I drink two cups of coffee a day — one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I try not to consume too much caffeine, so in the afternoon, I usually opt for decaf.
Due to the decaffeination process, some flavor compounds are inevitably lost, making the coffee taste a bit flatter and less vibrant. For the coffee purists out there, I know — sacrilege! You can’t remove caffeine without some effect on the beans and flavor. But it’s a trade-off I’m willing to make if it helps me sleep at night.
My local coffee shop, Lineage, serves this Colombia Select Decaf that I’ve come to enjoy. It’s a medium roast, decaffeinated using ethyl acetate. I’m no expert in the various decaffeination methods, but here’s a simplified explanation:
Ethyl acetate is a naturally occurring ester found in fruits like bananas and as a by-product of fermenting sugar. It can be used as a solvent to bond with and remove caffeine from green coffee beans.
First, the coffee is steamed under low pressure for about 30 minutes to open the beans’ pores. Then, the beans are soaked in a solution of water and ethyl acetate. The compound binds with the salts of chlorogenic acids inside the beans, drawing out the caffeine. This process is repeated — draining and refilling the tank over eight hours — until caffeine is no longer detectable.
The beans are then steamed again to remove residual ethyl acetate. It’s worth noting that ethyl acetate is only considered harmful at levels exceeding 400 parts per million — far above what’s typically left behind. Afterward, the beans are dried, polished, and prepared for export.
I love when marketing uses the word natural, as if that alone means healthy. Not everything natural is good for you (arsenic, anyone?), so that label doesn’t hold much weight with me. That said, ethyl acetate decaffeination is FDA-approved, and the residual levels are reportedly very low.
As for the taste — I really like it. There’s a nice chocolatey base with a hint of berries. I don’t particularly notice it’s decaf. Sure, if I tasted it side-by-side with a regular cup, I might pick up the difference. But as it stands, I’m quite content with the flavor.
Do you drink decaf? If so, what’s your favorite?
