Is the Decaffeination Process Good or Bad?

The types of the decaffeination process will have to suffice unless and until this species of coffee tree that is nearly caffeine free makes its way to commercial production.

But how is our cup of brew affected by these methods?

If regular and decaf coffee are both properly processed and well brewed, the majority of people really can't distinguish the difference, according to blind taste tests.

However, some can and this is for them...

Hot water is one of the methods used to remove caffeine from coffee and after that, it is rinsed with methylene chloride.

Did you know that water had been used on your coffee before you brewed it?

It had and more than once. After picking, the outer fruit of the berries is softened by rinsing, then, to aid in getting the rest of the flesh off, it is rinsed again.

And did you know that your grounds had taken a dunk in the swimming pool before it got to you?

Well, maybe not quite a swimming pool. That would be diluted hydrochloric acid rather than methylene chloride. But lets not let a little thing like chemistry stop a good joke.

The difference in taste is not as likely to result from the absence or presence of caffeine as it is from any processing chemicals that remain and if compounds that produce flavor are removed by them.

Warming green, unroasted beans in steam or hot water is the beginning of the chemical decaffeination process. The moist heat opens the pores of the beans.

The next step for the beans is a methylene chloride rinse.

The caffeine and methylene chloride bind together so the caffeine is then flushed away.

Another method is to soak the beans in hot water for several hours. The caffeine will leach out into the water bath. Methylen chloride is added to the bath after the beans have been taken out.

The methylene chloride bonds to the caffeine but not the components that give the flavor that also washed out of the beans.

The beans are then put back into the bath so the flavor compounds can be reabsorbed.

The Swiss Water method is a completely different decaffeination process of producing decaf coffee that doesn't use methylene chloride.

As with the previous method, the beans are soaked for several hours in hot water.

But the caffeine is removed with activated charcoal by filtering the water through it. Other molecules stick to the activated charcoal because it has been altered, giving it a larger surface area. This activated charcoal is basically pure carbon.

The majority of manufacturers prefer the first decaffeination process because it is cheaper. This is the one that, unsurprisingly, has a debate ongoing as to whether the taste of coffee is degraded by it. Of course, the biggest difference is in the quality control.

There are ways that a person can reduce caffeine consumption on his or her own.

Due to the particular roasting process, the less acidic, darker roasts have lower levels of caffeine. For those who just need to cut back on caffeine, regular and decaf coffee can be blended.

Now, as for taste... Just as in any debate regarding taste, a person's subjective preferences over ride the objectiveness of chemical differences.

A good many people can tell whether the inherent bitter taste of caffeine is present in coffee. It is strictly a matter of taste whether that bitterness makes decaf coffee good or not.