Why Decaf Tastes Different: Swiss Water, CO2, and Solvent Methods

Every method of decaffeinating coffee changes its flavor — and the most common belief about caffeine and roast level is backwards.

Decaffeination

• Always done to green (unroasted) beans before roasting
• Solvent-based (methylene chloride or ethyl acetate): most common method
• Swiss Water Process: water + activated carbon filters; no chemical solvents
• CO2 Process: supercritical CO2; best flavor preservation but expensive
• All methods remove 97-99% of caffeine
• Decaf is never flavor-neutral — process strips some volatile compounds
• Quality specialty decaf has improved dramatically
• Our Absolved blend: proof that decaf can be excellent

In this episode

0:00 Decaffeinating green beans: the solvent method
0:10 Methylene chloride vs. ethyl acetate
0:56 The Swiss Water process — and why tariffs doubled its price
1:43 CO2 process, and the 'dark roast has less caffeine' myth

Watch the series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX4SK1C49ZWA
(This episode goes live in the playlist on its release date.)
Free guided tasting sheet: https://gillespie.coffee/pages/guided-tasting-sheet
Coffees: https://gillespie.coffee — viewers get 10% with FEARLESS10

Coffee by Gillespie · Fearlessly Roasted