Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf Latin American Instant Coffee, 100g
Coffee from Latin America starts soft and low in acid before anything is taken out of it, which is the sensible place to begin if you are building a decaf: there is less to lose. The result is round and quiet, and it takes milk and sugar without turning into beige nothing. It will disappoint anyone swapping across from a dark, bitter jar, because the thing they liked was the bite and the bite is not here. Decaffeinated does not mean caffeine free: a trace survives the process, so it is not the jar for anyone avoiding caffeine outright.
Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf Latin American Instant Coffee, in brief.
Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf Latin American Instant Coffee is a 100g pack of certified decaffeinated instant from the Dorset company, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the one decaf jar that carries both the Fairtrade and organic marks rather than treating decaf as the afterthought of the range.
Latin American origins make it rounder and lower in acidity than an East African coffee, and a mid roast rather than a dark one hides the hollow decaffeination leaves behind. Decaffeinated is not caffeine free: a residual amount remains in every cup.
The practical case is simple. Decaffeinated instant coffee is normally the afterthought of the category, a smaller jar of whatever the full-caffeine version was, sold to people assumed not to care very much. Clipper has instead applied the same certifications it is known for on the tea side.
Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Common questions are answered in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind Clipper
Clipper is a British company from Dorset, known here mainly for its tea and specifically for having put Fairtrade and organic certification at the centre of what it sells rather than at the edge of it. Applying the same approach to a decaffeinated instant coffee is a more interesting decision than it sounds, because decaf is where certified ranges usually stop. It is the lowest-volume version of the lowest-margin format, and the easiest line in any range to leave uncertified.
Fairtrade and organic are the two certifications named on this pack, and they are different things. Fairtrade is about the terms the growers are paid on; organic is about how the crop is grown. A product can carry either without the other, and this one carries both.
The tasting profile above is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
What You Are Actually Buying
- Weight: 100g. On a standard instant dose of a rounded 1.8g teaspoon that is about 55 cups, a figure worked out from the pack weight rather than a manufacturer claim.
- Fairtrade and organic: both, as named on the pack. Not a marketing adjective and not a self-declared standard; both are independently certified schemes with marks you can look up.
- Latin American: a blend of Latin American origins rather than a single farm or country. That is what gives it the rounder, lower-acid character.
Ideal Serving Conditions
A decaffeinated instant coffee has less in reserve than a full-caffeine one, so the usual instant-coffee mistakes cost more here. Three of them account for almost everything.
The Proper Cup
- Water off the boil: let the kettle stand for about a minute, or roughly 90 degrees. Boiling water scalds the coffee solids and produces the papery note that decaf is unfairly blamed for.
- Dose properly: one rounded teaspoon to 200ml, and a heaped one if you take milk. Under-dosing a decaf is the fastest way to make it taste like hot brown water.
- Dissolve first: a splash of hot water on the granules, stirred to a paste, then fill the mug. The same spoonful tastes rounder made this way.
- Milk last: after the coffee has dissolved, never before. Cold milk in first drops the mug below the temperature the granules need.
Getting More Out of the Pack
- Use it as an evening coffee: the obvious use, and the one the pack is built for. A cup after dinner that does not cost you an hour of sleep.
- Use it for baking: instant coffee adds coffee flavour to a cake without adding liquid, and a decaffeinated one means a coffee traybake anyone can eat.
- Use it as an iced coffee: two spoons dissolved in a splash of hot water, stirred to a syrup, then poured over a full glass of ice and topped with cold milk.
- Keep it beside the full-caffeine pack: the practical way most households use a decaf. Switch over from mid-afternoon rather than replacing your morning coffee with it.
Getting It Right in the Cup
- Water temperature: about 90 degrees, a minute off the boil.
- Dose: one rounded teaspoon, about 1.8g, per 200ml mug, and heaped if you take milk.
- Method: dissolve to a paste first, then fill.
- Storage: sealed, cool, dry and away from steam. Moisture clumps an instant coffee long before age dulls it.
- Best with: after dinner, late evening, pregnancy, or anyone cutting caffeine without giving up the ritual.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf Latin American Instant Coffee, 100g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Clipper
Clipper was the first UK brand to launch a Fairtrade tea (1994) and remains synonymous with ethical, unbleached, plastic-free tea bags. Dorset-based and owned since 2012 by Wessanen, now Ecotone, with a comprehensive range covering everyday English Breakfast, organic blends, and herbal infusions.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
The taste profile
How does it compare
Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf Latin American Instant Coffee, 100g dissolves rather than brews, and being decaffeinated it goes into places a full-caffeine coffee cannot: after dinner, into a cake anyone can eat, and into a late drink that does not cost you an hour of sleep. Six builds below cover the proper mug, an evening latte, an iced coffee, a coffee cake, a tiramisu anyone can have, and a mocha.
Made with this tea
The Proper Evening Mug
How to make The Proper Evening Mug with Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf.
- 1 rounded teaspoon Clipper Decaf
- 200ml water, a minute off the boil
- Milk to taste
- Boil the kettle and let it stand a minute, to roughly 90 degrees.
- Dissolve the coffee in a small splash of that water and stir to a smooth paste.
- Fill the mug with the rest, using a heaped spoon instead if you take milk.
- Add milk last, after the coffee has dissolved.
What you'll end up with: A soft, low-acid cup you can have at ten at night. If it tastes papery, the water was boiling.
Kettle Evening Latte
How to make Kettle Evening Latte with Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf.
- 1 heaped teaspoon Clipper Decaf
- 50ml hot water
- 180ml whole or oat milk, warmed
- A dusting of cocoa, optional
- Dissolve a heaped spoon in 50ml of hot water to make a dense base.
- Warm 180ml of milk and shake it hard in a sealed jar for thirty seconds.
- Pour the milk over the base from a low height and dust with cocoa if you want it.
What you'll end up with: A milky evening coffee. The heaped spoon is not optional here, because a rounded one disappears under this much milk.
Undiluted Iced Coffee
How to make Undiluted Iced Coffee with Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf.
- 2 teaspoons Clipper Decaf
- A small splash of hot water
- A full glass of ice
- 200ml cold milk
- Dissolve two spoons in the smallest splash of hot water you can manage, stirred to a syrup.
- Fill a tall glass with ice right to the top.
- Pour the syrup over and top with cold milk, then stir from the bottom.
What you'll end up with: An iced coffee that keeps its strength as the ice melts, because there was no brewing water in it to start with.
Coffee Cake Anyone Can Eat
How to make Coffee Cake Anyone Can Eat with Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf.
- 3 teaspoons Clipper Decaf
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 200g caster sugar, 200g butter, 200g self raising flour, 4 eggs
- 100g chopped walnuts, optional
- Dissolve the coffee in 2 tablespoons of hot water and let it cool.
- Beat the butter and sugar, add the eggs one at a time, then fold in the flour and the cooled coffee.
- Bake in a lined tin at 180 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.
- Cool completely before icing or cutting.
What you'll end up with: A coffee cake the children and anyone avoiding caffeine can have a slice of, which a full-caffeine one is not.
Family Tiramisu
How to make Family Tiramisu with Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf.
- 4 teaspoons Clipper Decaf
- 250ml hot water
- 200g sponge fingers and 500g mascarpone
- Cocoa powder to dust
- Dissolve 4 teaspoons in 250ml of hot water, sweeten to taste and cool completely.
- Dip the sponge fingers one at a time, quickly, and layer them into a dish.
- Spread sweetened mascarpone over the top and chill for at least four hours.
- Dust with cocoa just before serving.
What you'll end up with: The whole point of a decaffeinated tiramisu: a pudding that goes round the table after dinner without keeping anyone up.
Late Mocha
How to make Late Mocha with Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf.
- 1 heaped teaspoon Clipper Decaf
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder and 1 teaspoon sugar
- 60ml hot water
- 180ml hot milk
- Mix the coffee, cocoa and sugar dry in the mug first, so the cocoa does not lump.
- Add 60ml of hot water and stir to a smooth paste.
- Top with 180ml of hot milk and stir again from the bottom.
What you'll end up with: Mixing the powders dry first is the whole trick. Cocoa added to liquid clumps and never recovers.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Component | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Decaffeinated soluble coffee | See current pack | The whole of the drink. Coffee that has been decaffeinated, brewed and had the water removed, so both the decaffeination and the extraction were decided before it reached you. |
| Latin American origins | A blend, not a single farm | The roundness. Latin American coffees run lower in acidity than East African ones, which is why this reads as comfortable rather than bright. |
| Roast level | Mid roast | The cover. A darker roast makes the hollow that decaffeination leaves behind more obvious, so a mid roast is the sensible build for a decaf. |
| Pack weight | 100g, about 55 cups | Worked out from the pack weight at a standard 1.8g dose, not a manufacturer claim. |
Ingredients and allergens. The published ingredient list for this product names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.
Ingredients, as published for this product: Coffee: Traded in compliance with Fairtrade standards, total 100%.
Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The pack in your hands is the final word.
Pack: Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf Latin American Instant Coffee, 100g; a decaffeinated soluble coffee needing nothing but a kettle and a spoon. The container type, the exact fill, the ingredient list, the decaffeination method, the nutrition panel and the best-before date are printed on the current UK pack and should be read from it rather than from this page.
Characterising components shown.
Sourcing & blend. Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf Latin American Instant Coffee, 100g comes from a British company based in Dorset, known here chiefly for its tea and specifically for putting Fairtrade and organic certification at the centre of its range rather than at the edge of it. Applying that to a decaffeinated instant is a more interesting decision than it sounds: decaf is the lowest-volume version of the lowest-margin format, and it is the line most ranges quietly leave uncertified. The two marks are not interchangeable. Fairtrade concerns the terms growers are paid on; organic concerns how the crop is grown. Soil Association certification is frequently assumed to follow from an organic mark and does not automatically do so, which is why we leave it unstated rather than inferring it.
What's in Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf Latin American Instant Coffee, 100g, and what isn't:
- In: decaffeinated soluble coffee from Latin American origins, made up with hot water and nothing else required.
- Fairtrade and organic: both, as named on the pack. Independently certified schemes with marks you can look up, not marketing adjectives.
- Packaging: follow the current UK pack and your local-authority guidance; the container and any inner seal can take different disposal routes.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Clipper Fairtrade Organic Decaf Latin American Instant Coffee, 100g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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