How do you decaffeinate coffee? (opens in new tab)

Note that decaffeinated coffee often still contains caffeine: “decaf coffee typically has 2-15 milligrams in an 8-ounce cup”, caffeinated is 80-100mg [1].

[1] https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-bean...

> In 1985 the US’s Food and Drug Administration said the likelihood of any health risk from methylene chloride was so low “as to be essentially non-existent”.

This is somewhat poorly phrased. Methylene chloride is a neurotoxin and likely carcinogen, but it will be driven off by the roasting process. The boiling point of DCM is 40C, and roasting occurs at 200C, so any residual solvent should be long gone early in the roasting process. Nevertheless, this solvent is destructive to the ozone layer and should be phased out of industrial processes as much as possible.

This is another good write up on the swiss water method: https://levels.io/swiss-water/

TLDR: Swiss Water > paint thinner

NileRed has some fun videos about decaffeinating things. Here’s one where he does Red Bull.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY8tz1paj6o

I drink both, caffeine in the morning and once past midday I move to decaf until as late as 5pm, I heavily favour much lower caffeine decaf. In my experience decaf tastes the best from either swiss or CO2 methods and from the beans. The best decaf can come pretty close to decent coffee but its also just as expensive as well. I find it works better under pressure immersion than drip, so more Aeropress or Turkish stove method than French press or V60.

> Roselius discovered the secret to decaffeination by accident

It’s amazing how many things we use have been discovered by accident

It would be cool if someone genetically engineered decaf coffee beans. In theory you just disable one gene, no?

Seems similar to the process of removing alcohol from beer while still keeping the taste.

I switched to decaf from regular because regular made me too anxious. I can't tell the difference in terms of taste. Both taste great to me.

Wait ... but ... why? (in jest)

I understand why, though some of us think of decaf "coffee", much the same way others view white "chocolate". At some point, the thing you modified it to be, isn't representative of the original thing. IMO, it should not be called coffee or chocolate, even with a descriptive adjective up front.

This is a minor nit to pick, but still, for those of us with a strong love of (addition to) coffee (or chocolate), its an important distinction.

I want the opposite. Caffeine without the taste of coffee.

Link seems dead now

Anyone tried coffee with l-theanine?

> How do you decaffeinate coffee?

You dont

Coffee has way more active ingredients than just caffeine, so removing just that does not really negate majority of the effects. This would be similar to removing nicotine from cigarettes.

Better just go to tea instead of decaf if you're sensitive. Another alternative that allows you to keep using coffee would be to go to your grandparents' coffee cups. They're 2-10 times smaller than the current ones!