How to Get the Most Out of Your Decaf Coffee
As a true coffee lover, have you been looking down your nose at decaf? There are numerous rumors surrounding exactly how decaf is made, and whether or not it contains harmful chemicals, and there even is said to be a coffee plant growing that is naturally decaffeinated.
The truth of the matter is that when you understand the process of decaffeination, then you can make an educated decision in choosing best decaf coffee that will not only be delicious, but possibly as good as the real thing.
The one trick to make sure that your decaf cup of Joe is premium is to have your beans freshly roasted. You may find many websites that offer decaf options of their premium beans that are freshly roasted, so this is the best way to select your beans, especially since purchasing best decaf coffee or grounds at the grocery store means that they potentially have been sitting on the shelves for months at a time. The reason behind this is that decaf is often less purchased, so there is absolutely no way you will be able to buy a fresh bag from a shelf.
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The method used for decaffeinated green coffee beans is that they are thoroughly submerged in water. This causes them to swell, and they are often soaked with a type of solvent that can be water or chemical. The solvent is then left to sit and soak into the beans, and it is then evaporated so the green beans can dry out.
This is the most effective method to remove the caffeine from the beans, while still offering the best flavor. When you see a bag of beans that is labeled as naturally decaffeinated, that is because they are using ethyl acetate as a solvent that naturally is found in fruits and vegetables, as well as Java. It is still possible to use other more harmful solvents to decaffeinate that can possibly be carcinogenic.
The completely natural method to remove caffeine from the beans is with the water process, but that may affect the flavor significantly. The soaking of the water does remove the caffeine effectively, but it may also take out much of the natural oils and complex tastes.
This water method is all-natural, but the final beans will only be around 95% caffeine free. There is also a patented Swiss Water Process that is becoming more popular, which will actually naturally remove 99.9% of the caffeine with the same delicious taste of the beans.
The new best decaf coffee plant that is potentially being bred will naturally produce coffee with zero or little caffeine, coming from Cameroon. This would be a fantastic way to grow specific plant varieties with their own natural flavors that do not need to go through a decaffeination process, but we are looking at about 30% caffeine remaining.