Did You Know – Decaffeinated Coffee
Decaffeinated coffee is made by removing caffeine from green, unroasted coffee beans. This is done by different common decaffeination methods which I show below. Think you don’t get any caffeine, think again!
Solvent-Based (Direct & Indirect)
Direct:
Beans are steamed and then directly rinsed with a solvent to pull out the caffeine, followed by another steaming to remove residue.
Indirect:
Beans are soaked in hot water to dissolve caffeine and flavor, the water is separated, a solvent (like methylene chloride) removes caffeine from the water, and then the flavor-rich water is returned to the beans.
Swiss Water Process (water & charcoal):
Beans are soaked in hot water to dissolve caffeine and flavor. The water (now called Green Coffee Extract) is passed through activated charcoal filters that trap caffeine but let flavor molecules through.
This flavor-rich extract is then used to soak new batches of beans, creating an environment where caffeine leaves the new beans until equilibrium is reached, leaving flavor intact.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Process:
High-pressure liquid CO2 acts as a selective solvent, dissolving caffeine from the beans without affecting other compounds. The CO2 is then separated from the caffeine and recirculated.
Key Points:
Unroasted Beans: Decaffeination happens to green, unroasted beans to protect flavor.
Not 100% Caffeine-Free: All methods leave a small amount (around 3%) of caffeine; regulations require 97% removal in the U.S.
Natural Option: The sugarcane process, using ethyl acetate from sugarcane, is a popular “natural” solvent method.
Source: AI
http://www.InDianesKitchen.com
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Categories: Did You Know
I didn’t know this! I’m okay with caffeine in the morning. 🙂
I can drink it anytime, caffeine doesn’t bother me, but I usually just have a cup in the morning.
My husband can drink it anytime, too. Not me!
Thank you for sharing Ned.
Thanks for this info Diane!
You’re welcome Dorothy!
depending on the process used, it could be healthy or unhealthy then? or are they all considered okay ?
I’m not sure if they are all considered healthy but the government says it’s ok so it must be, right? 🤣
Interesting facts. We drink decaf, I know there is some in it but my husband has issues with caffeine, including teas, pops etc. I don’t even taste the difference to be honest. I can’t have caffeine either after about 11 in the morning or I can’t sleep.
I only have a cup in the morning but it is with caffeine. It’s nice they actually have decaf for people with issues drinking caffeine. I can drink coffee and take a nap, it doesn’t seem to affect me at all. Lol
You’re so lucky! Even pop and chocolate affect me 🙄
Aw so sorry!
Interesting!
I thought so too Mary!
Very interesting to learn about how decaf is made. Although I have to say that I need the real stuff to function and survive these days! Maybe one day I can tone back the caffeine intake. 🤣
I’m with you but only when I get wake up.
I always wondered how they made decaf coffee – interesting to know it is not caffeine-free though, especially if you were not supposed to have caffeine for a medical reason.
It seems the government allows a small percentage of everything, like the peanut butter.
That didn’t make me feel too good either re: the peanut butter. Before Christmas I bought a small bottle of Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch dressing. I usually don’t use anything to mix with tuna/salmon, but I thought this might be nice for a change. Except it had a recall for plastic potting material was found in the dressing …. really? It’s white dressing – there QC is not very good!
OMG Do you know how many people eat everything with ranch? My daughter and grandkids for one! I’m not a lover of ranch. That will cost the company a fortune in recalls. Half the time the food is devoured by the time of the recall notice when it’s too late.
Yes, we used to eat a lot of ranch when we had salads and when we had chicken nuggets sometimes on a weekend with fries, I’d dip both in the ranch dressing, so this was going to be a treat for me. I won’t buy it again now … they would say what they told me about the big fly in the Del Monte creamed corn: “humans don’t touch any of this stuff” … but surely humans look at the production line of cans sometimes or peer into the vat of creamed corn? Yes, that is the problem, like with meat when they give a recall date way past the “use by” date and they say “check your freezer.” There’s too much of this going on anymore. I hope your daughter and grandkids didn’t have any of that bad dressing and not realize it.
We drink a lot of “organic decaf,” which is pretty hard to find. I hope “organic” means it wasn’t made using solvents. ☠️😝
Yes it means the chemical method was not used. I haven’t never seen organic decaf!
I knew that decaffeinated coffee contains a small amount of caffeine. I didn’t know there are so many methods to remove the caffeine!
I can see why coffee is so costly with the process they go through.
Very interesting! I brew a combination of caffeinated and decaf coffees each morning. I had no idea what the decaffeinating processes were till I read your article.
I was intrigued by the different processes. I have never heard of anyone brewing both caffeinated and decaffeinated together. Why did you start that or have you always made coffee that way?
For quite a few years, I’ve combined several coffees each morning. I use a proportion of two-thirds decaf to one-third caffeinated. Anyway, I’m sensitive to caffeine, but seem to be okay with the proportions I use.
Fascinating Neil!
Huh. Intriguing.
I know right!