Research over the years has repeatedly confirmed that drinking coffee results in a whole host of health benefits from reduced incidence of type II diabetes to Parkinson’s Disease to Alzheimer’s to various types of cancer. Coffee drinkers generally live longer. Although many people just drink coffee for the stimulant effect of the caffeine, it is not the caffeine in coffee that conveys the bulk of the health benefits. Rather it is the high concentration of antioxidants in coffee that make the difference.

Does Decaf Coffee Have Health Benefits?

Since caffeine is not the source of health benefits from coffee, one would not expect that removing it would not make a difference in health outcomes aside from reducing higher blood pressure, gastritis, and jitteriness, which are reasons that people opt for decaf in the first place. In fact, research shows that it makes no difference if you drink regular or decaf in terms of long term health outcomes. The antioxidants appear to be doing their job either way.

Are There Concerns About Drinking Decaf?

In order to remove caffeine from coffee, solvents are typically used. These are also removed as part of the process. Nevertheless, such impurities raise concerns with some coffee drinkers. Thankfully, the amount of solvent that remains after the decaf process if extremely small. Regulatory bodies like the US Food and Drug Administration have very low allowable limits in the range of ten parts per million. In Australia the allowable level is two parts per million. There has never been any evidence of harm to human health from levels so low.

Should You Drink Decaf Instead of Regular Coffee?

Your choice of decaf versus regular coffee is a matter of personal choice. If you are drinking coffee solely to wake up or stay awake, you need to stick with regular coffee. If you get gastritis, esophageal reflux, jitteriness, or elevated blood pressure from drinking coffee you will want to cut back on regular coffee or switch to decaf to reduce you caffeine intake, as caffeine in the reason for your unwanted side effects.

If You Are Still Worried About Solvents in Your Decaf Coffee Consider the Swiss Water Process

There is a decaf process that does not use solvents. It is the Swiss Water Process. This methods requires only time, temperature and water to accomplish removal of caffeine from coffee. This method preserves the purity of organic coffee as well as its original flavor profile. It starts with a green coffee (liquid) extract. Green beans are soaked in hot water and the liquid is passed over activated charcoal to remove the caffeine. This process results in the removal of 99.9% of the caffeine in a given batch of green coffee. Fortunately, this process does not remove any of the healthy antioxidants that provide long term health benefits!

How Dangerous Are the Side Effects of Drinking Regular Coffee?

As a rule, the jitteriness and heartburn come from drinking regular coffee, are temporary and not dangerous. The one clear exception is high blood pressure. If you start out with hypertension that is bad enough to require treatment evidence shows that drinking two or more cups of regular coffee each day will double your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. This risk goes away if you drink a cup a day or less.

The price of unroasted coffee beans has running at historically high levels. This has not affected your own cup of coffee so much because of the usually high markup due to roasting, as well as profits for retail outlets and coffee houses. On the other hand it has been a boon for coffee growers in countries like Colombia, Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico and the like where growing conditions are normal.

A severe drought in Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer, is significantly impacting coffee prices globally. Reduced rainfall and extreme heat in key coffee-growing regions like Minas Gerais and São Paulo have led to lower crop yields, decreasing supply and driving up prices. This has caused a notable increase in green coffee bean prices and is now affecting roasters, retailers, and ultimately, consumers, with higher prices at cafes and supermarkets.

How Long Will the Drought and High Prices Last?

Current price and climate conditions have been issues for about a year, since mid-2024. As we have previously written, longer term concerns exists due to likely temperature increases over the coming years. The current situation started out as part of the El Niño, La Niña cycle of Pacific Ocean currents along the West Coast of South America but seem to turning into one of the cycles of longer duration.

Brazil and the Global Coffee Supply Chain

Brazil has historically been the world’s leading coffee producer and exporter by volume. It is the largest Latin American country and has a long history of coffee growing. Vietnam in recent years has also become a major coffee producer, occasionally matching Brazil in exports albeit with Robusta coffee beans and not Arabica. Thus, when Brazil’s coffee production suffers it has a significant effect on total coffee availability, both Arabica and Robusta. While Colombia is a major coffee producer of almost exclusively Arabica beans it never has the same magnitude of effect on coffee prices as Brazil does. The same applies to producers like Honduras, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru. Although Vietnam has had climate issues as well, coffee production throughout the Indonesian archipelago has not suffered. Thus coffee growers there, as well as in countries like Colombia are having a prosperous year with normal production and historically high prices as the supply chain has adjusted it price to account for less overall coffee volume being available in 2025.

What Can Brazil Do to Deal with Its Drought?

ng term options for coffee growers in Brazil include irrigation. However, this is generally only a viable solution for large operations with lots of cash and lots of credit. It is likely not a viable option for small coffee farmers who are being forced to simply “weather the storm.” It remains to be seen how many small, family coffee farms may go out of business should the drought and supply chain disruption persist for another year or two.

How Will Brazil’s Drought Affect Your Coffee?

The price of unroasted coffee beans has running at historically high levels. This has not affected your own cup of coffee so much because of the usually high markup due to roasting, as well as profits for retail outlets and coffee houses. On the other hand it has been a boon for coffee growers in countries like Colombia, Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico and the like where growing conditions are normal.

A severe drought in Brazil, the world’s largest coffee producer, is significantly impacting coffee prices globally. Reduced rainfall and extreme heat in key coffee-growing regions like Minas Gerais and São Paulo have led to lower crop yields, decreasing supply and driving up prices. This has caused a notable increase in green coffee bean prices and is now affecting roasters, retailers, and ultimately, consumers, with higher prices at cafes and supermarkets.

How Long Will the Drought and High Prices Last?

Current price and climate conditions have been issues for about a year, since mid-2024. As we have previously written, longer term concerns exists due to likely temperature increases over the coming years. The current situation started out as part of the El Niño, La Niña cycle of Pacific Ocean currents along the West Coast of South America but seem to turning into one of the cycles of longer duration.

Brazil and the Global Coffee Supply Chain

Brazil has historically been the world’s leading coffee producer and exporter by volume. It is the largest Latin American country and has a long history of coffee growing. Vietnam in recent years has also become a major coffee producer, occasionally matching Brazil in exports albeit with Robusta coffee beans and not Arabica. Thus, when Brazil’s coffee production suffers it has a significant effect on total coffee availability, both Arabica and Robusta. While Colombia is a major coffee producer of almost exclusively Arabica beans it never has the same magnitude of effect on coffee prices as Brazil does. The same applies to producers like Honduras, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru. Although Vietnam has had climate issues as well, coffee production throughout the Indonesian archipelago has not suffered. Thus coffee growers there, as well as in countries like Colombia are having a prosperous year with normal production and historically high prices as the supply chain has adjusted it price to account for less overall coffee volume being available in 2025.

What Can Brazil Do to Deal with Its Drought?

ng term options for coffee growers in Brazil include irrigation. However, this is generally only a viable solution for large operations with lots of cash and lots of credit. It is likely not a viable option for small coffee farmers who are being forced to simply “weather the storm.” It remains to be seen how many small, family coffee farms may go out of business should the drought and supply chain disruption persist for another year or two.

How Will Brazil’s Drought Affect Your Coffee?

The price of high quality Arabica coffee beans will likely remain historically high until Brazil’s drought lets up. In addition we are likely to see more mixing of Robusta with Arabica which will reduce coffee quality for those unwilling to pay “premium” prices.

Welcome to the world off coffee as climate issues directly affect supply, price and quality.

If you want to keep drinking the best coffee, we suggest as always the you buy coffee from Colombia.

In the runup to the 2024 US presidential election one of the topics repeated over and over was that of tariffs on things imported into the USA. Trump talked about putting tariffs on virtually everything and Harris supported selective tariffs to protect American industry and national security. Where does coffee fall in this argument? Is it possible that the US will someday put high tariffs on all foreign coffee? If so, how much will tariffs raise the price of your coffee?

How Much Does the Cost of Green Coffee Beans Contribute to a Cup of Coffee?

As a rule, about one percent of a $4.00 cup of regular black coffee or $.0.01 goes back to the coffee grower. Coffee coops and large exporters earn more than coffee farmers do. Shippers earn more than coffee farmers do and distributors within destination countries make more than coffee farmers do. Since the vast majority of coffee that people buy is roasted from the store, coffee roasters make far and away more than other folks before them in the supply chain. When you get your coffee from a fancy coffee shop, their markup is also substantial as they receive green coffee beans and roast them before brewing your coffee.

How Much Are Current Tariffs on Coffee?

Current tariffs, at least before the next administration takes over, are such that imported green coffee pays no tariffs. Nor do roasted coffee beans, decaffeinated coffee, ground roasted coffee, or extracts and concentrates of coffee. However, roasted coffee with sauces or syrups added is subject to tariffs as is instant coffee. All coffee imports pay harbor maintenance fees and merchandise processing fees at the point of entry. If you buy coffee while on vacation and bring it back to the USA there is no tax but you do need to declare it.

Why Would Anyone Put Tariffs on Coffee?

For many years small countries all across the globe have put substantial tariffs on American cigarettes. The tariffs are paid upon entry and simply add to the cost of the cigarettes for the consumer. This is a very effective way to tax people without seeming to be levying a tax. The argument made against Trump’s desire to tax all imports from everywhere was that this was simply a poll tax that fell more heavily on the poor than the rich. Like the taxes on cigarettes in many countries such taxes would not be seen as taxes by consumers but rather as price gouging by merchants everywhere in the USA thus sparing the ruling party the pain of a consumer backlash.

A common reason prior to the Trump era for putting tariffs on things has always been to protect American producers. Many Asian countries have been guilty of currency manipulation as well as subsidies to their industries. This has made them able to undercut American prices. When an American industry has sufficient clout they can often get Congress and the President to enact tariffs on competitors even when the result is excess profits for the industry and not really protection against unfair competition.

How Politically Connected Are Hawaiian Coffee Producers?

The only coffee grown in the USA comes from Hawaii. Hawaii produces less than one percent of the world’s coffee. Hawaiian coffee is popular and expensive. Because of its high quality and fame, Kona coffee has substantial pricing power. And nobody else gets to (legally) sell “Kona” coffee but the folks in Hawaii. Because Kona producers can charge pretty much what they want and are selling all of their production it is unlikely that they are going to ask the government to put tariffs on all foreign producers.

What Would a Twenty Percent Tariff on Imported Coffee Raise for the Government?

The US is the biggest coffee importer in the world at $8.3 billion in 2023. Coffee from Colombia and Brazil was the biggest part of all imports. A twenty percent tariff would raise $1.66 billion revenue. The total price paid at coffee shops for coffee in the USA in 2023 was $48 billion. the total price for packaged coffee including instant coffee was more than $90 billion in 2023. If you tally up total retail sales it comes to about $140 billion a year. If tariffs on coffee imports were simply passed on to the consumer they would only raise the final coffee shop or grocery store price by about four-tenths of a percent. If, however, grocers and coffee shops chose to use tariffs as an excuse to raise prices it could be more!