Friday, February 1, 2008

Decaf Coffee

Decaf Coffee Is Not 100% Caffeine Free

Many people love coffee but cannot stand the caffeine that goes hand in hand with it. Decaf coffee is the answer to this problem. The word decaf or decaffeinated gives the impression that the caffeine is taken out of the product and the product is caffeine free. Actually, in decaf coffee this is not the case. Not all caffeine is removed from the coffee beans when it undergoes decaffeination.

Standard Of Decaf Coffee

The international standard of decaf coffee is capable of removing only 97 % of caffeine from the green coffee beans. The EU standard is to have the green coffee beans 99.9 % free of caffeine by mass. Taking away more caffeine than that stated in the standard means altering the taste and flavor of the finished product. This means coffee will not be coffee anymore if 100 % of the caffeine is removed. Producers are afraid that decaf coffee will actually be different from the full coffee and not sell well at all.

Methods Of Extracting Caffeine From Coffee

Decaf coffee undergoes decaffeination before the coffee beans are roasted. The many ways of making decaf coffee are called Swiss water process, direct and indirect method, CO2/O2 method and triglyceride process.

In most methods, they usually start with steaming the unroasted green coffee beans in varying lengths of time. After the steaming process, they coffee beans are exposed to a solvent that is caffeine free coffee water or something similar to coffee without the caffeine. This exposure is repeated for several times depending on which standard is the goal for making decaf coffee.

Decaf coffee is great for those who have a negative reaction to caffeine. Caffeine has a tendency to make one more alert and perky but the downside to this is that your sense become more sensitive and more stressed due to the unnatural high from the caffeine. Decaf coffee helps those who react differently to caffeine by containing a very small amount of caffeine. This minimal amount of caffeine is negligible enough not to cause the unwanted reaction some people have to it.

You can surmise from your reaction to ordinary pure coffee is you need to consume decaf coffee instead. Things to look out for are being more stressed or tense than usual, twitching of the eyes and hands and other signs. These may also be signs of other ailments so it is best to consult a doctor if these signs occur.

No comments: