Have you considered leaving caffeine behind?  According to the 2017 NCA Report,  68% of those surveyed between the ages of 25-39 yrs of age, believe it’s important to limit their caffeine intake.  This is consistent with data from the Specialty Coffee Association News, which reports that the largest Decaf Coffee consumers are between the ages of 18-24.  

This leads us to ask the question, why leave caffeine behind?  Here are just a few reasons we found in an article from livestrong.com

• Drinking four or more cups of decaffeinated coffee per day may lower risks of developing gout.
• May reduce risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.
• May also reduce risk of cardiovascular disease.

The percentage of coffee drinkers who enjoy a good cup of decaf is relatively small in comparison to their caffeinated counterparts.  However, we still feel it is important to give some attention to understanding how organic coffee is decaffeinated. 

The Process

There are typically 4 ways to remove the caffeine from the bean.

• Indirect-Solvent Process
  • In this process the beans are soaked hot water for a few hours and then washed with methylene chloride or ethyl acetate. The beans are then heated and the caffeine and chemicals evaporate.
• Direct-Solvent Process
  • Beans are steamed for 30 minutes and then repeatedly rinsed with methylene chloride or ethyl acetate to remove caffeine.  
• Swiss Water Process
  • This may be the most ECO friendly process. What we love about the SWP is the fact that it does not use any chemicals -directly or indirectly- to extract caffeine from the green beans. SWP is the method used for extracting caffeine from organic coffee beans.  
• Carbon Dioxide Process
  • Beans are placed in a pressurized container where CO2 is forced into the coffee at a pressure rate of 1000 lbs per square inch to extract the caffeine. The CO2 acts as a solvent to extract caffeine from the bean. 

Here are a couple of good articles to learn a little more about each process:

SCA News
Coffee Confidential

What is Swiss Water Process for Decaffeinating green coffee beans?

Check out this video to learn more:

At Know Better Coffee we are on a journey to understand and make a better cup of coffee.  Making a better cup of coffee begins with educating ones-self and having the data necessary to make an informed decision.  If you’re going to leave caffeine behind, we highly recommend a Swiss Water Processed Organic Bean.  Organic Honduras & Organic Peru are among our favorites.