How do they make decafeinated coffee?

Question

I would like to know how do they take the cafeine out of coffee beans to make decafeinated coffee.

Answer 1

good question

Answer 2

Multitudes of people worldwide start their morning with a cup o' joe. Some people like their coffee with cream or sugar, whereas traditionalists enjoy it au naturel. However you take it, many have made the decision to switch to a decaffeinated brew?similar taste, without the caffeine "kick". So how is caffeine extracted from the coffee bean?

Today, there are three main decaffeinating processes used in the market. All methods involve moistening the coffee beans to make the caffeine soluble for removal. Temperatures during the process vary between 160 and 210 ?F.

One of the methods used to extract caffeine from the coffee bean is called water processing. This process uses sugar and charcoal to remove 94?96% of the caffeine. The activated charcoal also has the unfortunate effect of taking away some of the natural flavor of the bean. To remedy this, the beans are soaked in the decaffeinated extract juices to reintroduce some of the flavor.

Another process used in the industry is the direct solvent method. The process can include methylene chloride (used widely in Europe), coffee oil, or ethyl acetate to bond the caffeine molecules to the solvent, increasing the amount extracted from the beans. The beans are washed with water and steamed to remove any residual traces of the solvent. The process is repeated until the beans are decaffeinated by a predetermined amount. One reason for the relative popularity of this method is that it removes 96?97% of the caffeine from the coffee bean.

The third method uses supercritical carbon dioxide in special treatment chambers that operate at approximately 250 to 300 times normal atmospheric pressure. The carbon dioxide is combined with premoistened green coffee beans, removing caffeine in a similar manner to the solvent process discussed above. A naturally abundant resource, carbon dioxide takes on supercritical properties at high atmospheric pressures and temperatures, acting as both a gas and a liquid. It's small, nonpolar molecules function to attract the small caffeine molecules of the coffee bean. Because flavor molecules are larger, they stay within the bean in this process and so more of the original flavor is retained. This process typically can extract 96?98% of the caffeine originally in the beans.

It would be wrong to assume that decaffeinated coffee does not contain any caffeine whatsoever. In fact, under current federal regulations, a product can still contain 2.5% of the original amount of caffeine and be labeled "decaffeinated." A reminder that labels on the products that you consume are there for your knowledge and protection. Take advantage of it.

What does the future hold for coffee? Advances in biotechnology could make the process of caffeine extraction obsolete. Genetically engineered decaffeinated coffees may be coming before you know it. The thought is stimulating (pun intended).

Answer 3

It is a chemical process that is said to be more harmful to the body than the caffeine. De-caf coffee makes me sick to my stomach and I feel like I am on the edge of passing out. Weird.

Answer 4

I think they use carbonated water to strip the caffeine out of the beans. Not sure about the chemistry. Ok I'm wrong.

Answer 5

The safest way to decaffinate coffee is to soak it. I'm too much of a caffine junkie to buy it, but I know for a fact Caffe Nero don't use a chemical process to decaffinate their de-caf, they use a Swiss Water technique.

Answer 6

I think they just soak the beans. Decaf was discovered accidentally when merchants began selling loads of beans that had been water logged in transit. They did it to scam people but, what a discovery lol.

Answer 7

OK, I'm not much of a coffee drinker but if you decaffeinate coffee doesn't that make it a waste of time to drink? because loads of people drink coffee because it keeps them awake or gives them a buzz, if i drank coffee then that would be the reason :) but hot chocolate is pretty yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 8

cheap brands use chemicals which the beans soal in; the Swiss have perfected a water-process that both tastes better and is better for you...also costs more...fancy stores who sell whole bean coffee use this.

Answer 9

One way is through water and CO2 (carbon dioxide). The beans are soaked in water, and CO2 is added at high pressure. The soaked beans expand and free the caffeine molecules, they are attracted to the CO2, and away it goes.

Answer 10

They do not make decaff its a removal process of componants of the coffee bean which sorry I have no knowledge of.

Answer 11

I don't know how they do it but I don't understand how they can still call it coffee with no caffeine