![]() Through an evaporation process, the caffeine is removed from the water and a fresh batch of beans gets soaked in the mostly caffeine-free coffee extract. ![]() The chemical solvent is then added to the water in order to bind up caffeine. In this case, the first round of beans is often thrown out like in the Swiss Water method. The indirect method first soaks the beans in hot water for several hours, instead of steaming for 30 minutes. The high temperature is sufficient to remove any detectable traces of the solvent, whose boiling point is 114☏. For the next 10 hours the beans are roasted at or above 400☏. The process is repeated for 10 hours until desired decaffeination is reached, and then the solvent is completely drained. The green coffee beans are first steamed for 30 minutes and then washed with one of the two chemical solvents, methylene chloride (also dichloromethane) or ethyl acetate. The direct method is perhaps the most commonly used by major coffee makers. There are two methods using these solvents, called direct or indirect. Starbucks employs the Swiss Water Process for its Decaf Organic Serena Blend. This process is considered higher end because it’s the purest and most expensive. After 8-10 hours of this, 99.9% of the caffeine is removed while most of the coffee’s original flavor should be restored. The new GCE is again filtered of it caffeine content, and the enriched bean-bath is repeated. This batch soaks in the new and improved water, which replenishes everything but the caffeine as it pulls chemicals from the green bean. The GCE is then passed through charcoal filters, which absorb the caffeine, and is re-used to soak the next fresh batch of beans. To restore flavor and health benefits, the original beans are tossed but we keep the new green coffee extract (GCE), containing all the goodies. This leaves the beans less nutritious and delicious. The water draws out natural chemicals from the bean, including caffeine but also oils and nutrients. Methylene Chloride or Ethyl Acetate Solventsįresh, green coffee beans are soaked in water.The process involved benzene, a solvent that’s no longer used commercially because of potential toxicity, but elements of his methodology are still used. In the beginning of the last century a German coffee merchant named Ludwig Roselius invented “the Roselius process” of decaffeination. It turns out that the popular stimulant doesn’t separate easily from its vessel, so manufacturers have had to devise methods powerful enough to remove the one constituent without stripping all of the seed’s treasures. The caffeine contains much of the bean’s yum-factor, and the processing draws out more than caffeine but also other important flavor chemicals. (BeWellBuzz) A major challenge merchants face when decaffeinating coffee is maintaining flavor.
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