Want to know how decaf coffee beans shed their caffeine before you made your purchase? Sure it’s night time, but you are about to run out and order your unique vanilla flavoured no foam latte anyways. Lucky for us coffee lovers we can purchase decaffeinated coffee. Otherwise, this little stunt could buy you a night of tossing and turning until you finally slip into a slumber 30 minutes before your alarm goes off! We’ve all been there, and most of us have opted for decaf in those late days.
Decaffeinated coffee beans can be every bit as flavorful as regular coffee, just lacking in a bit of pick-me-up. Although a little jolt can be a lifesaver in the morning, not everyone needs or wants the side effects of caffeine paired with their drink. So how is decaffeination accomplished? Over the years, there have been a variety of exciting processes that coffee beans have undergone to extract their high caffeine. Sometimes, this process is taken place before roasting.
The most popular methods of decaffeinating coffee beans are the European and Swiss methods. The European process begins with first soaking the coffee beans in water and then extracting the caffeine in methylene chloride. Once this is complete, there is no trace of the chloride solution, and the beans are ready to be roasted. Some people are hesitant to drink this type of coffee. Sometimes, this European process is favoured because it mostly leaves the other flavours found within coffee untouched.
On the other hand, the Swiss method uses hot water and steam to remove caffeine; however, it also removes a great deal of the natural coffee flavour. Regardless, this method is famous for being practical without the use of chemicals. The Swiss Water method puts the beans into water that then uses charcoal filters to remove the caffeine.
Often the slightly lesser flavour in decaffeinated coffee beans is easily masked by adding flavouring to the beans. Flavoured coffee beans are a great alternative to your standard run of the mill coffee. They can come in just about any flavour imaginable. For the best possible taste in decaffeinated coffee beans, Arabica bean variety is the best as they are of very high quality and less likely to be disappointing. Although any decaffeination process will take away some flavour, it usually isn’t enough for the average coffee lover to even notice.