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I'll leverage my experience as a former Coffee Master at Starbucks to answer this. Wrote a paper on methods for removing caffeine for my review.
There have been many methods of removing caffeine. The basic method (sometimes known as the "Direct Method") is to soak the coffee beans in hot water or to steam them. This brings the caffeine in the beans to the surface included with the oils in the bean. Then a chemical is used to strip the oil off the bean. This is why decaf coffee usually looks dry (as opposed to caffeinated coffee which can have a shiny layer on the bean).
The oldest is called the Roselius process. This involved steaming the coffee beans and applying benzene. However, benzene is toxic and this method has gone the way of the dodo.
The next process is the Triglyceride process. Green coffee beans are soaked in a hot water/coffee solution. The beans are transferred to another container and immersed in coffee oils. After several hours of high temperatures, the triglycerides in the oils remove the caffeine - but not the flavor elements - from the beans. The beans are separated from the oils and dried. The caffeine is removed from the oils, which are reused to decaffeinate another batch of beans. This is a direct contact method of decaffeination. (Wikipedia)
The next method is the rare and expensive Swiss Water Process. Green coffee beans are soaked in water until their caffeine and oils are extracted. That water is then passed through a carbon filter that removes the caffeine. The water (which now only contains coffee oils) is applied to the roasted coffee. As this water is saturated with coffee oils it will only remove the caffeine. To my knowledge, no Starbucks coffee uses this process and there is only one plant in the world that uses it. I think it's in Canada.
The final process (and the most widely used) is the methylene chloride process. This was originally done with methylene TRIchloride until the mid-70s when it was discovered to cause cancer. The same result can be had with methylene chloride. This is a standard direct contact method that uses methylene chloride as the solvent to remove the caffeine and oils from the beans.
A newer process, that I know little about, is called Supercritical Fluid Extraction. Pre-steamed beans are soaked in a liquid bath of carbon dioxide. After a thorough soaking, the pressure is reduced allowing the CO2 to evaporate, or the pressurized CO2 is run through either water or charcoal filters to remove the caffeine. The carbon dioxide is then used on another batch of beans. This same process can also be done with oxygen (O2). These liquids work better than water because they are kept in supercritical state near the transition from liquid to gas so that they have the high diffusion of gas and the high density of a liquid. This process has the advantage that it avoids the use of potentially toxic solvents. (Wikipedia)
There are other variants of these (including an "Indirect Method" which is essentially a longer variant of the Swiss Water Process). All of these methods tout that they do little to remove the flavor. In every blind taste I did it was possibly to distinctly pick the decaf coffee from the bunch. When I consulted with clients about coffee I eventually found so many who were disappointed that their decaf didn't taste like real coffee that I began to recommend herbal and green teas. I found many more satisfied customers after I made that recommendation.
In general, a good rule of thumb is to assume (regardless of what it says on the packaging) that decaf coffee has between 5 and 15 percent of the original amount of caffeine.
I recommend www.coffeereview.com for more in-depth discussions on decaf. It is a very respected and well researched site for coffee.
Source(s):
Personal paper written for Starbucks using their literature.
www.coffeereview.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaf
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European Process
Most decaf coffees are made using a chemical process first used in Europe. This process involves soaking the beans in water and then "washing" them in methylene chloride to absorb the caffeine from the bean. After this, the beans are rinsed clean of the chemicals, dried and shipped to the coffee roasters. The advantage of this method is that it provides decaf coffee with more flavor than the Swiss water processing. Although there is virtually no trace of any chemicals left in the bean after roasting, some people are uncomfortable knowing that the coffee they are drinking was chemically processed.
Swiss Water Process
The second method is known as "Swiss water processing". This process uses no chemicals, but rather hot water and steam to remove the caffeine from the coffee. The "life" of the bean is taken into the water, and then the water solution put through activated charcoal filters to remove the caffeine. Once the caffeine is removed, these same beans are then put back into the decaffeinated solution to re-absorb everything except the caffeine. The beans are then dried and shipped to the roasters. The disadvantage is that the water processing removes more than just the caffeine. Some of the oils from the coffee bean are removed as well, making it less flavorful.
In the United States federal regulations require that in order to
label coffee as "decaffeinated" that coffee must have had its caffeine
level reduced by no less than 97.5 percent.
Source(s):
http://www.chilipaper.com/FNCC/decaf_coffee.htm
http://coffeefaq.com/coffaq6.htm#decaf
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Source(s):
yahoo answers and lifetips
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Decaffeinated coffee is made by washing the caffeine out of beans in one of two ways, both done before roasting. In one method, a chemical solvent is used to extract the caffeine. The solvent is completely washed out before the bean is dried. The second method uses water to steam the beans, and then the outer layers, rich in caffeine, are scraped way.
LONG ANSWER---
All decaffeination processes are performed on unroasted (green) coffee beans, but the methods vary somewhat. It generally starts with the steaming of the beans. They are then rinsed in solvent that contains as much of the chemical composition of coffee as possible without also containing the caffeine in a soluble form. The process is repeated anywhere from 8 to 12 times until it meets either the international standard of having removed 97% of the caffeine in the beans or the EU standard of having the beans 99.9% caffeine free by mass. Coffee contains over 400 chemicals important to the taste and aroma of the final drink; this effectively means that no chemical reaction will remove only caffeine while leaving the other chemicals at their original concentrations. While they are occasionally referred to informally as "decaffeinated," soft drinks without caffeine are prepared by simply leaving caffeine out in the first place.
Coffea arabica normally contains about half the caffeine of Coffea robusta. A Coffea arabica bean containing little caffeine has been found recently in Ethiopia. This may change how low-caffeine coffee is produced in the future. Additionally, genetic engineering technology may be eventually applied to create a naturally caffeine-free coffee. But for now, one of several methods to remove the caffeine from caffeine-containing beans is employed.
http://www.reallynatural.com/archives/Coffee%20Lover.jpg
There are six common methods for decaffeinating coffee beans. They are the Roselius process, Swiss water process, Indirect method, Direct method, CO2 Process, and the Triglyceride process. For a rundown of each method, keep reading.
Roselius Process
The Roselius was the first commercially used method of decaffeinating coffee and was invented in 1903. By steaming the beans in a salt water mixture and using benzene as a solvent, the caffeine could be removed from the beans.
Unfortunately, there are health concerns associated with benzene, a carcinogenic, and coffee is no longer decaffeinated using this method.
Swiss Water Process
Named for the Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company, this process simply soaks the unroasted beans in hot water. Once all the caffeine and coffee solids have seeped into the water, the beans are then discarded.
Next, the caffeinated water is run through a carbon filter which catches all of the caffeine molecules. This flavor-charged water is then used to soak new beans, and the process is repeated until almost all of the caffeine has been filtered out. Due to the cost and labor intensity of this method, it is rarely used today.
http://www.cafebiz.net/images/swisswater_1a.jpg
Indirect Method
Like the Swiss Water Method, the indirect method first soaks the beans in hot water for a few hours. Then, the beans are pulled out and either ethyl acetate or methylene chloride is added to the water in order to extract the caffeine. The water is then used to soak a new batch of beans and is later repeated until the water and beans have the same flavor and aroma, but without the caffeine.
http://mikeytherhino.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/roasted_coffee_beans.jpg
Direct Method
In this procedure, the beans are steamed and rinsed with ethyl acetate or methylene chloride for about 10 hours. The beans are then rinsed and steamed again to remove any solvent.
CO2 Process
This process works by placing steamed beans in a vat or bath of carbon dioxide. Once they're soaked, the CO2 is allowed to evaporate. The same carbon dioxide is then used on more batches of coffee beans.
http://www.millbaycoffee.com/images/volatile.gif
Triglyceride Process
The triglyceride process starts by taking green or unroasted coffee beans and soaking them in hot water. This bath pulls out the caffeine and draws it to the surface of the beans. Afterward, the beans are placed in a coffee oil bath pulled from already used coffee grounds.
Finally, the trigylcerides in the spent coffee oils will eventually remove the caffeine from the beans while simultaneously adding flavor to them.
http://img.alibaba.com/photo/10855162/Green_Coffee_Beans.jpg
RELATED ARTICLES--
1. Try out lavish decaf coffee
http://coffeeinformations.blogspot.com/2008/03/try-out-lavish-decaf-coffee.html
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Answered Question
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M$2
January 04, 2009 09:42 PM
How is caffeine taken out of coffee beans?
How is decaf coffee made? What % of caffeine does decaf retain?
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| January 05, 2009 08:02 AM |
There have been many methods of removing caffeine. The basic method (sometimes known as the "Direct Method") is to soak the coffee beans in hot water or to steam them. This brings the caffeine in the beans to the surface included with the oils in the bean. Then a chemical is used to strip the oil off the bean. This is why decaf coffee usually looks dry (as opposed to caffeinated coffee which can have a shiny layer on the bean).
The oldest is called the Roselius process. This involved steaming the coffee beans and applying benzene. However, benzene is toxic and this method has gone the way of the dodo.
The next process is the Triglyceride process. Green coffee beans are soaked in a hot water/coffee solution. The beans are transferred to another container and immersed in coffee oils. After several hours of high temperatures, the triglycerides in the oils remove the caffeine - but not the flavor elements - from the beans. The beans are separated from the oils and dried. The caffeine is removed from the oils, which are reused to decaffeinate another batch of beans. This is a direct contact method of decaffeination. (Wikipedia)
The next method is the rare and expensive Swiss Water Process. Green coffee beans are soaked in water until their caffeine and oils are extracted. That water is then passed through a carbon filter that removes the caffeine. The water (which now only contains coffee oils) is applied to the roasted coffee. As this water is saturated with coffee oils it will only remove the caffeine. To my knowledge, no Starbucks coffee uses this process and there is only one plant in the world that uses it. I think it's in Canada.
The final process (and the most widely used) is the methylene chloride process. This was originally done with methylene TRIchloride until the mid-70s when it was discovered to cause cancer. The same result can be had with methylene chloride. This is a standard direct contact method that uses methylene chloride as the solvent to remove the caffeine and oils from the beans.
A newer process, that I know little about, is called Supercritical Fluid Extraction. Pre-steamed beans are soaked in a liquid bath of carbon dioxide. After a thorough soaking, the pressure is reduced allowing the CO2 to evaporate, or the pressurized CO2 is run through either water or charcoal filters to remove the caffeine. The carbon dioxide is then used on another batch of beans. This same process can also be done with oxygen (O2). These liquids work better than water because they are kept in supercritical state near the transition from liquid to gas so that they have the high diffusion of gas and the high density of a liquid. This process has the advantage that it avoids the use of potentially toxic solvents. (Wikipedia)
There are other variants of these (including an "Indirect Method" which is essentially a longer variant of the Swiss Water Process). All of these methods tout that they do little to remove the flavor. In every blind taste I did it was possibly to distinctly pick the decaf coffee from the bunch. When I consulted with clients about coffee I eventually found so many who were disappointed that their decaf didn't taste like real coffee that I began to recommend herbal and green teas. I found many more satisfied customers after I made that recommendation.
In general, a good rule of thumb is to assume (regardless of what it says on the packaging) that decaf coffee has between 5 and 15 percent of the original amount of caffeine.
I recommend www.coffeereview.com for more in-depth discussions on decaf. It is a very respected and well researched site for coffee.
Source(s):
Personal paper written for Starbucks using their literature.
www.coffeereview.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decaf
| Asker's Rating: |
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Reply
Other Answers (4)
January 04, 2009 09:43 PM
There are currently 2 methods from which caffeine is extracted from coffee. European Process
Most decaf coffees are made using a chemical process first used in Europe. This process involves soaking the beans in water and then "washing" them in methylene chloride to absorb the caffeine from the bean. After this, the beans are rinsed clean of the chemicals, dried and shipped to the coffee roasters. The advantage of this method is that it provides decaf coffee with more flavor than the Swiss water processing. Although there is virtually no trace of any chemicals left in the bean after roasting, some people are uncomfortable knowing that the coffee they are drinking was chemically processed.
Swiss Water Process
The second method is known as "Swiss water processing". This process uses no chemicals, but rather hot water and steam to remove the caffeine from the coffee. The "life" of the bean is taken into the water, and then the water solution put through activated charcoal filters to remove the caffeine. Once the caffeine is removed, these same beans are then put back into the decaffeinated solution to re-absorb everything except the caffeine. The beans are then dried and shipped to the roasters. The disadvantage is that the water processing removes more than just the caffeine. Some of the oils from the coffee bean are removed as well, making it less flavorful.
In the United States federal regulations require that in order to
label coffee as "decaffeinated" that coffee must have had its caffeine
level reduced by no less than 97.5 percent.
Source(s):
http://www.chilipaper.com/FNCC/decaf_coffee.htm
http://coffeefaq.com/coffaq6.htm#decaf
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Reply
January 05, 2009 12:46 AM
Caffeine is taken out using carbon filters, leaving only flavor charged water. When new beans are soaked in the flavor charged water the soluble flavors in the water stop the soluble flavors coming out of the new beans, so only the caffeine comes out in the water and is absorbed by the carbon filter. Decaf is about 97% caffeine free.
Source(s):
yahoo answers and lifetips
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Reply
January 07, 2009 07:55 AM
SHORT ANSWER---- Decaffeinated coffee is made by washing the caffeine out of beans in one of two ways, both done before roasting. In one method, a chemical solvent is used to extract the caffeine. The solvent is completely washed out before the bean is dried. The second method uses water to steam the beans, and then the outer layers, rich in caffeine, are scraped way.
LONG ANSWER---
All decaffeination processes are performed on unroasted (green) coffee beans, but the methods vary somewhat. It generally starts with the steaming of the beans. They are then rinsed in solvent that contains as much of the chemical composition of coffee as possible without also containing the caffeine in a soluble form. The process is repeated anywhere from 8 to 12 times until it meets either the international standard of having removed 97% of the caffeine in the beans or the EU standard of having the beans 99.9% caffeine free by mass. Coffee contains over 400 chemicals important to the taste and aroma of the final drink; this effectively means that no chemical reaction will remove only caffeine while leaving the other chemicals at their original concentrations. While they are occasionally referred to informally as "decaffeinated," soft drinks without caffeine are prepared by simply leaving caffeine out in the first place.
Coffea arabica normally contains about half the caffeine of Coffea robusta. A Coffea arabica bean containing little caffeine has been found recently in Ethiopia. This may change how low-caffeine coffee is produced in the future. Additionally, genetic engineering technology may be eventually applied to create a naturally caffeine-free coffee. But for now, one of several methods to remove the caffeine from caffeine-containing beans is employed.
http://www.reallynatural.com/archives/Coffee%20Lover.jpg
There are six common methods for decaffeinating coffee beans. They are the Roselius process, Swiss water process, Indirect method, Direct method, CO2 Process, and the Triglyceride process. For a rundown of each method, keep reading.
Roselius Process
The Roselius was the first commercially used method of decaffeinating coffee and was invented in 1903. By steaming the beans in a salt water mixture and using benzene as a solvent, the caffeine could be removed from the beans.
Unfortunately, there are health concerns associated with benzene, a carcinogenic, and coffee is no longer decaffeinated using this method.
Swiss Water Process
Named for the Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company, this process simply soaks the unroasted beans in hot water. Once all the caffeine and coffee solids have seeped into the water, the beans are then discarded.
Next, the caffeinated water is run through a carbon filter which catches all of the caffeine molecules. This flavor-charged water is then used to soak new beans, and the process is repeated until almost all of the caffeine has been filtered out. Due to the cost and labor intensity of this method, it is rarely used today.
http://www.cafebiz.net/images/swisswater_1a.jpg
Indirect Method
Like the Swiss Water Method, the indirect method first soaks the beans in hot water for a few hours. Then, the beans are pulled out and either ethyl acetate or methylene chloride is added to the water in order to extract the caffeine. The water is then used to soak a new batch of beans and is later repeated until the water and beans have the same flavor and aroma, but without the caffeine.
http://mikeytherhino.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/roasted_coffee_beans.jpg
Direct Method
In this procedure, the beans are steamed and rinsed with ethyl acetate or methylene chloride for about 10 hours. The beans are then rinsed and steamed again to remove any solvent.
CO2 Process
This process works by placing steamed beans in a vat or bath of carbon dioxide. Once they're soaked, the CO2 is allowed to evaporate. The same carbon dioxide is then used on more batches of coffee beans.
http://www.millbaycoffee.com/images/volatile.gif
Triglyceride Process
The triglyceride process starts by taking green or unroasted coffee beans and soaking them in hot water. This bath pulls out the caffeine and draws it to the surface of the beans. Afterward, the beans are placed in a coffee oil bath pulled from already used coffee grounds.
Finally, the trigylcerides in the spent coffee oils will eventually remove the caffeine from the beans while simultaneously adding flavor to them.
http://img.alibaba.com/photo/10855162/Green_Coffee_Beans.jpg
RELATED ARTICLES--
1. Try out lavish decaf coffee
http://coffeeinformations.blogspot.com/2008/03/try-out-lavish-decaf-coffee.html
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