Grind Smooth Barista Blend Craft Instant Decaf, 90g
An evening coffee is judged on a different question from a morning one: not whether it wakes you up, but whether it is worth drinking once the reason for drinking coffee has gone. This clears that bar, being light, round and free of the metallic edge that lesser decafs carry. What it does not have is weight. Decaffeination takes body out of a coffee and nothing later in the process puts it back. Decaffeinated is not caffeine-free either; a trace always remains, so if the instruction was to cut caffeine out entirely rather than cut it down, this is not the purchase.
Grind Smooth Barista Blend Craft Instant Decaf, in brief.
Grind Smooth Barista Blend Craft Instant Decaf is the decaffeinated half of the London roaster's soluble pair, in a 90g pack. Same smooth medium-roast brief, a little lighter in body, and built for the cup you want at nine in the evening rather than at seven in the morning.
Decaffeinated is not caffeine-free: a trace always remains, so if you have been told to cut caffeine out entirely, a herbal infusion is the better answer.
The first thing to be straight about is the word. Decaffeinated does not mean caffeine-free. The caffeine is removed from the green beans before roasting, down to a level set by regulation rather than by the brand, and a trace always remains. For almost everyone that trace is irrelevant. For anyone who has been told to cut caffeine out entirely rather than cut it down, it is not, so reach for a herbal infusion instead of a decaf coffee.
The second thing is that decaffeination costs the cup something. Pulling one compound out of a green bean while leaving several hundred others untouched is hard, and even a careful job usually leaves the coffee a little flatter on the nose and lighter in body than the caffeinated version. Good decaf is therefore not decaf that tastes identical, it is decaf that loses the least. Starting from a smooth medium roast helps, because a smooth blend was never relying on sharpness in the first place, so there is less obvious thing to miss.
Curator notes: what you see above is our assessment of the decaf granules rather than Grind's, though we checked it against their description. As a rule, the decaf instant is posted within 1 to 2 working days. Further down, the questions tab covers decaf versus caffeine free, mug counts, milk, late evening cups and baking.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
How decaffeination works, in plain terms
All the commercial methods share one structure. Green, unroasted beans are swollen with water so the caffeine can move, the caffeine is drawn out into something that will carry it away, and the beans are dried again before roasting. What differs is the carrier. Some processes use water and a carbon filter, some use pressurised carbon dioxide, and some use a solvent that is washed and driven off before roasting. All of them are regulated, and all of them take something out of the bean besides caffeine, which is why the method a roaster chooses is a real decision rather than a marketing one.
Which process sits behind this pack is a matter for the pack. Brands that use a water or carbon dioxide process generally say so on the front, because it is a selling point.
What follows from all of this is practical. A decaffeinated bean is slightly more fragile than an untreated one and tends to darken faster under heat, which is why decaf often looks darker than it tastes. In a soluble coffee you never see the bean, but you do taste the consequence: a cup that is a touch lighter and a touch less aromatic than the caffeinated blend, and one that repays a slightly more generous spoon.
How Grind Smooth Barista Blend Craft Instant Decaf, 90g compares
- Against the caffeinated version of the same blend: the same brief, the same smooth medium-roast character, a little less body and a little less aroma. If you keep both, the decaf is the evening pack and the caffeinated one is the morning pack, and nobody has to compromise.
- Against decaf ground coffee in a cafetiere: the cafetiere gives you a better cup and commits you to a pot and a wash-up at the exact point in the evening when you want neither. For one cup at ten o'clock, instant wins on effort, and effort is what decides if the coffee gets made at all.
- Against a herbal infusion: if you need no caffeine whatsoever, we would sooner point you to a rooibos or a chamomile, because that is the right answer. This pack is for anyone after the taste and the habit of coffee who is fine with a trace.
Getting the best out of it
Decaf punishes carelessness slightly more than ordinary coffee does, because it starts with less in reserve. The fixes are the same as for any instant, just applied with a bit more attention.
The evening mug
Dose: A rounded 2g measure in a 200ml mug gives roughly 45 mugs from the pack. With decaf, err on the generous side of rounded.
Water: Let the kettle stand about thirty seconds after it clicks off. Scalding water costs any instant aroma, and decaf has less to spare.
Order: Granules in the mug, a dash of hot water, stir into a paste, and only then top up. It removes the undissolved specks entirely.
Milk: After the coffee has dissolved, never onto dry granules, and warm rather than fridge-cold if you are drinking it late.
The fuller cup
Go up a spoon: A heaped measure closes most of the body gap between this and the caffeinated blend.
Under milk: Heaped measure, every time. A decaf at a level spoon disappears under milk completely.
Sweeten last: If you want it sweeter, add it after tasting. Decaf reads flatter, and people over-sugar it on reflex rather than on taste.
Practical notes on the pack
- Pack: 90g, a small premium pack rather than a household jar. At a 2g measure that is roughly 45 mugs.
- Decaffeinated, not caffeine-free: a trace of caffeine always remains. If you have been told to avoid caffeine entirely, this is not the right product.
- Storage: Cool, dry, dark and closed. Left open, the granules draw damp from the air and set into lumps.
- Dry spoon only: A wet teaspoon is the fastest way to ruin a pack of instant, decaf or otherwise.
- No machine needed: A kettle and a mug, which is the whole reason a decaf instant gets drunk while a decaf bag of beans sits in the cupboard.
Ingredients, allergens and storage
What is in it: Decaffeinated soluble coffee. The full declared ingredient list, the allergen statement, the decaffeination method and the nutrition panel are printed on the pack you receive.
Ingredients and dietary suitability: Grind's declared ingredients are decaffeinated Arabica instant and 15% decaffeinated Arabica ground coffee; none of the 14 major allergens is listed. The pack you receive is the current word on allergens; recipes do change.
Packaging: Disposal depends on the pack's materials and your area, so follow the printed advice and your council.
Certifications: any marks the blend carries are printed on the front of the pack.
Caffeine and sensitivity: Even decaf instant keeps a small trace of caffeine. If you are pregnant, sensitive to caffeine, or following medical advice on your intake, follow the guidance you have been given rather than assuming a decaf is automatically within it.
Keep out of reach of small children: and keep the pack closed between uses, for the coffee's sake as much as anything.
Source: teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Grind Smooth Barista Blend Craft Instant Decaf, 90g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Grind
Packaging: Disposal depends on the pack's materials and your area, so follow the printed advice and your council.
Our commitment to the planet
Sourcing and packaging details are printed on the current UK pack; the brand page carries the fuller story.
The taste profile
How does it compare
Grind Smooth Barista Blend Craft Instant Decaf, 90g has already been brewed once, so the builds below are about dose, water and what goes in afterwards. Five serves built around the evening rather than the morning, including two that are better made with decaf than with ordinary coffee.
Made with this tea
The Evening Mug
The cup this pack exists for, made so it does not read thin.
- A generously rounded 2g measure
- 200ml water, just off the boil
- A warmed mug
- Boil the kettle and hold off for about thirty seconds before pouring.
- Put the granules in the mug on their own and add a splash of hot water.
- Stir to a smooth paste with no specks, then fill the mug.
- Taste before adding anything. If it reads thin, the answer is more coffee.
What you'll end up with: A rounded, low-bitterness black coffee at ten at night that does not cost you the morning.
The Decaf Flat White
Where most decaf milk drinks go wrong, and the one change that fixes them.
- A heaped measure of granules
- 50ml hot water
- 150ml hot milk, or an oat drink
- Dissolve the heaped measure in 50ml of hot water, stirred smooth.
- Heat the milk until steaming but not boiling.
- Froth it with a hand whisk or a jar with a lid.
- Pour the milk into the concentrate rather than the other way round.
What you'll end up with: A decaf milk coffee you can still taste the coffee in, which a level spoon will never give you.
The After-Dinner Mocha
Cocoa and a decaf carry each other, which is why this works better than a caffeinated version.
- A heaped measure of granules
- 2 teaspoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 200ml hot milk
- Mix the granules, cocoa and sugar dry in the mug first.
- Add two tablespoons of hot water and work it to a smooth paste.
- Pour in the hot milk slowly, stirring as you go.
- Top with a grating of dark chocolate if you have some.
What you'll end up with: A proper after-dinner chocolate coffee with no reason to regret it at two in the morning.
The Iced Decaf
Cold coffee without the caffeine, and the rule that keeps it from being gritty.
- A heaped measure of granules
- 60ml hot water
- A tumbler of ice, as full as it goes
- Cold milk, optional
- Dissolve the granules fully in the hot water. Never stir them into cold.
- Fill the glass with as much ice as it will take.
- Pour the hot concentrate straight over it.
- Top it off with cold milk or water and stir just the once.
What you'll end up with: A cold coffee that is properly dissolved and properly cold, and one you can have at six in the evening.
Coffee For Baking, Without The Caffeine
Proper coffee flavour in a bake the children will share, and that is where decaf earns its keep.
- 1 to 2 teaspoons of granules
- 1 tablespoon boiling water
- Your cake, ganache or icing
- Dissolve the granules in one tablespoon of boiling water.
- Stir until completely smooth with no specks left.
- Add it to the batter, the ganache or the buttercream.
- Taste before adding more. Coffee deepens chocolate long before it tastes of coffee.
What you'll end up with: The flavour of a coffee cake without adding caffeine to a family pudding.
Brewing the perfect cup
Inside the pack
| Ingredient | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Decaffeinated soluble coffee | The whole pack | Coffee brewed and dried back to a solid, from beans that had the caffeine removed while they were still green and unroasted. |
| Residual caffeine | A trace, set by regulation | Decaffeinated does not mean caffeine-free. The remaining level is regulated rather than chosen by the brand, and it is a small fraction of an ordinary cup. |
| Roast level | Medium | Decaffeinated beans colour up faster under heat, so a restrained roast is what keeps the cup from reading burnt when it is only medium in flavour. |
| Water (added by you) | The bulk of the finished mug | About 200ml a mug at just off the boil. Temperature and dose are the only two variables a soluble coffee leaves you, and decaf is less forgiving of both. |
| Full declared ingredients | Printed on the pack | The pack you receive carries the complete ingredient list, the decaffeination method, the allergen declaration and the nutrition panel. |
Ingredients and allergens. Grind's declared ingredients are decaffeinated Arabica instant and 15% decaffeinated Arabica ground coffee; none of the 14 major allergens is listed. The pack you receive is the current word on allergens; recipes do change.
Ingredients, as published for this product: Decaffeinated Arabica Instant Coffee, Decaffeinated Arabica Ground Coffee (15%).
Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. Any difference between this and the decaf pack itself? Trust the pack.
Pack: Grind Smooth Barista Blend Craft Instant Decaf, 90g; GTIN 5060574956825; 90g of decaffeinated soluble coffee, roughly 45 mugs at a rounded 2g measure in a 200ml cup. Decaffeinated, not caffeine-free. Best before date printed on the pack.
The 45-mug figure is worked out at a stated 2g dose, not a claim printed on the pack, and with a decaf most people dose a little heavier than that.
Sourcing & blend. Grind Smooth Barista Blend Craft Instant Decaf, 90g is the decaffeinated version of the same house brief as the caffeinated pack: a barista blend, meaning one built to drink black and to survive milk rather than to do only one of those. Grind is a London coffee business that grew out of a cafe, which is heritage rather than a claim about where this pack was filled, and the company does not publish an origin split for this blend in a form we can verify. The part of the process worth understanding is the decaffeination, which happens to green beans before any roasting: the beans are swollen with water, the caffeine is drawn into a carrier that is then removed, and the beans are dried and roasted afterwards. Every commercial route takes a little more than caffeine with it, which is why a good decaf is judged on how little it loses rather than on tasting identical. Which decaffeination route Grind used, and any certification marks, you will find on the pack; we have not repeated them here.
What is in Grind Smooth Barista Blend Craft Instant Decaf, 90g, and what is not:
- In: decaffeinated soluble coffee, as a medium-roast blend for drinking black or with milk.
- Not caffeine-free: these granules still hold a little caffeine, just as any decaf does. A herbal infusion is the answer if you need none at all.
- No added flavouring: this is a plain decaffeinated coffee, not a flavoured or sweetened one.
- Certification note: we make no organic, Fairtrade or Rainforest Alliance claim for this blend; any marks it carries are printed on the pack.
- Storage note: keep it closed and use a dry spoon. Instant soaks up humidity from the room and turns into a solid block.
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Source: teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Grind Smooth Barista Blend Craft Instant Decaf, 90g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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