Decaf Coffee: Everything You Need to Know – Benefits, Drawbacks & Process

If you’re a coffee drinker who is looking to reduce your caffeine intake, you may have briefly considered decaf coffee. But what exactly is it, and how is it made? And, does decaf even taste like the real stuff?

As a former barista with over five years of experience, I’ve had many opportunities to learn about decaf coffee. I’ve also taken to drinking it once I learned how I like to make it when I really needed to cut down on my caffeine content. Sleep has gotten more important to me as I’ve gotten older. 

In this article, I’ll be sharing my knowledge and insights on this topic, covering everything from the decaffeination process to the benefits and drawbacks of drinking decaf.

So, whether you’re a coffee enthusiast or simply curious about reducing your caffeine intake, read on to learn more about this fascinating and often-misunderstood drink.

What Exactly is Decaf Coffee?

Decaf coffee is similar to regular coffee but without caffeine. It’s an excellent option for people who want to avoid caffeine-induced jitters while still enjoying the flavor and aroma of coffee.

Decaf is made from regular coffee beans. So, to clear that up, it’s made from the same stuff as your normal cup of coffee. 

But decaf coffee undergoes a process called decaffeination that uses solvents or non-solvent methods to remove most of the caffeine.

The taste and the fragrance of the coffee can remain largely unchanged (depending on the decaffeination process and quality), making it perfect for those who want to avoid the stimulating effects of caffeine. 

While decaf coffee isn’t completely caffeine-free, it typically is nearly caffeine-free—to the extent that you’re perfectly safe to try it out if you have a caffeine sensitivity.

Coffee without the negative side effects. Yea, I’ll take a cup.

How is Decaf Coffee Made?

Decaffeination is the multi-step process of removing caffeine from coffee beans while trying to preserve their flavor. Although any coffee can be decaffeinated, the process rarely occurs at the farm where the coffee is grown, washed, and dried.

Instead, coffee is sent to decaffeination plants located all over the world, adding an extra step that increases the cost of the final product. There are several decaffeination methods, but let’s go over the two most popular.

Solvent Based Decaffeination

One common method of decaffeination is solvent-based, where coffee beans are soaked in a solvent like methylene chloride or ethyl acetate to extract the caffeine.

The caffeine binds to these chemicals and makes for easy extraction. The solvent is then separated from the beans, leaving behind decaffeinated coffee beans.

Any type of decaffeination method that uses harsh solvents to remove caffeine is bound to get backlash. So although this method is successful and much cheaper, people get vocal about their worries regarding the use of chemicals in the process.

The Swiss Water Process

Another method is non-solvent based, such as the Swiss Water Process. It’s considered to be a more natural and environmentally friendly type of decaffeination method since it uses water and activated carbon filters to remove caffeine rather than harsh chemicals.

This is a more “mechanical” versus “chemical” way of extracting caffeine from coffee beans. But often more expensive and less efficient than solvent-based methods.

One of the challenges of decaffeination is to remove only the caffeine from the beans while leaving the other compounds that give coffee its rich flavor intact. The most natural way to accomplish this is through the water process decaffeination method.

Developed in Switzerland in 1933, it became commercially viable in 1980 and was introduced to the market in 1988. Today, the Swiss Water Company’s decaffeination facility, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, is the only one in the world certified organic and Kosher.

The Swiss Water Process works by soaking a batch of beans in very hot water to dissolve the caffeine. The water is then passed through an activated charcoal filter that captures only larger caffeine molecules while allowing smaller oil and flavor molecules to pass through.

The caffeine-free water is collected in one tank, while the flavor-rich water is collected in another tank and reused to decaffeinate a fresh batch of coffee beans.

Since this water is already saturated with flavor ingredients, the flavors in the fresh batch cannot dissolve, and only caffeine moves from the beans to the water. The result is decaffeinated coffee without a significant loss of flavor. It’s pretty amazing.

The Swiss Water Process is only used for decaffeinating organic coffee. Its efficacy is thoroughly tested because coffee has to test for 97% decaffeinated in order to meet the FDA’s US requirement.

Swiss Water Process Vs Solvent Method

Caffeine is a water-soluble substance, which is why coffee is extracted by soaking the beans in water. Yet, water alone is not an efficient solution for decaffeination because it removes other soluble substances, like sugars and proteins, along with caffeine.

To solve this problem, decaffeination processes use a decaffeinating agent such as methylene chloride, activated charcoal, CO2, or ethyl acetate, to help speed up the process and retain flavor.

The Swiss Water Process is a water-based decaffeination method that does not use chemicals to extract caffeine.

Both methods have their pros and cons and ultimately depend on personal preference and values.

Solvent-based methods tend to be more efficient and cost-effective, while non-solvent-based methods are more natural and environmentally friendly.

Regardless of the method used, the goal of decaffeination is to remove most of the caffeine from the beans while preserving as much flavor and aroma as possible.

So, the next time you enjoy a cup of decaf coffee, you can appreciate the complex process that went into making it possible.

FAQs

Decaf coffee isn’t all that complicated, though it suffers from some bad PR. The best way to get up to speed about it is by answering common questions people have.