Decaf is short for decaffeinated coffee. It’s coffee from coffee beans that have had at least 97% of their caffeine removed. There are many ways to remove caffeine from coffee beans. Most of them include water, organic solvents, or carbon dioxide. Coffee beans are washed in the solvent until the caffeine has been extracted from it, then the solvent is removed. The beans are decaffeinated before they’re roasted and ground. The nutritional value of decaf coffee should be almost identical to regular coffee, apart from the caffeine content; however, the taste and smell may become a little milder, and the color may change, depending on the method used.
Decaf coffee is not completely caffeine free. It actually
contains varying amounts of caffeine, usually about 3 mg per cup; however
this amount of caffeine is usually very small compared to a regular cup of
coffee.
Caffeine content in an average cup of regular coffee varies depending
on coffee type, preparation method, and cup size.