Before some coffee trees were found, which did not have any amount of caffeine in it, the only method of eliminating the unnecessary caffeine content from our favorite coffee used to be the existing tried and tested process of elimination. Now, there is something to discuss about the fact that whether the elimination of caffeine from the coffee hampers the original taste of the coffee anyway. While we are having a nicely brewed cup of coffee that is filtered in our , we may not be able to make out the slight difference it has. Rather it is for those who know the small secrets of coffee brewing.

After the coffee fruits are plucked there are washed several times in water to take out the beans from the outer shell and a chemical called methylene chloride is added to it for its primary treatment. Water is again used for further process. Thus the difference of taste does not depend on the chemicals which are being used for the treatment. It also does not prove the fact that these chemicals take away the elements which generates the flavor in the coffee.

The process of de caffeine the coffee

Various processes are implemented for de caffeine the coffee. The green beans of the coffee are soaked in hot water for quite a few hours. This helps to open up the pores of the beans. The beans are then washed vigorously in methylene chloride which gets mixed with the caffeine. The chemical is then washed away from the beans. Another very simple method of de caffeine the coffee beans is that the beans are soaked in hot water for many hours which helps to filter out the caffeine in the tub. Then the beans are taken out of the water and methylene chloride is poured in the tub full of caffeine. The chemical gets bound with the solution and the flavoring ingredients are washed out. The beans are then immersed in that water to soak up the flavoring ingredients.

Another process of de caffeine is known as the Swiss method is also used often to process the coffee beans. In this process no chemicals are used for treatment. But instead activated charcoal which is also pure carbon is used for filtration. The chemical explanation says that the molecular structure of activated charcoal is being modified in order to create a bigger space to make room for other molecules to stick in. Though this proves to be an expensive method than the first one, but it needs to be proved if the first method reduces the taste of the coffee. But since quality control is the most important thing to consider there are ways to to lessen consuming caffeine. If the beans are roasted properly it becomes less acidic and decaf.

It does not matter what chemical is being used since it all depends on the consumer's preference. And since caffeine has an inherent bitter taste it becomes easier for the consumer to know if it is a decaf or not. Thus if decaf good or bad is absolutely a matter of taste.