Espresso of Interest
BeansRoastersInsightsMy CoffeeGet Started
Get Started
  1. Home
  2. /Insights
  3. /The Decaf Question

The Decaf Question: How Much of Australia's Specialty Coffee Is Decaf?

Espresso Of Interest Research · March 2026

Decaf used to be an afterthought — a dusty jar of instant on the back shelf. But the specialty decaf landscape is changing fast. New processing methods preserve flavour, and consumer demand is rising. We mined product data from 496 Australian roasters to answer a simple question: how much of the specialty market is actually decaf?

The size of the segment

Across 7,837 products in our database, we identified 559 decaf offerings — that's 7.1% of the total market. It's a niche, but it's a niche that every serious roaster is starting to take seriously.

7.1%

Decaf

92.9%

Regular

Decaf (559)Regular (7,278)

How decaf gets made

Not all decaf is created equal. The method used to remove caffeine has a profound effect on the final cup. Here are the four processes you'll encounter in Australian specialty coffee:

Swiss Water

Uses pure water and osmosis — no chemicals involved. The most common chemical-free method, developed in Switzerland and now processed primarily in Vancouver, Canada.

EA(Sugarcane Process)

Ethyl Acetate (EA), sometimes marketed as "Sugarcane Process", uses a naturally occurring compound found in fruit to dissolve caffeine. Popular with Colombian producers.

CO2

Supercritical carbon dioxide is forced through green beans at high pressure, selectively extracting caffeine while preserving flavour compounds. Precise but expensive.

Mountain Water

Similar to Swiss Water but processed in Mexico using glacial water from Pico de Orizaba. A newer entrant gaining traction in specialty circles.

Explore the roasters behind the data

Browse Australian Roasters

Want more data like this?

Subscribe for updates when we publish new research.

Built by LogoLess Labs

© 2026 Espresso of Interest

BeansRoastersInsightsTermsPrivacyContact

Which methods Australian roasters use

Of the decaf beans where the processing method is recorded, here's the breakdown:

MethodBeansShare
Swiss Water10725.8%
Mountain Water7818.8%
Sugar Cane6716.1%
decaffeinated358.4%
unknown286.7%
Ethyl Acetate163.9%
Sugarcane133.1%
Water Processed92.2%
Water Process92.2%
Glacier Water41.0%
EA Process30.7%
water washed process20.5%
99% caffeine free20.5%
CO220.5%
EA20.5%
EA Decaffeinated20.5%
Half Caff20.5%
Natural20.5%
Water20.5%
Mountain Water Decaf10.2%
mountain water process10.2%
Mountain Water Process10.2%
Mountain Water/Sugarcane10.2%
natural10.2%
water washed10.2%
Natural Ethyl Acetate10.2%
naturally decaffeinated10.2%
Naturally Low Caffeine10.2%
natural process10.2%
Organic10.2%
Organic Decaffeination Process10.2%
Organic Mountain Water10.2%
half-caffeinated10.2%
freeze-dried10.2%
Sugarcane EA10.2%
Sugarcane EA Process10.2%
Sugar cane ethyl acetate10.2%
Sugarcane Ethyl Acetate10.2%
Sugar Cane, Mountain Water10.2%
Ethyl Acetate (Sugar Cane)10.2%
EA Sugarcane10.2%
Washed10.2%
50% decaf10.2%
Water process10.2%
Decaf10.2%
Water processed10.2%
decaf10.2%
Mexican Water10.2%
Meticulous Processing10.2%

Who's doing decaf well

Some roasters treat decaf as a box to tick — one option and done. Others build a genuine decaf programme with multiple origins and methods. Here are the roasters offering the most decaf choices:

Passport Coffee & TeaTAS
64
Eighteen Grams Coffee RoastersVIC
12
The Coffee RoasterNT
11
Proud Mary Coffee
10
Death Before DecafNSW
9
Sicilia CoffeeSA
8
Cruze CoffeeQLD
7
ConwayCoffeeVIC
7
Ohori's Coffee Roasters, St. Francis Location
6
Q Roasters
6

What this tells us

At 7.1% of total products, decaf is still a small corner of Australian specialty coffee. But it's growing. The roasters investing in Swiss Water and Sugarcane processes are proving that decaf doesn't have to mean flavourless — it just means the roaster cared enough to source properly.

For consumers, the takeaway is straightforward: if your local roaster only offers one decaf and can't tell you how it was processed, that tells you something about their priorities. The best decaf is intentional, not incidental.