Have you ever wondered how Starbucks decaf is processed?
Is it methylene chloride, Swiss water process or CO2 processed? After a quick email and very fast reply, Starbucks confirmed most of their decaf is the direct method or otherwise known as methylene chloride method. Their very detailed response is below to read.
“Please know most of our decaf Coffees are decaffeinated using the direct contact method of decaffeination. With direct contact, a solvent (methylene chloride) is introduced to the green Coffee beans as they soak. The solvent bonds with the caffeine in the beans and removes it. The solvent is then taken away from the beans and the Coffee is roasted at over 400*F. Since the solvent has a much lower boiling point (114*F) the Coffee beans that come from this process produce a cup of Coffee that has no detectable trace of methylene chloride.”
Want to know all the facts about the best must try decafs? Read my article on the 20 Best Decafs with processing and certifications notes! Need Starbucks now? Head over here to get some (affiliate link) Starbucks Decaf!
Don’t throw out those beans just yet!
Now before you throw out your beans and go to poison control it is important to note a few things. As Starbucks said there is no study or indications that has proven this method to be unsafe. In fact its been used for such a long time it has almost been proven to be benign. Next the direct method is alleged by many coffee experts to retain more of the original flavor of the beans versus methods like the swiss water process that remove more of the essential oils and flavors. Lastly it should be noted as the most reassuring piece of evidence that methylene chloride vaporizes well below roasting temperatures so even if pure methylene chloride was poured onto the beans it would vaporize off during roasting and leave no trace of the chemical much the same way alcohol can be distilled from a liquor or beer above a certain temperature.
Research studies or lack thereof
A lot of apprehension has been caused by the direct method or methyl chloride decaffeination process because of a few studies. Here’s the thing to note about studies they are all biased and attempt to prove a premises. Case in point I recall reading a study about smallish sample size of a condition in pregnancy and its causes and outcomes. Well if you take the results at face value the results look a little bleck. What’s the cavet? Most of the women in the study were smokers, drinkers, had a high percentage of multiple tattoos among other things. Well after really dissecting this study I concluded one thing. These women were likely troubled women, probably poor with little access to health care, and generally probably weren’t really interested in having a baby. Point is this is one of the more well known studies for this issue and it really focuses on troubled women with substance abuse problems. Is this really the one my wife should read to decide the course of her health care treatment? No absolutely not! The same is true of the decaf studies i have found and read. Most just are too specific and in my opinion don’t really show a damning case against methylene chloride decaf. One more point is methylene chloride is used in nail polish remover. Ladies take note you are soaking your fingers in directly in methylene chloride when you remove your nail polish. Last I heard no one has been dropping dead from getting their nails done weekly!
History of decaf and why not to worry
If nothing else the history of decaf is interesting. A german coffee merchant accidentally discovered decaffeination when A batch of his coffee accidently got soaked in sea water still tasting food but losing its caffeine. Later the method involve the use of Benzene (an actual proven health concern) before the modern method of using methylene chloride among others. Later other methods were developed as alternatives namely the swiss water process and the supercritical CO2 method. INterestingly I read about the triglyceride process that uses spent coffee ground oils to remove the caffeine and not affect the flavor. Unfortunately I think this method has not found much love as I cannot find much information on it other then what’s on wikipedia.
SWP, CO2 process and methylene chloride which one is right for you?
So which is the best decaf process for you? Well the jury’s out on that one. IF you don’t dig the direct method with methylene chloride you might want to try a good Swiss water processed coffee like No Fun Jo. If you are feeling trendy you can try the supercritical CO2 process. The downside with these are the mixed reviews and price. Overall these seem to be the most expensive decafs and generally hard to find.
What’s the difference in these? Overall not much. Each process involves soaking the beans to remove the caffeine and then filtering it out before the coffee water is added back in. I would tend to believe most of these methods do “damage” the flavor a bit. Overall I would say try many and see what you like. Brew method will affect the taste as well so I would advise brewing auto drip, Chemex and french press before deciding what you do or do not like. Each method will highlight a slightly different nuance to the coffee with the french press method likely giving you the truest impression of the coffee. I know when I follow the cupping procedures form SCAA it reveals a lot more of the nuances of the coffee versus when I just brew a pot of Chemex or auto drip. There are pretty varied options on what process is the best and leaves the most flavor. Truthfully I would guess it’s probably the direct method with methylene chloride myself. I am curious to try a supercritical CO2 processed coffee just because it sounds cool 😉
Is Starbucks kosher?
Honestly this is probably more of an issue for people drinking starbucks coffee then the decaf process. After doing some product research and checking of my bags in the cabinet I have to conclude that Starbucks is not kosher. I believe a few years ago they may have been but there are no Kosher markings on the bag I can find. A few reviews on amazon have asked this question and it seems at one point there were Kosher markings. If you are looking for a decaf SWP and Kosher coffee Starbucks is not the one for you. I do not have the Kosher restriction so I don’t have a solid perspective on this but I thought it was worth nothing since this is a discussion of knowing what you are drinking.
If it doesn’t say its methylene chloride
My biggest tip to offer is if it doesn’t say it probably is methylene chloride direct method. It’s kind of obvious once you realize it. If a coffee company spent the extra cost to use the SWP or CO2 process they would be putting it all over the bag. I know if I could bench press 300 lbs I would tell everyone even the cashier at the grocery store! After all this discussion you really shouldn’t be worried about it either. I think truthfully this has been exaggerated by well meaning health nuts, to the point of silliness. And frankly I think most people lack the critical science background to really understand a lot of the technologies of these kind of things. As an engineer I have been trained to some level in Chemistry and to analyze issues with a critical eye based on the facts. And as an engineer I know how often research can be skewed or exaggerated to make something sound better or worse than it really is. After putting this information together I know that I will continue to enjoy my decaf SWP or methylene chloride.
Does it taste good?
The one question I didn’t answer was how does it taste? I know that’s probably the one you really wanted to know too! Stay tuned in an upcoming post I will be reviewing and comparing decaf (affiliate link) Starbucks versus Dunkin Donuts in the bout of the century (okay week maybe)! I’ll give you a quick hint the results are surprising!
If you enjoyed this article check out my list of 20 must try decafs (with decaf methods, certifications and other info)! As always drink coffee not caffeine!!
~Mobius