by Kayla Griffin

Created on: January 30, 2009   Last Updated: February 17, 2009

There are actually many ways coffee is decaffeinated. And the process has changed over the years. It was first done by a man named Ludwig Roselius, this method used benzene to remove the caffeine, which later raised health concerns and was no longer used.

Today there are about 5 methods used to create decaffeinated coffee for commercial purposes these include;

Direct Method

This method is sometimes referred to as the natural method, because "ethyl acetate" which is used in this process can be found in many fruits and vegetables. However, the actual chemical used in this process is synthetic.

In this method the coffee beans are steamed for 30 minutes then rinsed repeatedly in the synthetic ethyl acetate for approximately 10 hours. The ethyl acetate solvent in the water traps the caffeine.

The beans are then taken out of the water solvent, and steamed for an additional 8-10 hours this helps with to clean the beans of any excess solvent. The beans are then dried and now decaffeinated!

Indirect Method

The Indirect method is commonly referred to as the water method, because in the beginning only water is used to start the process to decaffinate, however there are chemicals used in this method also.

This starts with soaking the coffee beans in hot water for several hours this ends up creating a really big, strong pot of coffee. The beans are then taken out, and like with the Direct method the ethyl acetate solvent is added to to coffee water to absorb the caffeine from the water.

This is then left for the solvent to evaporate from the water, at which time the process is repeated with new beans. This happens until the only thing removed from the beans is the caffeine and all the smell, and flavor remain.

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide/Oxygen or C02/02

This process is appealing to a lot of people because it does not use any solvent that may be or later found to be toxic to your bodies. This process is done by transforming C02 or 02, which is plain old oxygen or carbon dioxide into a liquid under tremendous pressure of 73 to 300 atmospheres and 88 degrees F.

This then works to get a deep penetration of the bean to remove the caffeine. The temperatures are then regulated to more normal levels and the caffeine then precipitates into another area, which then leaves the C02 or 02 ready to be reused!

Triglyceride Method

Triglyceride is found in the oils of coffee and is also used to decaffeinate coffee, now there's an interesting fact. This works by first placing your coffee beans in a

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