Decaffeination

Many people can’t have caffeine for health reasons or just prefer not to consume it, but they still enjoy the experience of drinking coffee. To meet this need, coffee producers use a variety of processes for removing naturally occurring caffeine from coffee beans.

Caffeine is soluble in many solvents, including water. Most traditional decaffeination processes rely on soaking beans in hot water or steaming them to extract the caffeine. Other substances that contribute to the coffee’s flavor and aroma are often extracted along with the caffeine, so the caffeine-charged solution is treated with another solvent or filter that removes only the caffeine. Most coffee is decaffeinated with methylene chloride, but the popular Swiss water process uses activated charcoal filters to trap the caffeine.

Once the caffeine has been removed from the solution, the beans are usually soaked in what’s left to give them a chance to reabsorb lost flavor components. Decaffeinated coffees have a reputation for diminished or “off” flavors because of this fact of the process, but modern advancements in decaffeination technology have improved the final quality of the beans.

Caffeine is an orderless, bitter alkaloid that is responsible for the stimulating effect of coffee and tea. Caffeine causes the mind to be more alert and delays sleepiness and fatigue. It is the world’s most popular drug and for most, a cup of coffee is the preferred method of injection. Caffeine content in a five-ounce cup of coffee can range from 60 -180 milligrams.

The type of bean is one determinant of the level of caffeine in a cup of coffee. Robusto beans contain almost twice the amount of caffeine as arabica beans are often added to espresso blends to create a caffeine-boosted blend. Blend combination’s, brewing extraction rates, grind, roast level, and water temperature will all have an effect on the amount of caffeine in a particular cup of coffee. Espresso tends to have a higher concentration of caffeine per ounce of liquid compared to regular coffee due to its much finer grind and the relatively lower amount of water used in its preparation.

While most of the caffeine is near the surface of the coffee bean making extraction easy, it is important to note that not all the caffeine is removed. Coffee beans are decaffeinated in the green state with 97 percent of the caffeine being removed to meet guideline set by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Advances in the decaffeination process have allowed shop owners to penetrate previously underdeveloped markets such as consumers who worry about the side effects of caffeine, such as sleep deprivation, headaches, jitteriness, and an increase in blood pressure. Decaf has also been a popular seller among elderly customers and pregnant women

SEVERAL METHODS ARE USED TO REMOVE CAFFEINE FROM COFFEE BEANS; TWO OF THE MORE COMMON METHODS ARE METHYLENE CHLORIDE (EURO PREP) PROCESSING AND WATER PROCESSING.

Stockton Graham & Co. purchases European processed and Swiss Water processed beans that have been thoroughly sampled. In the European process method, the beans are soaked in hot water to remove virtually everything, including the flavor and the caffeine. The beans are removed from the flavor-laden water, and methylene chloride strips the caffeine from the water. The methylene chloride and caffeine are skimmed from the surface water. Finally, the beans are returned to the caffeine free water to soak up the flavor. The beans are then dried and sold.

Stockton Graham & Co. does offer Swiss Water processed beans for those who prefer a chemical free method of decaffeination. The Swiss Water process begins like the European process with a “start-up batch” of green beans being soaked in the hot water, which removes flavor and caffeine components from the beans. The start-up batch is then discarded while the caffeine is stripped from the water by means of activated charcoal filters, leaving the flavor components behind in what is called “flavor-charged water.” The flavor-charged water is used as a base for decaffeinating following batches of beans. The beans are immersed in the flavor-charged water, which is caffeine-free and full of flavor.

Since the concentration of flavor components in the bean and in the water are equal, only the caffeine is removed leaving the flavor intact. The water is then recycled through a carbon filter that traps the caffeine. The caffeine-free, flavor-charged water flows back to the beans to remove more caffeine. This process continues for eight hours, until the beans are 99.9 percent caffeine free. Following decaffeination, the trapped caffeine is removed from the carbon filter. The flavor-charged water is then recycled to start the process for the next batch of beans.

While the European process and Swiss Water process are the two most popular methods of decaffeination, other methods do exist. The CO2 Process involves the green beans being bathed in highly compressed carbon dioxide (CO2), which acts like a gas and partly like a liquid, and has the property of combining selectively with caffeine. The caffeine is stripped form the CO2 by means of activated charcoal filters.

Additionally, researchers are currently working on developing an arabica coffee bean that lacks caffeine altogether. These type of beans already exist in their natural form but do not possess the desirable flavor profile of their caffeinated counterparts. Researchers are trying to identify the genes in these varietals that either prevent the production of caffeine or eliminate it after it is produced in order to produce commercial quantities of coffee. However no such bean is on the market yet.

THE WHITE, BITTER-TASTING, CRYSTALLINE SUBSTANCE KNOWN AS CAFFEINE WAS FIRST ISOLATED FROM COFFEE IN 1820

No one process stands above the others. The European process tends to be the most popular because the bean is not nearly as processed and more closely mimics its caffeinated version. Others argue that the Swiss Water process is superior because it is natural and chemical free. The decision truly lies within the cup!

Call one of our customer care associates at (800) 835-5943 to learn how you can increase your customer base by offering the best decaffeinated coffees the world has to offer!