Decaf Coffee vs Regular Coffee: Differences and Whether Decaf Beans Are Truly Caffeine-Free

Introduction to Decaf Coffee

Many people first encountered decaffeinated coffee at Starbucks. Upon hearing about decaf coffee for the first time, many wonder if it contains absolutely no caffeine. How is caffeine extracted? This time, FrontStreet Coffee will explain the differences between decaf and regular coffee.

How Was Decaf Coffee Discovered?

According to legend, the famous German poet Goethe was also a coffee enthusiast who suffered from insomnia after drinking coffee. This love-hate relationship led Goethe to ask his friend Runge to analyze coffee bean components and identify what caused sleep interference. Around 1820, Runge identified caffeine as the factor affecting sleep and developed a method to separate caffeine from coffee beans, making him the pioneer of decaffeinated coffee.

Although Runge identified the factor affecting sleep, the caffeine extraction technology couldn't yet produce decaf coffee on a large scale. It wasn't until 1903 that German coffee importer Ludwig Roselius discovered that coffee beans soaked in seawater had significantly reduced caffeine content. He then commissioned a team of chemists to research and develop caffeine extraction technology, leading to major breakthroughs. Only then did decaffeinated coffee begin mass production.

How Is Caffeine Extracted from Decaf Coffee Today?

There are many methods to remove caffeine, generally categorized into direct/indirect solvent processing, supercritical carbon dioxide processing, Swiss water processing, and mountain spring water processing.

Direct Solvent Processing

Initially, direct solvent processing used dichloromethane solvent in direct contact with coffee beans. This method is also known as natural decaffeination processing. First, steam opens the pores of raw coffee beans, then dichloromethane solvent is added directly to the beans. After the solvent combines with caffeine, the caffeine-filled solvent is washed away, and the beans are steamed again to remove all residual solvent. Since dichloromethane has a boiling point of 39.8°C, even if solvent remains after steaming, it will completely evaporate during roasting.

Due to concerns that long-term exposure to dichloromethane may increase cancer risk, its use as solvent raises worries. However, the FDA limits dichloromethane content in decaffeinated coffee to 0.001%, and actual levels are even lower, making side effects minimal.

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

Swiss Water Processing

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

The Swiss water processing steps: Raw coffee beans are soaked in hot water, which in Swiss water processing is called "flavor-charged water." This water contains saturated flavor factors from all components that should be present in raw coffee beans, except for caffeine. This special water becomes the most important medium in the subsequent decaffeination process. After forming the flavor-charged water, coffee beans are filtered out. The flavor-charged water is then filtered through activated carbon to remove caffeine, leaving hot water full of pure flavor factors, which is then used to re-soak the beans.

Carbon Dioxide Processing

This method first allows coffee beans to absorb water and expand, putting caffeine molecules in a loose state within the beans. Liquefied carbon dioxide is added and creates pressure greater than 100 atmospheres in water. Carbon dioxide is highly selective, dissolving caffeine without "harming" carbohydrates and proteins in the coffee beans, ensuring their flavor isn't destroyed. The liquid carbon dioxide that carries away caffeine can be recycled after caffeine removal.

Coffee decaffeinated using carbon dioxide places less burden on the human body, and according to research, this method extracts more caffeine than the direct solvent method. However, this method is much more costly than the direct solvent method.

Mountain Spring Water Processing

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

Decaf Representative - FrontStreet Coffee Colombian Huila Natural Decaf

• Coffee Origin: Colombia
• Coffee Region: Huila
• Planting Altitude: 1200 to 2000 meters
• Coffee Varieties: Castillo, Caturra, Colombia
• Processing Method: Natural decaf processing (direct solvent processing)

Coffee Origin

Huila possesses an excellent combination of soil and geographical advantages for coffee cultivation. Some of the most complex, fruit-forward Colombian coffees come from this region. This area belongs to the Colombian National Coffee Company's selected high-altitude coffee beans, reputed as Colombia's national treasure. Thanks to superior geographical and climate conditions, Colombian coffee has consistently maintained high quality. The region has over 70,000 coffee growers covering more than 16,000 hectares (approximately 39,500 acres). Typically, Colombian coffee beans without special market trademarks come from the National Federation of Colombia Coffee Growers, known for its strict quality control and active promotion.

The southern Laboyos Valley of Colombia's Huila province is located at the foot of the Andes Mountains. This massive mountain range is the source of the Magdalena River, extending north to the Caribbean coast. The valley itself is located at approximately 1,300 meters above sea level. All surrounding mountain areas grow coffee, with average farm sizes of about 6 hectares and approximately 5,000 trees per hectare. The soil is volcanic, providing abundant organic nutrients for this high-altitude coffee.

Coffee Varieties

Early coffee varieties planted in Colombia were Typica and Bourbon. Starting in 1970, they were replaced by Caturra because Caturra not only yields more per plant than the previous two varieties but also has a more compact tree shape, allowing more coffee trees to be planted per unit area.

Caturra is a single-gene variant of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937, with both yield capacity and disease resistance superior to Bourbon. Starting in 1961, CENICAFE began researching the Timor variety of Robusta descent, subsequently crossing Timor with Caturra to develop Colombia's Catimor series. After 5 generations of breeding, in 1982, CENICAFE released Colombia's first disease-resistant coffee variety, named after the country: Colombia variety. Following the leaf rust outbreak in 1983, the Colombia variety began to be widely planted.

Subsequently, CENICAFE continued its research and development, releasing the second disease-resistant variety Tabi (a hybrid of Typica, Bourbon, and Timor) in 2002, and the most successful disease-resistant variety to date, Castillo, in 2005. After the massive leaf rust outbreak in 2008, Colombia began vigorously promoting Castillo cultivation.

Castillo is based on the Colombia variety, crossbred with Caturra until the tenth generation was successfully developed. Although it wasn't well-regarded by industry professionals when first introduced, recent years have seen batches with elegant and delicate flavors in the market.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Suggestions

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Report

How Does FrontStreet Coffee Brew Decaf Coffee?

• Dripper: Kono dripper
• Water Temperature: 88°C
• Coffee Dose: 15g
• Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
• Grind Size: Medium grind (75% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)

Brewing Method: Three-stage extraction. Use 30g of water for 30-second bloom. When the water level drops to just expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 125g, then segment. When the water level drops again to just expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. Remove the dripper when the water level drops to just expose the coffee bed (timing starts from bloom). Total extraction time is 2'30".

Brewing Flavor: Citrus, berries, bright acidity, dark chocolate, nuts.

Important Notice :

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