Differences in Taste and Flavor Between Colombian Decaf Coffee and Regular Coffee - Characteristics of Swiss Water Decaffeination Process

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In modern society, coffee is not just used for staying alert but has become more of a lifestyle choice. Decaf coffee has emerged on the market to meet the needs of those whose sleep is affected by caffeine intake, or those who love coffee but want to avoid caffeine. It is undoubtedly an excellent choice.

After the appearance of decaf coffee, many people questioned whether decaf coffee would affect health, etc. FrontStreet Coffee believes that questioning anything without considering intake quantity is nonsense. Whether it's regular coffee with caffeine or decaf coffee, if the daily intake exceeds what the human body can handle, even drinking water will cause corresponding problems. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee wants to remind all coffee-loving friends that although coffee is delicious, remember not to overindulge~. Well, let's get back to the main topic: what is decaf coffee, how is decaf coffee made, and FrontStreet Coffee has sourced and launched a decaf coffee bean from Colombia to explore this together.

What is Decaf Coffee? Is Decaf Coffee Really Caffeine-Free?

Under normal circumstances, the caffeine content of coffee beans is measured using weight percentage. Arabica coffee beans contain 0.9%-1.4% caffeine (average 1.2%), while Robusta contains 1.8%-4% caffeine (average 2.2%). Decaf coffee is divided into naturally low-caffeine coffee and artificially processed decaffeinated (low-caffeine) coffee. The most common naturally low-caffeine coffee is Laurina (Coffea Laurina), which has half the caffeine content of regular Arabica (0.6%).

Unlike other artificially processed decaf coffees, Laurina has genetic degeneration that results in lower caffeine content compared to typical Arabica coffee trees, with superior flavor. For artificially processed decaf coffee, the EU standard for such decaf coffee is that the processed caffeine content does not exceed 0.1% of green beans, while the US FDA standard requires reducing caffeine to below 3% of its original content.

Does decaf coffee mean completely caffeine-free? Not necessarily. FrontStreet Coffee believes that although decaf coffee has extracted most of its caffeine, it still retains 2%-3% caffeine residue, meaning each cup of decaf espresso contains about 0-7 milligrams of caffeine. Although caffeine is still present, compared to regular espresso, the caffeine in decaf coffee will not affect most people.

How is Caffeine Extracted from Decaf Coffee?

With the development of the coffee market, there are many methods for removing caffeine, which can be roughly divided into direct/indirect solvent processing methods, supercritical carbon dioxide processing, Swiss water processing, and mountain spring water processing.

Direct Solvent Processing Method (Direct Contact Method)

The direct solvent processing method uses chemical solutions such as dichloromethane and ethyl acetate to dissolve out caffeine. First, steam is used to open the pores of green coffee beans, then dichloromethane solvent is added directly to the coffee beans. After the solvent fuses with caffeine, the caffeine-filled solvent is washed away, and the coffee beans are steamed again to remove all residual solvent. Since the use of dichloromethane is suspected to increase cancer risk with long-term exposure, there are concerns about using it as a solvent. However, the FDA actually limits dichloromethane content in decaffeinated coffee to 0.001%, which is even lower in practice, with minimal side effects.

The process using ethyl acetate as solvent is the same. Ethyl acetate typically comes from sugarcane, so when used, the direct solvent method is sometimes called the sugarcane decaffeination method. Colombian decaffeination processing usually uses this method. However, ethyl acetate is a highly flammable substance, making it more dangerous.

Swiss Water Processing Method

This is the most traditional method for extracting caffeine, using this commercially developed high-efficiency processing method.

The steps of the Swiss Water processing method: Green coffee beans are soaked in hot water, which in the Swiss Water processing method is called "flavor-charged water." This water contains saturated flavor factors that should be present in green coffee beans, lacking only caffeine. This special water is the most important medium in the subsequent decaffeination process. After forming the flavor-charged water, the coffee beans are filtered out. The flavor-charged water is filtered through activated carbon filters to remove caffeine, leaving behind hot water filled with pure flavor factors. Then the coffee beans filtered out are re-soaked in the hot water with pure flavor factors, allowing the coffee beans to reabsorb the coffee flavor.

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Processing Method

This processing method first allows coffee beans to absorb water and expand, with caffeine molecules in a loose state within the coffee beans. Liquefied carbon dioxide is added and creates pressure greater than 100 atmospheres in water. Carbon dioxide is highly selective, dissolving caffeine while not "harming" the carbohydrates and proteins in the coffee beans, ensuring that the coffee bean flavor is not damaged. The liquid carbon dioxide that carries away the caffeine can also be recycled after removing caffeine.

Coffee made using carbon dioxide decaffeination has lower burden on the human body, and according to research, this method extracts more caffeine than the direct solvent method, though this method costs much more than the direct solvent method.

Mountain Spring Water Processing Method

Similar to Swiss Water processing, this uses another special water - water from glaciers to extract caffeine. The company Descamex states they use some kind of special filtration device to remove caffeine. After processing, a water-based solution without caffeine is obtained, which also dissolves coffee solids and can be reused in the decaffeination process.

Is Low-Caffeine Coffee Difficult to Drink?

Comprehensive analysis of the above decaf coffee processing methods leads FrontStreet Coffee to believe that decaf coffee doesn't taste bad due to the processing. Because most decaf coffee uses some inexpensive, commercial-grade coffee beans as raw materials. Modern decaffeination technology is quite complex, and in most cases, companies producing decaf coffee naturally prefer to use coffee bean varieties with higher caffeine content (such as Robusta beans). Before decaf coffee beans undergo decaffeination processing, the coffee beans were already not tasty. Like other coffee beans sold in coffee shops, if decaf coffee beans use high-quality Arabica coffee beans from the start as green beans, then even after decaffeination processing, decaf coffee can still have very good performance.

FrontStreet Coffee's Representative Coffee Bean - Colombian Huila Swiss Water Process Decaf

Country: Colombia
Region: Huila
Altitude: 1750 meters
Varieties: Typica, Caturra, Castillo
Processing Method: Swiss Water Process
Grade: Supremo
Harvest Season: 2020

Colombian Huila Region

Colombian coffee beans are extremely well-known worldwide, and their high-quality washed beans have always been representatives of premium coffee. Coffee beans exported from Colombia undergo specific gravity checks and manual removal of defective beans. They are bagged only after layers of strict inspections, thus ensuring the quality of Colombian coffee.

Colombian Huila belongs to the special selected high-altitude coffee beans of the Colombian national company, known as Colombia's national treasure. Relying on superior geographical and climatic conditions, Colombian coffee has always maintained high quality. Usually, Colombian coffee beans without special market trademarks come from the National Federation of Colombia Coffee Growers, which has always been known for its strict quality control and active promotion.

Colombian Decaf Coffee Varieties

This batch of decaf coffee includes three coffee varieties: Typica, Caturra, and Castillo. Typica, as one of the oldest Arabica varieties in the world, is loved for its delicious and sweet flavor, but due to low yield per unit, it has been replaced by many high-yield coffee varieties in Colombia. Caturra is a natural mutation of Bourbon, with flavor comparable to or slightly inferior to Bourbon beans. More importantly, it has super strong adaptability, doesn't need shade trees, and can thrive directly under harsh sun exposure, commonly known as Sun Coffee, and can adapt to high-density planting.

Castillo was developed based on Colombian varieties, hybridized with Caturra until the tenth generation was successfully completed. Although it wasn't favored by industry practitioners when first introduced, in recent years there have been batches with elegant and delicate flavors on the market.

Green Bean Grade

This batch of green coffee beans is graded as Supremo. In the Colombian coffee bean system, Supremo is the highest grade, while the preferred grade Excelso has smaller and more common beans. Colombian coffee beans show balanced flavor performance, rich taste, and unique flavor characteristics, with relatively full body. At medium roast, the flavor carries a sweet note of vanilla and dark chocolate.

How FrontStreet Coffee Roasts Colombian Decaf Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee's roaster uses medium heat and steadily increases it, with the yellowing point at around 6 minutes 15 seconds, then reduces heat and opens the air damper to enter the Maillard reaction. At first crack, the air damper is opened wide, maintaining heat at approximately 183.2°C, and the beans are removed 2 minutes 30 seconds after first crack.

The roaster is preheated to 200°C for loading, air damper set to 3. After 30 seconds, heat is applied, adjusted to 130. Temperature recovery point at 1'32'', maintaining heat. Yellowing at 6'15'', grassy smell disappears, entering dehydration stage. Heat is increased to 140, air damper opened to 4. When reaching 151°C, heat is reduced again to 110.

Dehydration completed in 8 minutes. Wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast aroma turns to coffee aroma, signaling the prelude to first crack. At this point, heat remains unchanged, air damper opened to 5, and attention is paid to listening for first crack sounds. At 9'57'', first crack begins, air damper fully opened to 5. Development time after first crack is 2 minutes 30 seconds, beans removed at 194.2°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Report

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Dripper: Kono dripper
Water Temperature: 90°C
Coffee Amount: 15g
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Medium-coarse grind (Chinese standard #20 sieve, 70% pass rate)

Brewing Method: Three-stage extraction. Use 30g of water for 30-second bloom, then pour with small water flow in a circular motion to 125g for stage separation. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. Wait for the water level to drop and is about to expose the coffee bed, then remove the dripper. Total brewing time is 3 minutes.

Brewing Flavor: Dark chocolate, caramel, nuts, with rich and full-bodied texture.

Important Notice :

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