WHY ALL DECAF IS NOT CREATED EQUAL
Short answer: No. Not by a long shot.
Decaf coffee has become increasingly popular in recent times. Many people want (need?) their coffee, but without the jitters from the caffeine.
But how is the decaffeination process? How do you remove the caffeine out of the coffee?
MOST DECAFFING PROCESSSES ARE HIGHLY CHEMICAL…
The bad news is that most decaffeination is done with a highly chemical process. The most prevalent method is to soak the beans in a solvent – usually methylene chloride or ethyl acetate.
Methylene chloride can be used as a paint stripper and a degreaser, as well an agent to remove caffeine. We will let that stand by itself.
…THE SWISS WATER METHOD IS NATURAL
The goods is, that you have alternatives. There is a less known, but completely natural and innovative process, called the “Swiss Water Method”. Here is how it works:
Caffeine is a soluble component, i.e. it dissolves in water. The green coffee beans (before roasting) are soaked in hot water to dissolve the caffeine.
However, caffeine isn’t the only water-soluble substance present in coffee. Sugars, oils and other components, which create the flavor and aromas of coffee, will also dissolve in water, but those we want to retain for our delicious coffee.
RETAINING NATURAL FLAVORS AND AROMAS
To achieve this, after soaking, the water from the soaking of the green beans is passed through a filter.
Caffeine is a large molecule, thankfully, and larger than the sugars and desirable molecules. The caffeine gets “stuck” in the filter while the sugars, oils, and other elements in coffee that give flavor and aroma, will pass through and stay in the water.
This water, saturated with the desirable molecules of flavors and aromas, is called green coffee extract, and is now used to soak the next batch of green beans.
Since the natural green coffee extract already contains the components of flavor (“saturated”), those substances will not extract from the beans and just the caffeine is removed.
A DECAF COFFEE WHICH IS CLEANER AND BETTER FOR YOU
The end product is a natural decaffeinated coffee. It is a more costly process, but the result is decaffeinated coffee that is intense on original coffee flavor, and completely free from chemicals.
Fabula is proud to only carry decaf coffee using the Swiss Water method!
