The decaf coffee movement has shown no signs of slowing down, as coffee drinkers are beginning to rethink the effects of drinking too much caffeine and shift towards alternative and health-focused coffee products. For Matthew Smith, Founder of Wimp Decaf, giving up caffeine wasn’t about optimizing his lifestyle. It was closer to a personal mental intervention. After noticing the mental health symptoms of how caffeine made him feel, such as the jitters and anxiety, he found himself second-guessing his favorite daily ritual. He didn’t want to give up coffee, but also didn’t want to keep experiencing these symptoms.
Though that could have been the end of the story, Smith quickly realized there was a space not just for better decaf coffee but for a whole brand that centered decaf as a lifestyle choice. Smith set out to start Wimp Decaf to rebrand decaf coffee as a ritual of calm—not as a sad backup plan. From here, Wimp Decaf was born with a mission to rebrand decaf as a rebellious act of self-kindness.
The decaf coffee movement
“We’re part of a growing movement of people ditching hustle culture (and caffeine crashes) without giving up amazing coffee. We are two people trying to ditch the constant pressure to do more, faster, better, bigger hustle and looking to build a company in the most decaf way possible. Everyone is constantly trying to optimize everything in their lives, their sleep, their bodies, their performance, … it’s exhausting. We think it’s BS. There’s a different way. Less but better. That’s the decaf life,” says Smith.
Early on his journey to quitting caffeine, Smith quickly realized that the most decaf coffee on the market had a burnt, chalky, and chemical-like aftertaste that he described as similar to “drinking brown cigarette water.” Today, Wimp Decaf Coffee Company sources only fresh, specialty-grade coffee and uses decaffeination methods like the Swiss Water method and sugarcane EA. “The dirty secret is most decaf is made from old, unsold beans that get chemically stripped and roasted into oblivion,” says Smith. “We start with amazing beans, grown on amazing farms, so the coffee actually tastes good. Like, stupid good.”
Rebranding decaf coffee as a ritual of calm
The story behind Wimp Coffee goes beyond just great decaf coffee beans. Instead, Smith hopes to create a mindset, as the company speaks directly to people trying to break up with hustle culture, anxiety, and the feeling that they’re always behind. “I’m not calm by nature,” Matthew admits. “But I want to be. This company is part of me practicing that (sometimes badly), but I keep trying, gently.” This ethos runs through everything involving the brand, from their blog posts about the underdogs they name their roasts after to a voice that feels more like a late-night text from a funny friend than a coffee ad.
“It’s smart, weird, self-aware, and completely unlike anything else in the coffee aisle,” Smith says. “And Wimp’s not for everyone. And that’s the point. It’s for people who love coffee but can skip the caffeine (or have less of it) because of what it does to them—the over-caffeinated. The anxiety-prone folks.” Plus, the name of the brand itself is an intentional nod to those who say decaf is for “wimps”. Matthew says, “Fine. Let’s lean in and make it our own joke.”
