Selling it

Decaf, and the one hard number in this property

Updated October 2026

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The number You almost certainly are not doing it Which process matters to buyers Decaf roasts differently It has a shorter practical life Say what it is plainly Carry it even though it is awkward References

Decaffeination is where a federal number finally appears in this craft, and it is also a sourcing decision rather than something you do.

The number

Methylene chloride is permitted as a solvent in the decaffeination of coffee at a level not to exceed 10 parts per million, which is 0.001 percent, in decaffeinated roasted coffee. That is one of very few hard federal figures that touch this property at all.

You almost certainly are not doing it

Decaffeination happens to green coffee at specialist facilities, so a roaster buys decaffeinated green and roasts it. The process, and therefore the claim about it, belongs to somebody upstream and you are repeating it.

Which process matters to buyers

Solvent-based and water-based processes both exist, and a substantial number of customers care which was used. If you name a process on the label you are making a claim about a facility you have never seen, so it needs documentation against the lot like any other origin claim.

Decaf roasts differently

Decaffeinated green behaves differently in a roaster: it often colors faster and gives less reliable visual cues, so a profile built for regular coffee will not transfer. Treat it as a separate profile rather than a variation.

It has a shorter practical life

Many roasters find decaf stales faster, which makes it a difficult product to carry in small volume: it sells slowly and declines quickly. That is a real tension and the usual answer is small batches, roasted often, in small formats.

Say what it is plainly

Decaffeinated rather than caffeine-free, because the processes reduce caffeine rather than eliminate it entirely. The distinction matters to somebody avoiding it for medical reasons, and it is an easy claim to overstate.

Carry it even though it is awkward

Decaf sells slowly and goes off quickly, which makes it the product a small roaster is most tempted to drop. Dropping it loses the whole household when one person in it drinks decaf, and that is usually worth more than the stock written off.

References

21 CFR 173.255, Methylene chloride, which permits its use as a solvent in the decaffeination of coffee “at a level not to exceed 10 parts per million (0.001 percent) in decaffeinated roasted coffee.” law.cornell.edu

21 CFR 101, Food Labeling, which carries the general requirements that apply here in the absence of a standard of identity: the statement of identity, net quantity, ingredient list and the name and place of business of the responsible party. law.cornell.edu

Written from federal regulation and from the published physics and chemistry of staling, not from a laboratory. There is no standard of identity for coffee or tea, so most of what governs a product here is the general requirement that labels be truthful and claims be substantiated. Anything here is a starting point for a conversation with your state department of agriculture, not a determination that you comply.