Decaffeinated coffee is considered the ugly duckling of drinks. We cannot say with certainty if it is really a swan surrounded by ducks, but we can assure you that it has been gradually penetrating the coffee world for good. However, you can still hear the echoes of the haters of decaffeinated coffee shouting the famous slogan “death before decaf”.
The truth is that in the beginning, the method for extracting caffeine used very harmful chemical compounds. Now it is known that some of them could even cause serious illnesses, but at that time consumers did not know these effects and their complaints focused on the taste, quite far from the original.
Today, chemically decaffeinated coffees offer quite acceptable flavors and aromas. However, they inevitably continue to transform the characteristics of the original bean. But for your surprise, new caffeine extraction methods that do not contain chemicals and preserve the natural properties of coffee has been tested successfully on the market.
Is caffeine-free coffee still coffee?
Many have denied the existence of decaffeinated coffee precisely because it is nothing like the original beverage. It doesn’t taste the same, it doesn’t smell the same, nor does it revive your senses after a long night’s sleep.
The emergence of methods of extraction of caffeine by water has made this reality change. New demanding consumers are opting for this type of decaffeinated coffee because it resembles the original product very well.
Also, its price and quality are quite refined compared to other gourmet coffee brands. Of course, we will always choose Filipino coffee, but as the saying goes: as there are tastes, there are also colors in the world.
Water decaff coffee: how does it work?
Immersed in water, the concentration of the caffeine molecules inside and outside the coffee bean dissolve. However, along with the caffeine, other substances were also dissolved. That explains why decaffeinated drinks taste different. Fortunately, today’s decaffeination has solved that problem.
Swiss water process is carried out in 4 simple steps and takes between 8 and 10 hours. The result: 99.9% caffeine-free coffee.
First, the green coffee beans are polished to remove impurities and then soaked in pure spring water. Then, they are immersed in saturated with coffee natural components water. Of course, all except caffeine. The caffeine molecules migrate from the bean to the water, leaving the rest of the coffee’s properties intact.
The green coffee circulates through carbon filters, which trap the caffeine and prepare the extract for reuse until all the caffeine is removed.
After a drying and roasting process, the coffee is ready for packaging and marketing.
There are other ways to decaffeinate coffee, such as extraction with citrus fluids. The cost is so high that the final product is excessively expensive. But an even less practiced method is that which uses CO2 applied at high pressures precisely for the quality of the final result.
In any case, this drink is gaining space in the cafeterias. Do you think one day we could shout “better decaf than espresso”? Who knows…
