Low-caffeine Nespresso capsules: decaf, chicory or mushroom coffee?

Why cut down

Keep the capsule, lower the caffeine.

The capsule machine is part of the morning, the office, the end of a meal. You do not necessarily want to give it up. What you want to change is what is in the cup: less caffeine, without losing the pleasure of coffee.

The reasons are often the same. Sleep that suffers when the last coffee is too late. Palpitations, jitters or a stomach that complains after the third cup. Pregnancy, during which health authorities advise cutting down. Or simply wanting to stop relying on a cup to get the day going.

The good news: between a classic espresso and a caffeine-free chicory drink, there is a whole range of capsules. The key is knowing what each one really contains, because the box does not always say.

If you are looking more broadly at what to drink instead of coffee, our guide covers the alternatives, in capsules or not. Here, we stick with the machine you already have.

Caffeine benchmarks

How much caffeine is a lot?

Before comparing capsules, you need a reference point. The most solid one in Europe is the opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), published in 2015 after reviewing all available data.

These benchmarks count all the caffeine in your day: coffee, tea, fizzy drinks, chocolate, energy drinks. Coffee is only part of the total.

The last point is the one most often forgotten. Even well under 400 mg a day, a classic capsule in the late afternoon can be enough to delay falling asleep. Caffeine is cleared slowly: its half-life, the time it takes to clear half of it, is measured in hours in adults.

The classic capsule

What a coffee capsule really contains.

A Nespresso® Original capsule contains a few grams of ground coffee. Once brewed, it gives a cup with a caffeine content close to that of an espresso: about 80 mg according to the EFSA benchmark. But that figure varies, and not always in the way you would expect.

Remember this above all: to cut caffeine, switching to a "mild" capsule in a classic range is not enough. You need to switch capsule family. That is what the following table compares.

The decaf capsule

Decaf Nespresso® capsules: almost caffeine-free.

The decaf capsule is the closest to classic coffee. Same bean, same roast, same routine: only the caffeine has been removed from the green coffee, before roasting. It is the first instinct of most coffee lovers who want to cut down.

Almost, not entirely. Decaffeination does not remove 100% of the caffeine. The rules set a ceiling: roasted coffee sold as decaffeinated must not exceed 0.1% caffeine. Do the maths on a 5-gram capsule: at most 5 mg of caffeine in the capsule, and even less in the cup, since extraction only recovers part of it. Analyses published in the United States found small, measurable amounts of caffeine in most of the decaffeinated coffees tested: a long way from an espresso, but not zero.

Taste-wise, decaf is often a little rounder and less sharp than the original coffee, because caffeine contributes to bitterness. If the process matters to you, look for it on the box or ask the brand.

The decaf capsule is the right choice if you want the taste of coffee, just the taste, with nothing else added. It works well for an evening coffee and for times when you want to go as low as possible, such as pregnancy.

Chicory and grains

Zero caffeine, a roasted taste.

If you really want zero milligrams, you have to step away from coffee. Chicory is the best-known option in France: a roasted, bitter root that long served as a coffee substitute and contains no trace of caffeine. Capsules of pure chicory, or of roasted grain blends such as barley, exist in the Original format.

The taste is different, and it is worth being frank about it: the roasted notes and the bitterness, but not the aroma of coffee. The advantage is a drink that is less acidic than coffee, often appreciated by sensitive stomachs.

Chicory is also the base of our mushroom coffees. It brings the roundness and bitterness of coffee, without its caffeine, and leaves room for the other ingredients. That is the next family.

Mushroom coffee

Less caffeine, more inside.

Mushroom coffee in a capsule starts from a different idea. Instead of taking caffeine out of coffee, the cup is built differently: a base of roasted chicory, mushrooms and adaptogenic plants, and a small dose of caffeine as a top-up. If the subject is new to you, our article what is mushroom coffee? covers the basics.

That is what Mush Caps does, our Nespresso® Original-compatible capsule, available from Friday 2 October. The same recipe as the Brainstoorm Coffee bag, dosed for one cup.

*dried mushroom / dried plant equivalent. Other ingredients: acacia fibre, coffee flavouring. About 10 kcal and 2.1 g of carbohydrate per capsule.

At 17 mg, a Mush Caps capsule provides about five times less caffeine than an espresso. It is not zero, and that is deliberate: caffeine is only a top-up. The cup's energy also relies on cordyceps and maca, and ashwagandha is the plant associated with calm. Our guide to mushrooms and adaptogenic plants presents each species in detail.

So the difference from decaf is what is added. Decaf takes something away from coffee. A mushroom coffee capsule replaces part of the caffeine with other ingredients. To find out all about this format, our guide mushroom coffee Nespresso®-compatible capsule sets out the criteria for choosing.

Microencapsulated caffeine

17 mg, released gradually.

In a cup of classic coffee, the caffeine is free. It passes quickly into the blood and usually peaks within the hour. That is what gives the jolt, and sometimes the jitters when the dose is high.

Microencapsulated caffeine works differently. Each particle is coated so that the caffeine is released gradually, rather than all at once. In Mush Caps, as in Brainstoorm, we use NewCaff® caffeine, at 17 mg per capsule and 20 mg per cup of powder.

What our customers describe most often is the end of the famous afternoon slump. These reviews are about Brainstoorm powder, the same recipe as Mush Caps.

Reviews published on Trustpilot, quoted as written and translated from French. Brainstoorm is rated 4.8/5 on Trustpilot, with more than 50,000 customers.

A capsule for every moment

Which capsule, at what time?

Cutting down on caffeine does not mean changing everything at once. The simplest method is to keep your favourite capsule where it matters and replace the others. Here is a sample day, to adapt to your bedtime.

If you drink four classic capsules a day today, this plan takes you from about 320 mg of caffeine to under 150 mg, without giving up a single cup. And if sleep is your real concern, our sleep range, with Sleep+, is there for the evening.

A word of caution: if you have been drinking a lot of coffee for a long time, cut down in stages. Stopping abruptly can cause headaches and fatigue for a few days. Replacing one cup at a time, over one or two weeks, avoids most of this.

Reading the box

Five checks before you buy.

In the compatible capsules aisle, promises come fast. "Mild", "light", "intensity 4": none of these words tells you how much caffeine you will drink. Here is what to look for on the packaging.

• The caffeine content, in milligrams per capsule. If it is missing, the ingredients list is your only clue.
• The word "decaffeinated" on a coffee, not "mild" or "light", which only describe the taste.
• The ingredients list: coffee, even in a small share, means caffeine.
• The format: Nespresso® Original or Vertuo, which are not interchangeable.
• The capsule material: aluminium, plastic or compostable, which protect the contents from air more or less well.

For a functional capsule, add a sixth question: are the active ingredients named and dosed? Our guide to the 6 criteria that separate a genuine mushroom coffee from a scam applies to capsules too. And to see every ingredient we use, visit the page of our active ingredients.

Your machine

Original or Vertuo: check first.

"Nespresso®-compatible" does not mean compatible with every machine the brand makes. The vast majority of compatible capsules, whether decaf, chicory or mushroom, are in the Original format, the classic one.

To find out which machine you have, look at the capsule you already use. Small, cone-shaped, with a flat lid: you have an Original. Wide and domed, with a barcode strip around the edge: you have a Vertuo, a separate system that an Original capsule does not fit.

Mush Caps works in all Nespresso® Original and compatible machines, including portable machines in the same format. It does not work in the Vertuo range or in other capsule systems.

Who it suits

Which capsule is right for you?

To finish, a quick way to decide, based on what you are really looking for in your cup.

And nothing stops you from combining: mushroom coffee in the morning, decaf in the evening. That is often the formula that lasts. To understand why so many people are switching to coffee with mushrooms and adaptogenic plants, read why you might replace your coffee with a mushroom and adaptogenic plant coffee.

Sources

1. EFSA NDA Panel (2015). Scientific opinion on the safety of caffeine. EFSA Journal, 13(5):4102.
2. McCusker R. R., Fuehrlein B., Goldberger B. A., Gold M. S., Cone E. J. (2006). Caffeine content of decaffeinated coffee. Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 30(8).

Keep reading

Go further.

Caffeine is only part of the question. Discover mushroom coffee in detail, or browse our whole range of mushroom coffees.

Nespresso® is a registered trademark of a third party, unconnected to Mush n Go. Mush Caps is a capsule compatible with Nespresso® Original machines, not the Vertuo range.