Rios De Oro Coffee - Gourmet Coffee from the Tarrazu Region Of Costa Rica

By Wesley Johnson

There are six common methods for decaffeinating coffee beans. They are the Roselius process, Swiss water process, Indirect method, Direct method, CO2 Process, and the Triglyceride process. For a rundown of each method, keep reading.

Roselius Process

The Roselius was the first commercially used method of decaffeinating coffee and was invented in 1903. By steaming the beans in a salt water mixture and using benzene as a solvent, the caffeine could be removed from the beans.

Unfortunately, there are health concerns associated with benzene, a carcinogenic, and coffee is no longer decaffeinated using this method.

Swiss Water Process

Named for the Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company, this process simply soaks the unroasted beans in hot water. Once all the caffeine and coffee solids have seeped into the water, the beans are then discarded.

Next, the caffeinated water is run through a carbon filter which catches all of the caffeine molecules. This flavor-charged water is then used to soak new beans, and the process is repeated until almost all of the caffeine has been filtered out. Due to the cost and labor intensity of this method, it is rarely used today.

Indirect Method

Like the Swiss Water Method, the indirect method first soaks the beans in hot water for a few hours. Then, the beans are pulled out and either ethyl acetate or methylene chloride is added to the water in order to extract the caffeine. The water is then used to soak a new batch of beans and is later repeated until the water and beans have the same flavor and aroma, but without the caffeine.

Direct Method

In this procedure, the beans are steamed and rinsed with ethyl acetate or methylene chloride for about 10 hours. The beans are then rinsed and steamed again to remove any solvent.

CO2 Process

This process works by placing steamed beans in a vat or bath of carbon dioxide. Once they're soaked, the CO2 is allowed to evaporate. The same carbon dioxide is then used on more batches of coffee beans.

Triglyceride Process

The triglyceride process starts by taking green or unroasted coffee beans and soaking them in hot water. This bath pulls out the caffeine and draws it to the surface of the beans. Afterward, the beans are placed in a coffee oil bath pulled from already used coffee grounds.

Finally, the trigylcerides in the spent coffee oils will eventually remove the caffeine from the beans while simultaneously adding flavor to them.

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