Nescafe Original Decaf Instant Coffee, 100g
The point of this jar is that nobody at the table clocks the change. It is the Original house style, dark and roasty with that faint smokiness and a real bitter edge, and it stands up under milk the way the caffeinated jar does, so an evening round of coffees does not suddenly taste like a different drink. Most households do not want two coffees; they want the same one twice a day, and this is the jar that lets them have it. What it will not do is taste better than the version you already drink. Taking caffeine out of green beans is a subtraction rather than an improvement, and anyone buying it hoping for a step up will be disappointed on that one count while being perfectly happy on every other. Two small things in the making: water just off the boil rather than straight out of a furious kettle, and a few seconds of stirring before the milk goes in. A roasty instant shows a scalding far more plainly than a mild one does.
Nescafe Original Decaf Instant Coffee, in brief.
Nescafe Original Decaf Instant Coffee is the decaffeinated version of Britain's most familiar instant jar in the small 100g size, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the second jar in the cupboard: the one you open after six o'clock and actually finish while it is still fresh.
A 100g jar giving roughly 55 mugs at a rounded teaspoon, holding the dark, roasty Original house style rather than thinning into a mild decaf, which is why it still tastes of something under milk.
The 100g jar is the sensible way to buy it. Decaf is usually a second jar rather than a first, kept alongside the caffeinated one for after six o'clock, and a second jar that takes four months to finish is a jar that has gone quietly flat by the end. Instant coffee loses aroma from the day the seal breaks, so the smaller jar is not the worse buy it looks like on the shelf: it is the one that is still worth drinking on the last spoonful.
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 Nescafe Original
Nescafe Original is the reference point for instant coffee in this country, and that ubiquity puts an unusual constraint on its decaf. A decaf of an unfamiliar coffee can taste like whatever the blender wants. A decaf of the standard jar has to taste like the standard jar, because the customer is deliberately trying to change one variable and leave everything else alone. Holding a dark, roasty profile through decaffeination is harder than letting it drift mild, and that is the work being paid for here. Nescafe do not publish the decaffeination process or a residual caffeine figure for this pack to us, so we quote neither.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
What You Are Actually Buying
- Weight: 100g of decaffeinated instant coffee, the small jar rather than the household one.
- Mugs per jar: at a normal 1.8g rounded teaspoon, 100g works out at roughly 55 mugs. Heap the spoon and you will get fewer. That arithmetic is ours, from the stated jar weight, and is not a figure printed on the label.
- Decaf, not caffeine free: decaffeinated coffee is coffee with almost all of the caffeine removed, not all of it. A trace remains. If you need genuinely zero caffeine, a herbal infusion is the honest answer rather than any decaf coffee.
- Freshness: the practical argument for the small jar. Instant coffee is hygroscopic and loses aroma once opened, so a jar finished in six weeks tastes better across its life than the same coffee finished in five months.
- What it is not: not flavoured, not a granule-and-ground hybrid, not a low-caffeine version of the standard jar. It is the decaffeinated one, in the smaller size.
Ideal Serving Conditions
Decaf instant gets treated worse than anything else in the cupboard, mostly because it is made last thing at night by somebody who has stopped concentrating. It rewards the same care as any other instant, and a carelessly made mug is the single biggest reason decaf carries a reputation it has not earned.
The Evening Mug
- Measure: one rounded teaspoon, about 1.8g, per 200ml mug. Use the same spoon you use for the caffeinated jar rather than quietly using less because it is decaf.
- Water: let the kettle stand for about thirty seconds after it clicks so you are pouring at around 95 degrees Celsius. A rolling boil scorches the granules and flattens the aroma.
- Order: granules first, a splash of hot water, stir to a smooth paste, then the rest of the water, then milk. That is what removes the grit from the bottom of the mug.
- Timing: a trace of caffeine remains. If you are very sensitive, make it an hour earlier than you think you need to rather than at bedtime.
The Small Jar Routine
- Open late: if you keep a caffeinated jar and a decaf jar, open the decaf only when you reach it. An unopened jar holds its aroma; an open one starts losing it immediately.
- Dry spoon every time: a wet teaspoon put back into the jar is the fastest way to a clumped brick, and 100g clumps just as readily as 190g.
- Away from the kettle: steam is moisture. A cupboard shelf away from the hob and the kettle is the right home for it.
- Finish it: six weeks is a realistic life for an opened jar at its best. The small size is sized for exactly that.
Getting It Right in the Cup
- Water temperature: around 95 degrees Celsius, not straight off a rolling boil.
- Measure: 1.8g, a rounded teaspoon, per 200ml mug, the same dose as the caffeinated jar.
- Milk: the dark roast character stands up to it, which is why this jar makes a better milky mug than most decafs manage.
- Sugar: stir it in while the water is hot, before the milk, so it actually dissolves.
- Storage: lid tight, dry spoon, cupboard rather than worktop.
- Best with: after dinner, late evening, a biscuit, a desk drawer at work, or anywhere the caffeinated jar would be a bad idea.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Nescafe Original Decaf Instant Coffee, 100g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Nescafé
Nescafé invented mass-market instant coffee in 1938 and has been refining it ever since. The Azera range brings cafe-quality micro-ground instant coffee; Gold Blend is the premium freeze-dried; the Original is the everyday standard.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
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
Nescafe Original Decaf Instant Coffee, 100g dissolves in seconds and keeps enough dark roast character to stand up to milk, ice and sugar. Six builds below cover the desk mug, two milk drinks, a cold one, a pudding and one for the oven.
Made with this tea
The Desk Mug
How to make The Desk Mug with Nescafe Original Decaf.
- 1 rounded teaspoon Nescafe Original Decaf
- 200ml water at 95 degrees Celsius
- Milk to taste
- Sugar if you take it
- Boil the kettle and let it stand for thirty seconds before you pour.
- Add one rounded teaspoon of Nescafe Original Decaf Instant Coffee, 100g with a splash of hot water and stir to a smooth paste.
- Top with the rest of the water, stirring as you pour.
- Finish with milk, and sugar while it is still hot if you take it. Use the same dose you would use for the caffeinated jar.
What you'll end up with: A dark, rounded mug with none of the thinness people expect from a decaf, and a jar small enough to live in a desk drawer without going stale.
Decaf Flat White at Home
How to make Decaf Flat White at Home with Nescafe Original Decaf.
- 2 teaspoons Nescafe Original Decaf
- 50ml water at 95 degrees Celsius
- 120ml whole milk
- Dissolve two teaspoons in only 50ml of hot water and stir hard until it is glossy and completely smooth.
- Heat 120ml of milk until steaming but never boiling, then whisk or froth it briefly.
- Pour the milk through the foam into the coffee base in one steady motion.
- Serve in a small cup rather than a mug, so the ratio stays right.
What you'll end up with: A short, milky cup where the dark roast still reads through the milk. This is the build that shows why the Original decaf is not a mild one.
After-Dinner Iced Decaf
How to make After-Dinner Iced Decaf with Nescafe Original Decaf.
- 2 teaspoons Nescafe Original Decaf
- 60ml hot water
- A full glass of ice
- 150ml cold milk
- Dissolve two teaspoons in 60ml of hot water and stir until completely smooth.
- Cool the base for a minute so it does not melt the ice on contact.
- Fill a tall glass with ice, pour the base over it and top with cold milk.
- Stir once, from the bottom.
What you'll end up with: The iced coffee you can drink at nine in the evening. Make the base stronger than feels right; the ice will dilute it.
Whipped Decaf Topping
How to make Whipped Decaf Topping with Nescafe Original Decaf.
- 2 tablespoons Nescafe Original Decaf
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons very hot water
- Cold milk to serve
- Combine equal spoons of decaf granules, caster sugar and very hot water in a bowl.
- Whisk hard for three to five minutes, by hand or with electric beaters, until it turns pale and holds soft peaks.
- Fill two glasses with cold milk and ice.
- Spoon the whipped coffee on top and let people stir it in themselves.
What you'll end up with: A pale coffee foam that sits on cold milk. Instant granules are the only coffee that will do this, and the decaf version means it works after dinner.
Decaf Affogato
How to make Decaf Affogato with Nescafe Original Decaf.
- 2 teaspoons Nescafe Original Decaf
- 40ml water at 95 degrees Celsius
- 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
- Dissolve two teaspoons in only 40ml of hot water so the shot is properly concentrated.
- Put two scoops of vanilla ice cream in a cold glass or bowl.
- Pour the hot coffee over the ice cream at the table and eat it straight away.
What you'll end up with: A two-minute pudding where the bitterness of a dark decaf is doing the actual work against the sweetness. Caffeine would ruin it at this time of night; this will not.
Coffee Sponge, Made with Decaf
How to make Coffee Sponge, Made with Decaf with Nescafe Original Decaf.
- 2 tablespoons Nescafe Original Decaf
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 175g butter, sugar and self-raising flour
- 3 eggs
- Dissolve two tablespoons of decaf granules in two tablespoons of hot water and let the paste cool.
- Cream 175g of butter with 175g of sugar, beat in three eggs, then fold in 175g of self-raising flour.
- Stir the cooled coffee paste through the batter until the colour is even.
- Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 25 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
What you'll end up with: A coffee sponge with a real coffee flavour rather than a hint of one, and no caffeine in a cake the children will also eat.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Component | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Decaffeinated instant coffee | 100% of the jar | Coffee that has been decaffeinated, brewed, concentrated and dried. Nothing else goes into a plain instant. |
| Roast depth | dark, Original house style | The reason to choose this jar over a gentler decaf. Roasty and faintly smoky rather than mild and apologetic. |
| Format | instant granules | Already extracted and dried, so the mug takes seconds. You are rehydrating coffee solids rather than brewing them. |
Ingredients and allergens. The published ingredient list for this barcode names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.
Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.
Pack: Nescafe Original Decaf Instant Coffee, 100g; decaffeinated instant coffee, trace caffeine. Roughly 55 mugs at a rounded 1.8g teaspoon. Keep the lid tight once opened; see the jar for the unopened best-before date.
Nescafe do not publish the decaffeination process or a residual caffeine figure for this jar to us, so neither is quoted here. Certification marks, allergen advice and the exact best-before date must be read off the current UK pack.
Sourcing & blend. Nescafe Original Decaf Instant Coffee, 100g is put together by Nescafe, and Original is the reference point for instant coffee in Britain: the jar most people picture when the word instant is used. That ubiquity is the constraint the decaf works under, because the customer is trying to change the caffeine and nothing else. Holding a dark, roasty profile through decaffeination is harder than letting it drift mild, and that is what is being sold. The 100g size exists for the household where decaf is the second jar rather than the first, and where a big jar would be half-empty and tired long before it was finished.
What's in Nescafe Original Decaf Instant Coffee, 100g, and what isn't:
- In: decaffeinated instant coffee, and nothing else. A plain instant jar is brewed coffee with the water taken out; it needs no additives.
- No artificial colours, preservatives or added sugar: this is an unsweetened black coffee product. Anything sweet in the mug goes in at your own kitchen table.
- Not caffeine free: a trace of caffeine remains, as it does in every decaffeinated coffee. A herbal infusion is the choice if you need genuinely none.
- Packaging: follow the current UK pack and your local-authority guidance; jars, lids and seals often take different disposal routes.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Nescafe Original Decaf Instant Coffee, 100g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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