How Decaf Coffee Is Made: The Water Process, Sugarcane Method, and Caffeine Content Explained
How is coffee made decaf? Is it full of chemicals? Is it safe? Is it caffeine free? How much caffeine does coffee have anyway?
There are a lot of questions you might ask yourself when considering decaf coffee. Whether you're staring down the barrel of a caffeine addiction or just trying to add an afternoon cup without ruining your sleep, we've got your answers. And yes, we are here to support that evening coffee meetup.
How Freestyle Decaffeinates Coffee Beans
Freestyle has three ways we use to decaffeinate our coffee beans: Mountain Water process, Swiss Water process, and Sugar cane process. These can be more generally broken down into: Water process and sugar cane process.
Good news: both of these processes are no synthetic solvents. No methylene chloride. They are au naturel. Just high quality coffee with no caffeine and no chemicals. Pure flavor.
The Water Process: How Decaf Coffee Is Made Without Chemicals
The water process starts early on in the lifecycle of your cup of coffee - all the way back to green beans. These beans are picked and then soaked in hot water, opening up the pores of the bean and releasing the caffeine compounds into the water. Some sugars, acids, and aromatic compounds sneak out into the water along with the caffeine, so the water is then forced through a carbon filter. Since caffeine compounds are larger than the other elements that are pulled out of the beans, the carbon filters catch them, while the sugars, acids, and flavor compounds remain in the water as it passes through.
Now we are left with compound-lite beans and flavor rich water. Using basic principles of osmosis and evaporation, we can re-infuse the beans with the all the good stuff the water is holding, and then dry out the excess h2o. The beans are soaked in the mineral rich water until they swell up with flavor, then are dehydrated so that the h2o particles evaporate out of the bean and all the original compounds that were pulled from the bean (sans caffeine, which was filtered out and discarded) are back in the cell walls of the coffee. Believe it or not, this process removes up to 99.9% of the caffeine.
Swiss Water® vs Mountain Water® Decaf Processes
Swiss Water® (Canada) and Mountain Water® (Mexico) are two leading trademarked water-process decaffeination facilities. While the science is nearly identical, they operate in different regions with independent quality standards.One (Swiss) happens in Canada while the other (Mountain) happens in Mexico. Both have extremely high quality regulations and remove almost 100% of the caffeine without the use of chemicals, and the processes are nearly identical.
How Much Caffeine Is In Decaf Coffee?
We can confidently say that at least 97% (minimum requirement) and up to 99.9% of the caffeine is removed. Given that a standard cup of coffee has anywhere between 85 and 120mg of caffeine, water processed decaf will have 0.5-5mg of caffeine in a whole cup. For reference, an ounce of dark chocolate has between 12 and 30mg of caffeine, depending on the cacao percentage.
The Sugarcane Decaf Process (Ethyl Acetate Method)
Freestyles other method for decaf processing is the Sugarcane method, also referred to as the Ethyl Acetate (EA) process. Ethyl Acetate, though it sounds scary, is a naturally occurring compound that is derived from (of course) sugarcane. EA is also found in fruits (such as that banana you had for breakfast) as well as beers and wines.
Similarly to the water process, within the Sugarcane method, the beans are heated to open their pores, making the caffeine molecule accessible. Instead of boiling to heat them though, these beans are steamed. Once the green bean opens up, they are washed with EA from the sugarcane plant, which bonds to the caffeine molecules like magnets. Ethyl acetate selectively binds to caffeine molecules, allowing them to be gently removed and broken down into the EA solution.
The coffee beans are then rinsed in a clean, fresh water solution. After their thorough water rinse, they are once again steamed to "burn off" any remaining atoms of EA. EA has a really low boiling point, so the steam evaporates any remaining particles of the EA. At this point, the beans (just like the water process) are 97-99% caffeine free. Still wet from the steam, they are then dried, and ready for roasting.
Is Decaf Coffee Safe?
Neither of these processes (water or sugarcane) have any ingredients that are dangerous or even synthetic. Both processes are clean, safe, and fully transparent. Coffee is a heavily regulated industry and though these processes are nontoxic and chemical free, they are still held to very high regulatory standards.
Why Decaf Coffee Shouldn’t Feel Like a Compromise
All in, if you are looking for a traceable, highly effective, and clean method for your cup of decaf coffee, look no further. Water process and Sugar Cane processed decaf are lauded in wellness. Decaf should never feel like a compromise. Whether it’s an after-dinner espresso, a fresh cup for a late-night work session, or a second morning mug simply because you want one, you deserve the ritual without the rush.
No caffeine. No harsh solvents. Just beautifully decaffeinated coffee.