It’s quite possibly one of life’s greatest pleasures. It doesn’t matter if you’re drinking it cozied up on your couch or sitting next to a campfire, there’s just something so comforting about a nice cup of coffee.

Of course, for a lot of people, coffee gives them a caffeine kick that gets them through their day. But, what if you can’t have caffeinated drinks and don’t want to give up this simple pleasure? That’s when it’s time to turn to decaffeinated brews.

The Different Decaffeination Methods

Before we get into the decaffeination process, let’s go over the most popular. The three most popular methods of decaffeination are solvent-based, the Swiss water process, and the Super Critical Carbon Dioxide method. Even though the methods may be different, each one uses green coffee beans before they’re roasted, allowing for the removal of around 97% to 99% of the total caffeine.

Solvent-Based Methods

There are two types of solvent-based decaffeination–direct and indirect. With the direct method, the solvents are applied directly to the beans, but with the indirect method, the beans are pre-soaked and separated from the water where the solvent is added. Here is the process:

1. Prep and Steam
   Before the coffee beans are roasted, they need to be prepared for decaffeination. After they’re cleaned, the green beans are steamed at low pressure for about 30 minutes. This steaming process hydrates them, increasing their moisture levels by 15 to 20%, and opens their pores so the caffeine is easier to extract.
2. Apply the Solvent
   After they’re hydrated and cleaned, the beans are either rinsed in a solvent or placed into it, depending on whether the direct or indirect method is used. For direct solvent, the beans will stay in the chemical mixture for up to 10 hours, giving it time to bind and extract the caffeine without harming the flavor.
3. Drain the Caffeine
   Once the caffeinated solvent mixture is done soaking, it’s drained, removing the caffeine from the beans.
4. Re-steam and Clean
   The decaffeinated beans are steamed a final time to remove any solvent that wasn’t fully washed away during draining. This step is very important because it ensures there’s no contamination on the final product, and it’s safe to drink.
5. Dry and Finish
   The final step is drying beans to their original moisture level, between 10 and 12%. Once dry, they’re cooled and polished and packed up for shipment.

Swiss Water Process

The Swiss water process is completely chemical-free and removes 99.9% of caffeine from the coffee beans. The beans go from caffeinated to decaffeinated in six steps.

1. Clean and Pre-Soak
   Like the solvent method, the green beans are soaked and rehydrated, opening their pores and preparing them for the decaffeination process.
2. Create Green Coffee Extract
   The water where the beans soaked is passed through a carbon filter that’s used to catch the caffeine molecules. Once filtered, the liquid is very flavorful and called Green Coffee Extract or GCE.
3. Remove Caffeine
   The green coffee beans are placed back into the GCE liquid so they can reabsorb the flavor without the caffeine.
4. Drying
   The flavor-packed beans are now caffeine-free and dried to their original moisture level. They’re then polished and packed for shipment.

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Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Method

The supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is nicknamed the “sparkling water” decaffeination process since it uses carbon dioxide to remove the caffeine from the beans. It’s a popular option since it protects the beans’ flavor and doesn’t use any toxic chemicals.

1. Soak and Steam
   Just like the other methods, the first step is to soak or steam the beans to rehydrate them.
2. Extract
   Once the beans are fully hydrated, they’re put into a stainless steel container. Carbon dioxide is pumped in and heated to 88° and kept at 73 atmospheric pressure (1,000 to 3,000 psi). This step is super important because the CO2 dissolves the caffeine, making it into a liquid. It takes 10+ hours with fresh CO2 constantly circulating, keeping the extraction process going.
3. Remove the Caffeine
   The caffeine-packed CO2 is then transferred to a low-pressure chamber where it switches back to a gas and releases the caffeine. The liquid caffeine is then run through carbon filters and removed.
4. Dry and Finish
   The newly decaffeinated beans are then dried and prepared for packaging.

no caffeine – no jitters!

While the methods for decaffeinating coffee beans can differ, the result is the same: decaffeinated brews that taste great and won’t give you the jitters.

Of course, the best cup of coffee starts with top-quality beans. Archery Coffee offers coffee that starts with farm-direct sourced beans that are roasted to perfection. Choose from a full range of light roasts to full-bodied dark roasts. Plus, Archery Coffee donates a portion of every sale to archery and outdoor education programs. So, whether you’re a casual coffee drinker, or an expert on the various types of coffee, you can not only enjoy a great cup of coffee, you can rest assured it’s from people who are passionate about archery, bowhunting, and the great outdoors!