The three main processes used to produce decaffeinated coffee

31 July 2024

Tangentially related to the previous post. Do you drink decaffeinated coffee? Did you know there are three common methods used by decaf coffee producers to extract caffeine: the carbon dioxide method, Swiss water process, and finally, solvent-based methods.

Not all methods are one-hundred percent effective though, as minute quantities of caffeine remain in the finished product.

Michael W. Crowder, professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Miami University, writing for The Conversation, details each method, and their overall effectiveness. Here I was all this time thinking to-be-decaffeinated coffee beans were simply left out in the sun for a while, or something.