me a sample?!

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