For millions of people worldwide, the day begins with a piping hot cup of coffee. The delicious aroma of coffee saturates kitchens and helps people get their day going. However, not everyone wants the caffeine crash or sleep issues associated with caffeine consumption. Some subsets of the population, such as pregnant women, must be mindful of the amount of caffeine ingested daily. Decaffeinated coffee is the perfect medium between enjoying the taste of coffee and not consuming any caffeine. At Lavie Coffee, we use the Swiss Water Process to decaffeinate our coffee beans.
How is Coffee Decaffeinated?
Decaffeinated coffee is made using the same coffee beans as regular coffee. The most common methods used for removing caffeine from the coffee beans include:
Swiss Water Process
Coffee beans are soaked in hot water to extract all the caffeine. This caffeine water is then passed through a filter which prevents the caffeine from passing through. The leftover decaffeinated water is used to wash the next batch of beans. Lavie Coffee uses this method for cleaning our beans because it preserves the maximum number of natural flavors. Other methods lose much of their coffee flavors due to the harsh chemicals. We only use natural and safe methods for decaffeinating our coffee beans.
Direct Chemical Solvent Rinse
One common method for decaffeinating coffee is to use chemical solvents, such as methylene chloride or ethyl acetate. The coffee beans are directly washed with one of these solvents to remove all the caffeine.
Indirect Chemical Solvent Application
This method is very similar to the direct chemical solvent rinse. The beans are soaked in water to remove the caffeine in this method. The water is then treated with the chemicals to remove the caffeine, and the beans are re-soaked in the caffeine-free water to absorb flavor. The direct and indirect methods lose much of their flavors and oils during these solvent rinses. Lavie Coffee does not use any chemicals during the decaffeination process of our beans.
Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Method
This method uses carbon dioxide under tremendous heat and pressure to chemically dissolve the caffeine within each bean. Rather than ingesting coffee that was decaffeinated with harsh chemicals, choose a coffee that is decaffeinated using a gentle process like the Swiss Water Procedure. At Lavie Coffee, our decaffeinated beans maintain their maximum flavor while remaining chemical-free.