What Is Decaf Coffee? The Story of How Decaf Was Created
08 October 20262 min read
Written by Tiny Tiger Coffee
If you're like us, you love a cup of coffee at any time of the day. But some evenings you want one after 6 pm too, and who wants to lie awake at 2 am, tossing and turning? What do you do then?
Decaf coffee is ordinary coffee with almost all of its caffeine taken out before the beans are roasted. A cup of decaf usually has 2 to 7 mg of caffeine, against about 95 mg in a regular mug.
But how did decaf actually come to be?
It started with a shipment soaked in seawater
In 1905, a coffee trader in Bremen, Germany, named Ludwig Roselius received a batch of green coffee that had been soaked in seawater on the voyage. Instead of throwing it away, he roasted it. It still tasted like coffee, but much of the caffeine was gone.
He turned the accident into a method: steam the green beans to open them up, then rinse them with a solvent that carries the caffeine out (real Breaking Bad stuff!). He sold the coffee as Kaffee HAG, and later as Sanka, short for "sans caffeine".
There was one problem. His solvent was benzene, which we now know causes cancer. We stopped using benzene as the solvent long ago, but the basic idea still remains the same.
Three ways to take the caffeine out today
In principle, all three methods of decaffeination are the same, but they differ mainly in the following ways:
Solvents. The beans are rinsed in methylene chloride or ethyl acetate, which bond to the caffeine. Ethyl acetate occurs naturally in fruit and is made from sugarcane, so it's often sold as "sugarcane decaf".
Swiss Water. The beans soak in a green coffee extract that already holds every flavour a bean can give, except caffeine. So only the caffeine moves out, and carbon filters catch it.
Supercritical CO2. Carbon dioxide squeezed to about 300 times normal air pressure behaves like a liquid. It dissolves caffeine but leaves most of the flavour, then turns back into gas when the pressure drops. This is the method used for our Decaffeinated Toasted Almond.
All three are safe.
Why so much decaf tastes flat
Steaming changes a green bean for good: it comes out browner and more porous, like a sponge.
It's hard to roast. Roasters judge a roast partly by colour, and a decaf bean looks half-roasted before it starts, so it's easily taken too far.
It goes stale faster. Air gets into a porous bean quickly. That's why decaf left open for weeks tastes so tired.
How much caffeine is left?
In India, the FSSAI says roasted decaf can hold no more than 0.1% caffeine by dry weight. Laboratory tests on our Decaf Toasted Almond show a 99.95% reduction in caffeine, which leaves well under 1 mg in a cup.
How to enjoy good decaf at home
Start with good coffee. Decaffeination takes a little off the top, so a great bean still tastes great. Ours is a 100% arabica natural from Hoysala Estate, roasted medium dark, with notes of green apple, caramel and toasted nuts.
Keep it fresh. Close the bag tightly after every use. If you only drink decaf now and then, freeze it in small airtight portions and brew straight from frozen.
Grind a touch coarser. Decaf extracts a little faster, so if your usual recipe tastes bitter, open the grind slightly.
