Brazil Swiss Water Decaffeinated

Brazil is the largest producer of coffee in the world. With such diversity, the range of coffee that it produces is vast – from small holder farms to vast estates. Soils, regional climate and temperatures make great growing conditions. However, Brazil lacks altitude – a factor considered crucial for creating the very best flavours expected form Arabica coffee and much of the coffee is grown at or below 1000m above sea level. Much lower than the typical 1400 – 1800masl that can be found in many other coffee producing nations. Typical flavouring from Brazil on the commercial grades invokes nuts, caramel and creamy body, but as producers develop new techniques we are beginning to enjoy new found sweetness, citrus and acidity from these coffees.

 

To prepare the beans for caffeine removal, they are cleaned and hydrated with pure, local water, the beans are then introduced to an internally developed Green Coffee Extract (GCE), and caffeine removal begins. Caffeine ventures out on its own, away from the coffee beans into the GCE until the ratio of soluble compounds in the GCE to the compounds in the coffee reach the point of equilibrium. Caffeine and GCE flow continuously through carbon filters until all the caffeine is trapped and separated from the GCE, which is refreshed so that it can be used again and again to remove more caffeine. The process is monitored for around 10 hours and caffeine levels checked as well as time, and gauge temperature controls, until the coffee is 99.9% caffeine free.

The Swiss Water process is an organic, 100% chemical-free option for decaffeination. It was discovered in the 1930s in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and is commercialised by the Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company Inc, founded in 1988.

This method does not require the addition of chemicals, instead relying on a super saturated green coffee solution called Green Coffee Extract (GCE).

To decaffeinate coffee, fresh GCE is introduced to a batch of green coffee. As the GCE is already saturated with all the water-soluble compounds found in green coffee, minus the caffeine, the matching molecules won’t diffuse out of the coffee beans—but the caffeine will. The flavour is retained in the beans while the caffeine is removed.

Thanks to some scientific smarts and creativity, it’s possible to have decaf coffee that tastes the same – just without the caffeine!