The Positives and Negatives of Decaffeinated Coffee

Long ago it was realized that there was a way to enjoy a cup of coffee that you love without the caffein that you wish to avoid.  It has become a very common thing to decaffeinate coffee.   Does the decaffeinating process change the flavor of the coffee?  Can you tell the difference? 

If processed and prepared well, studies have proven that there is very little difference in the taste of regular coffee drinks and decaffeinated coffee.  What is the decaffeinating process? 

One necessary step for removing caffeine is exposing the coffee beans to hot water and then passing them through methylene chloride. 

When picked from the tree the coffee beans is removed from its fruit and rinsed thoroughly to remove the pulpy fruit from the bean.  

The beans are then washed thoroughly then soaked in methylene chloride.  Most people are unaware how much exposure to water their coffee has had before they receive it. 

Because of the processing that the coffee beans go through at times the taste may be altered a bit.  It may be more due to the process than the lack of caffeine that makes you notice a difference in the flavor. 

To decaffeinate the beans using chemicals they must first be steamed to open up the pores of the beans.  This allows the caffeine to be pulled from the bean when soaked in methylene chloride.    

Another method is to place the beans in hot water for a longer period of time.  After several hours the beans can be removed.   The time in the hot water pulls the flavor and the caffeine out of the bean and into the water.  Then the methylene chloride is added to the water to remove the caffeine from the water.  The beans are then returned to the water to so that the flavor that still remains in the water can be reabsorbed into the beans.  

In another decaffeinating process charcoal is used instead of methylene chloride.  The beans are placed in hot water for hours and then removed the same as with the process described above.  However, this time to remove the caffeine from the water the water is strained over charcoal.  The caffeine from the water binds to the charcoal so that the beans can be replaced in a caffeine free bath in full flavored water.