Caffeine is a natural stimulant found in coffee, tea, cacao, guarana and kola nuts. Its effect on the human body can differ from person to person. Generally caffeine increases energy, alertness, and focus. It is an antioxidant that can help remove free radicals from the body and block inflammation.
What if a person does not want the effects of caffeine? In the case of coffee, caffeine can be removed in 4 main ways.
All methods start with whole, unroasted (raw, green) coffee beans to maintain the most flavor. The beans are roasted once the caffeine is removed.
- Indirect Solvent Method – Raw beans are boiled/softened to open the pores allowing caffeine to diffuse out. The water is extracted and a solvent is added to the water like methylene chloride or ethyl acetate which removes the caffeine. The caffeine -free coffee water is added back to the beans to give back the flavor and other ingredients that were boiled out. This method is the most common. It is preferred to the direct solvent method because the solvent is not applied directly to the beans.
- Direct Solvent Method – The raw beans are steamed or soaked to soften them to open the pores. Then they are dipped into the solvents mentioned above for approximately 10 hours to remove the caffeine. Next they are steamed again to evaporate out the solvents. Finally they are roasted.
- Carbon Dioxide Method- Raw beans are steeped in water and put into a pressure cooker where it is pressurized with liquid (supercritical) carbon dioxide for 12 hours which extracts the caffeine. Activated charcoal/carbon is added to filter out the carbon dioxide containing the caffeine. The caffeine is evaporated. This process is very selective and only the caffeine is removed while the other attributes, like the flavor components of the coffee are left in the beans.
- The Swiss Water Process- The raw beans are steeped in water and coffee essence (liquid with coffee minerals and profile without the caffeine). This creates a caffeine imbalance in the two solutions and through diffusion, the caffeine moves from the beans to the coffee essence. It takes several cycles of this to remove all the caffeine. This is the only chemical free, “green” way to produce decaffeinated beans.
Do these processes produce unhealthy coffee? Although the first and second processes are designed to remove the chemicals, they have had contact with your coffee beans. Both methylene chloride and ethyl acetate are volatile, so they evaporite easily. It is worth mentioning that methylene chloride is also used as a commercially sold paint stripper and degreaser. Ethyl acetate, which is arguably more natural, has commercially been used as nail polish as well as a decaffeinating agent. This has made the public question the safety of these processes. The industry maintains that these methods do not produce toxic effects.
Other considerations:
All of these methods are time consuming, which utilizes lots of energy and are not considered environmentally friendly. This also contributes to the higher price of decaf coffee. The carbon dioxide method, for example is only economically profitable on a massive scale. And although the flavor has been left or added back to the beans once the caffeine has been stripped out, decaf coffee does not have as rich a flavor profile as caffeinated coffee.
Where does the extracted caffeine go?
Much of the extracted caffeine is purchased for use in the soft drink/energy drink, pharmaceutical and beauty product industries. However, the demand for caffeine is higher than the coffee industry can supply. Caffeine is also laboratory-produced. This caffeine is not considered “natural” and does not have the same market value.
Learn, Improve, Repeat!
Alternatives to coffee with zero or less caffeine. These are nutrient-rich and definitely worth a try.
Chicory root smells and tastes similar to coffee but without caffeine or acidity of coffee. It can be bought alone or mixed with 50% coffee to cut the caffeine in half. This is our pick: Worldwide Botanicals French Chicory Root – Prebiotic Coffee Alternative, Acid Free, Caffeine Free, Kosher https://amzn.to/3wFHxSN
This is our chicory/coffee blend pick: Cafe Du Monde Coffee Chicory 15oz https://amzn.to/4dHtkoZ
Matcha– a type of green tea with much less caffeine than coffee. Matcha is rich in antioxidants and contains L theanine to give you energy without the coffee crash.
This is our pick: Jade Leaf Matcha Organic Green Tea Powder, Culinary Grade Premium Second Harvest 15-30 serv. https://amzn.to/3QRX8pg
Or if you prefer the tea bags try Lipton Matcha 4 pk, 60 bags https://amzn.to/43OKVa4
Chai tea- a combination of black tea with warming herbs like cinnamon and cloves. A typical cup of chai tea contains 1/3 the caffeine of coffee.
This is our choice: TAZO Regenerative Organic Chai Black Tea Bags 96 count https://amzn.to/4awdLh8
Herbal teas do not contain any caffeine and are available in a variety of flavors. This is our pick of assorted herbal teas especially because they come with honey sticks! Twinings Herbal Tea Bag Assortment (Pack of 40) with By The Cup Honey Sticks https://amzn.to/3WG0vTY