For many, coffee is more than a morning wake-up. The act of walking to and from the kitchen to replenish your cup is part of the ritual. But for those seeking to lower their caffeine intake, or find coffee to be too bitter without loading it up with creamer and sweetener, there’s a way to create a smoother cup of coffee without sacrificing the taste of high quality, specialty coffee. Diluting your coffee properly can help you find balance, but how you do it matters.
How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?
According to the FDA, most adults can safely consume up to 400mg of caffeine per day—that’s about 4 x 8oz cups of coffee. There are many reasons to lower or eliminate caffeine intake, such as if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding, or oftentimes it’s simply a matter of finding the level of caffeine that is right for you.
For those sensitive to caffeine or looking to cut back but still enjoy the taste and health benefits of drinking coffee, it’s essential to be mindful of how your coffee is brewed and adjusted.
Why Using Less Coffee Grounds Doesn’t Work
If you’ve ever tried brewing with less coffee (but the same amount of water as usual) to reduce your caffeine intake, you may have noticed your cup tasted bitter or flat. Brewing coffee is a delicate process—too much water with too few grounds will lead to over-extraction, where the water pulls out unpleasant, bitter compounds from the beans, rather than just the good stuff.
Brew your coffee as you normally would (or as suggested on the packaging), following the ideal coffee-to-water ratio for your brewing method. Then, dilute your brewed coffee with hot or cold (depending on how immediately you want to drink it) water directly in your cup. This process, called “bypassing” by industry insiders, preserves the coffee’s complexity, while adjusting its strength and caffeine level to your preferred taste.
How to Dilute Coffee the Right Way
- Brew the coffee with the recommended water:coffee ratio to maximize flavor extraction.
- Add water afterwards to your brewed coffee to reduce strength. This may take a few cups to dial in, but should not vary much from bean to bean based on your preferences.
- No matter what, water is the primary ingredient in your cup and we recommend using filtered water if available to avoid altering the coffee’s clarity or taste.
Lowering your caffeine intake doesn’t mean settling for a lesser coffee experience. With the right approach, you can still enjoy the nuanced flavors and aromas that make coffee special. This also avoids the need to load up on cream and sugar—especially with high quality freshly roasted coffee, you should be able to fully appreciate the coffee’s journey to your cup.
From the hands that grew the beans to those moments you take to enjoy it, whether it’s your first sip of the day or a gentler mid-morning pick-me-up: every cup can be a mindful, flavorful experience—without boundaries.
Final Tip: Have your Coffee Jonny’s Way
As I move along in my day and become mindful of my caffeine intake to ensure I sleep well at night, I always look to our decaf offerings as another way to have the full experience without sacrificing on quality. It’s fun to play around with mixing a half-caf (half caffeinated, half decaf) coffee or simply enjoy our freshly roasted, high quality decaf coffee that can stand up against the flavor of caffeinated coffee.