Half-caff coffee combines regular and decaffeinated beans. A common blend uses equal portions of each, so it generally contains less caffeine than a comparable fully caffeinated brew. It does not guarantee exactly half as many milligrams in your mug; the coffees, dose and brewing method still matter.
The calm behind Crickle Creek
Hi, Adriana here. If you've met my husband Guillermo, you may already know why I call him the calm behind Crickle Creek.
Alejandro and I can turn one family-business meeting into six conversations. We both care deeply, we both have opinions, and things can get lively. Guillermo listens until he knows what we're actually trying to solve, then somehow gets us back to the point. He is our unofficial peacekeeper. I don't recall him applying for the job. 😂
It's also what makes him so good with our wholesale customers, fundraisers and community partners. He enjoys finding out what someone is trying to build and figuring out where we can help. The relationship matters to him long after the first order.
His coffee story started on a farm
Long before we owned a Calgary roastery, Guillermo helped manage his father's coffee farm in El Salvador for roughly ten years, beginning in 2005. The farm sold into the commercial coffee market, rather than separating small specialty lots. It was still a hands-on education in what growing coffee asks of people.
A tree needs time. A harvest depends on weather and labour. Processing, transport and prices affect not only the farm, but the families and businesses around it. Guillermo brought that long view to Crickle Creek. He knows that trust and a good partnership are built over time.
If you want to know how our family's experience with coffee growing connects to what we roast today, you can read our story.
Why he became the Half-Caff Guy
Guillermo has always loved coffee. After a health issue, he chose to reduce his caffeine intake. He wasn't ready to give up the cup itself: the flavour, the habit of making it, the excuse to pause and talk. Half-caff gave him another way to enjoy that ritual.
His experience made the question personal for us: Why should a lower-caffeine coffee feel like a compromise? Plenty of people want less caffeine for their own reasons, but still care about where their coffee came from and whether it tastes good. We began paying more attention to the decaf components we chose and to how they worked with our regular coffees. The goal was a blend someone would choose because they love the cup.
We call him the Half-Caff Guy now. His coffee may be half-caff, but his commitment to the people around him certainly isn't.
Guillermo's reason for reducing caffeine is his own experience, not medical advice. If you've been given a specific caffeine limit, ask your healthcare professional what is appropriate for you.
Does half-caff mean exactly half the caffeine?
No. Half-caff usually describes the blend, often approximately half regular coffee and half decaf by weight. Decaf still contains some caffeine, and the amount in a finished drink varies with the beans, how much coffee you use and how you brew it. Half-caff is a helpful choice when you want less caffeine; it is not a precise dose you can calculate from the name alone.
If you make it at home, you can start with 10 g of regular beans and 10 g of decaf for a 20 g brewing dose. That gives you a 50/50 bean blend, not a laboratory measurement of caffeine in the cup.
Will it taste weak?
It shouldn't. You're still brewing a full dose of coffee. Half of the beans are decaffeinated; nobody replaced half your grounds with water.
The real work is choosing components that taste good together. Decaf beans can roast and brew differently from regular beans, so we pay attention to the flavour of each component and to the finished blend. We also make more than one kind of half-caff. Guillermo doesn't expect everyone to want the same profile, and neither do we.
For a balanced, medium-dark cup, look at Sunnyside Half Caff. If you're after a darker, deeper cup, try Sumatra Half Caff. If you prefer a single-origin pairing of regular and decaffeinated Peru coffee, explore Peru Half Caff. Check each product page for its current roast and decaf method, since blends can change.
Can I use half-caff for espresso or a latte?
Absolutely. Half-caff can be brewed as espresso, filter coffee, French press or AeroPress. You may need to adjust your grind when switching bags, just as you would for any new coffee. For a latte, choose a blend with enough body and flavour to come through the milk. You get to decide whether that tastes like chocolate, spice, fruit or something darker.
More than the Half-Caff Guy
Our chocolate-covered coffee beans? One of Guillermo's ideas. Conversations with a new wholesale partner or a community fundraiser? Often Guillermo. When he isn't working, he might be reading about technology or riding his motorcycle into the mountains, usually with an AeroPress and coffee along for the trip.
That's the Guillermo I want you to meet here. He knows coffee from the farm to the cup. He takes relationships seriously. And when his own routine needed to change, he helped us see that a different caffeine choice could still be a genuinely good coffee.
Explore decaf and half-caff coffees or get in touch if you'd like Guillermo and our team to help with wholesale coffee, a fundraiser or your next bag.
Brew boldly. Live fully.
Adriana