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Decaffeinated coffee reveals its many secrets
We have all drunk decaffeinated coffee at least once in our life. Yet we do not know much about it!
Its manufacturing, taste and composition are still fairly unclear topics - even for people who usually love this drink. We are here today to lift the veil on decaffeinated coffee’s many mysteries.
Trade secrets
This will not come as a surprise to anyone: decaffeinated coffee does not grow like that naturally.
It is obtained by going through a process known as ‘decaffeination’.
This consists in extracting as much caffeine as possible from the coffee beans.
Various decaffeination processes exist. Though certain manufacturers opt for chemical solvents,
Nespresso chose to use natural ingredients only, to preserve the coffee’s many properties. Two methods are generally used:
water-based
decaffeination
water-based
decaffeination
This technique consists in wetting the beans so they become porous. They are then run under water to eliminate the caffeine and other elements.
During the next stage, the extracted matter is dissociated and filtered using activated carbon - so the caffeine can be separated from other soluble particles.
The latter are reinjected into the beans, which are then dried and roasted as per usual.
decaffeination
using carbon dioxide
decaffeination
using carbon dioxide
During this alternative process, the beans are also
wet before being placed in a large tank.
The tank is then pressurised using liquid carbon dioxide, that crosses through the coffee beans and naturally extracts the caffeine from them. The beans are then dried and roasted.
