Man, do I luuvve coffee. Mmm, mmm, good. However, although not definitely proven, caffeine can possibly do harmful effects on a growing baby. Therefore, during my first trimester, I stopped drinking it. Ahh! Then, I relapsed a bit to only about a half a cup or so with milk or I switched to drinking decaf coffee or decaf tea only (did you know Starbucks has decaf espresso?). So, I thought I'd do some research. Here's what I found...The regular decaf processes (there are several) soak the green coffee beans into a chemical solvent of either methylene chloride or ethyl acetate. They repeat this soaking process anywhere from one to three times until most of the caffeine is removed and some of the flavor. However, there is typically about 1-5 mg of caffeine left behind. Regular coffee has about 60-180 mg in it.
However, there is another method that is uses water only to remove 99.9% of the caffeine and none of the flavor. It's called the SWISS WATER PROCESS. Here's how it works:
This is what is typically inside of a regular green coffee bean:
The beans are placed into a water diffusion process that enables the caffeine to lift out of the bean.
Next, heated, and over about 10 hours, the caffeine molecules are drawn from the bean and captured by a special filter leaving the green beans 99.9% caffeine free with flavor still intact.
Closely monitored to guarantee 99.9% decaf free this is what the green coffee bean looks like after the Swiss Water Process has taken place.
This results in a better bean, better flavor, and almost all of the caffeine removed. There are several people who use the terms "natural process", "European process", or "water process" to describe the process above but that actually still use chemicals. However, if you are buying your coffee from a micro-roastery, for instance, you can ask what they mean. It's possible they use the real water process but aren't certified by the actual Swiss Water Process company. However, if you are buying from a large retailer and have no way of asking, the only way to know for sure is if you see the Swiss Water Process Logo which, by the way, is also certified organic.
Starbucks used to carry this type of decaf coffee but then got rid of it. The store worker I was talking to said she didn't understand why because it was one of their best sellers and best tasting decaf coffee.
Sunergos Coffee in Louisville uses this process although they don't carry the label. It's by far our most favorite micro roastery and you can order online for this awesome cup of Joe.
If you want to locate others, you can click the link to find out more. I know Whole Foods is supposed to be a carrier of some brands but I haven't had the time to look at my local store. Also, some brands like Caribou Coffee (Mom), Green Mountain Coffee, Seattle's Best, The Coffee Beanery, and Van Houtte Cafe are supposed to be carriers.
Lastly, if you want to watch a video of the process, click below:
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