Swiss Water Decaffeination Process – Everything You Need to Know

For many, coffee is the kick-starter to get along in the morning. Definitely for all of us early birds too. It is precisely for this reason that many people are puzzled by the term “decaffeinated coffee” or are wondering why would anyone prefer coffee without caffeine.

Well, it all started back in 1903. The Bremen coffee trader and founder of “Kaffee HAG”, Ludwig Roselius, attributed his father's death in part to excessive coffee consumption.

Thereupon he developed the Roselius process named after him - in which he first soaked the whole beans in saltwater to swell and then extracted the caffeine from the bean with the help of benzene. Since benzene is now considered carcinogenic, this process is of course no longer used.

However, as years went by, more and more decaffeination processes started appearing, like the Direct Solvent Process, the Carbon Dioxide Process, and the Swiss Water Process.

Today we are going to take a close look at the Swiss Water Process and explain everything that happens to the coffee bean during decaffeination when using this method.

How is decaffeinated coffee made today?

Roselius was the pioneer in the field of decaffeinated coffee, but unfortunately, his process was harmful to health. Over the decades, however, many new and, above all, better processes have emerged around the world.

These decaffeination processes are gentler on the coffee beans, which improves the quality and taste and, above all, there is no health risk for the consumer.

Even if there are several processes with different approaches, they all have one thing in common: to make decaffeinated coffee, green coffee beans are used that have not yet been roasted.

Two categories of decaffeination

There are two categories of decaffeination, the one that uses solvents and the one that doesn’t. Generally, when decaffeinating with solvents, the beans are first introduced to hot water or steam.

The caffeine is then extracted with a solvent, depending on the method used. This step is repeated several times in order to reach the EU caffeine limit for decaffeinated coffee of a maximum of 0.1%.

Unfortunately, with these processes, part of the typical taste disappears with caffeine. The Swiss Water Process is a decaffeination method that doesn’t use solvents.

Swiss Water Process

In this process, developed by the Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company in the late 1970s, the first step is to soak the beans in hot water until all of the caffeine and other solid components have been dissolved.

The beans from this first step are disposed of. Then, the water with the dissolved caffeine and other coffee components runs through an activated carbon filter, which retains the caffeine molecules.

New coffee beans are added to the now decaffeinated water in a similar filter device. Since the water is already enriched with dissolved coffee components, this time only the caffeine is dissolved, and the other taste-determining ingredients of the coffee beans are retained.

The process is repeated until 99.9% of the caffeine has been removed, because decaffeinated coffee may contain a maximum of 0.1% caffeine. The beans are then dried and should retain a large part of their taste and aroma.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Swiss Water Process

Like with everything there are both benefits and drawbacks to using the Swiss Water Process for decaffeination purposes:

Advantages

• No use of toxic chemicals or additives
• It’s a simple process
• The taste remains unchanged

Disadvantages

• The relatively high cost, since the caffeine bound with the activated carbon cannot be recovered and sold separately. Today there are only a few plants in the world that work with the Swiss water process.
• Not particularly environmentally friendly. On the one hand, green coffee is used, which is then disposed of and can no longer be used. On the other hand, a lot of water is required

Decaf coffee is becoming increasingly popular

Basically, coffee fans love coffee, in addition to its taste, due to the stimulating effect that comes from caffeine. Caffeine is like a small legal drug and, as with everything, there can be a “too much” aspect of it.

For example, some people cannot tolerate caffeine or drink coffee in the evening for fear of not being able to fall asleep. In these cases, decaffeinated coffee is a great alternative that is becoming increasingly popular.

Just as an example, decaffeinated coffee has become more and more popular in Italy over the past 10 years, and in 2014 it accounted for a trading volume of 539 million euros. In Italy, the decaffeinated espresso is usually referred to as "Decaff" (from decaffeinato) and is traditionally associated with the light blue color on the packaging.

Caffeine is a natural substance

In nature, caffeine is a defense substance to deter predators. The coffee cherry stores most of its caffeine in the coffee cherry, i.e. the pulp around the coffee beans. So if an enemy eats the cherry, they get many times more caffeine than we do with a cup of espresso.

Resourceful food developers have therefore already developed teas from the dried pulp. So if you really need or can tolerate a lot of caffeine, you should treat yourself to such a tea.

Anyone who tries to reduce their caffeine consumption or the chlorogenic acid, which not everyone can tolerate so well, does not necessarily have to resort to decaffeinated coffee products.

Since robusta beans contain a lot of caffeine and chlorogenic acid, it is advisable to use arabica as they contain less of them. So if you want coffees that are naturally low in caffeine, you should buy 100% Arabica blends.

Decaffeinated is not always caffeine-free

Coffee beans whose caffeine content has been almost completely removed are referred to as decaffeinated coffee. The residual caffeine content in the EU must not exceed 0.1%. The beans that have been deprived of caffeine are therefore not one hundred percent caffeine-free. It is therefore similar to alcohol-free beer because the alcohol content is not reduced to 0% there.

Final Thoughts

There are many different reasons for choosing decaffeinated coffee: intolerance, high blood pressure, pregnancy, fear of not being able to sleep, etc. They all have one thing in common: not wanting to do without the taste or the feeling of drinking coffee.

One thing should be clear to everyone: There is currently no naturally decaffeinated coffee. Coffee without caffeine must always go through an additional process step. Ultimately, everyone has to decide for themselves whether decaffeinated coffee is the right thing to do.

It is important that all coffee suppliers transparently disclose the type of decaffeination they use. If you value decaffeinated coffee and want very good quality and an exciting taste, you are welcome to visit our online shop.

FAQs about Swiss Water Decaffeination Process

How does the Swiss Water decaffeination process work? Why is Swiss Water the most-recognized decaf process in U.S. specialty coffee? Is Swiss Water decaf actually better than chemical-solvent decaf? Can I tell the difference between Swiss Water decaf and chemical-solvent decaf in the cup? Where do most Swiss Water decaffeination facilities operate?

How does the Swiss Water decaffeination process work?

Water + activated carbon. Green coffee beans are soaked in hot water that extracts caffeine along with most flavor compounds; the water is then passed through activated carbon filters that selectively remove caffeine while retaining flavor compounds in the water (called "green coffee extract"). Fresh batches of beans are then soaked in this caffeine-stripped flavor-saturated extract — caffeine moves out of the new beans into the water, but flavor compounds stay in the beans because the water is already saturated with flavor and can't absorb more.

The selective re-saturation is the clever part. Most decaf processes either lose flavor (chemical solvents extract everything) or require physical extraction techniques (CO2's selective binding). Swiss Water uses solubility chemistry — flavor compounds can't dissolve into water that's already saturated with them, so they stay in the beans even as caffeine moves out.

Total process time: 8-10 hours per batch. The Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company in Vancouver, British Columbia is the original developer of this specific process; "Swiss Water Process" is their trademarked term, though the underlying water-decaffeination concept can be applied by other facilities under different names.

Why is Swiss Water the most-recognized decaf process in U.S. specialty coffee?

First-mover advantage and consistent marketing. Swiss Water Process was developed in the 1980s and aggressively marketed as the chemical-free decaf option starting in the 1990s. By the time U.S. specialty coffee culture grew in the 2000s-2010s, Swiss Water had established itself as the default specialty-decaf process in the North American market.

The brand itself markets directly to consumers (the green Swiss Water logo appears on retail decaf packaging) which is unusual for a processing supplier. This creates consumer recognition that competing decaf processes (CO2, Mountain Water, ethyl acetate) don't have. Specialty roasters often choose Swiss Water partly because customers ask for it specifically.

Practical: if you live in the U.S. and want chemical-free decaf, Swiss Water Process is the most-available specialty option. CO2 decaf is comparable in quality but harder to find at typical specialty coffee retailers.

Is Swiss Water decaf actually better than chemical-solvent decaf?

Better in two senses, comparable in third. First, chemical-cleanliness: Swiss Water has zero chemical solvents in the process; methylene chloride or ethyl acetate processes have trace residues (FDA-approved levels but non-zero). Second, environmental impact: Swiss Water uses water and activated carbon, recycled within the process; chemical processes produce solvent waste streams that require disposal. Both factors favor Swiss Water.

On flavor: Swiss Water and chemical processes produce comparable decaf flavor at the surface level; subtle differences become apparent only with serious side-by-side tasting of high-quality bean lots. Chemical solvents are slightly more aggressive flavor-strippers, but with care can produce drinkable decaf. The flavor advantage of Swiss Water is real but smaller than the marketing might suggest.

If chemical-cleanliness and environmental impact matter to you, Swiss Water is clearly preferable. If neither matters to you and you're choosing on taste alone, CO2 process is marginally better than Swiss Water for taste preservation. For most specialty decaf drinkers, Swiss Water is a solid choice.

Can I tell the difference between Swiss Water decaf and chemical-solvent decaf in the cup?

Subtle differences with attention; not obvious without focused tasting. Swiss Water decaf tends to retain more bright fruit and floral notes; chemical-solvent decaf tends to have a slightly muted, more uniformly-roasted character. Side-by-side, the difference is detectable for trained tasters; in isolation, most casual drinkers wouldn't notice.

The bigger flavor differences come from bean quality and roasting freshness, not the decaffeination process. A poorly-roasted Swiss Water decaf is worse than a freshly-roasted ethyl-acetate decaf. Process selection matters less than overall production quality.

If you're testing process differences, do side-by-side tasting with the same origin bean lot processed two different ways (some specialty roasters offer this comparison). Otherwise, focus on bean origin, roast level, and freshness — these dominate the cup quality experience. JPCo's Decaf Premium Blend focuses on the production-quality side of decaf rather than the decaf-process marketing side.

Decaf Premium Blend (Colombia, Brazil, Ethiopia) USD $35.00 /

Where do most Swiss Water decaffeination facilities operate?

The original Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company is in Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) — a single large facility that processes green beans for specialty roasters globally. Beans are shipped from coffee-producing countries to Vancouver for decaffeination, then shipped to roasters wherever they're located.

This Vancouver-only model has efficiency-and-consistency advantages (single facility = consistent process control) but sustainability concerns (international green-bean shipping for processing). Some specialty roasters have started exploring decaf processing closer to bean origin, but Swiss Water Process specifically remains Vancouver-based.

Mountain Water Process is the Mexican alternative — similar water-decaffeination concept using Mexican mountain water at facilities in Mexico. Slightly different brand, comparable result. Mexican coffee origins (especially Oaxaca and Chiapas) sometimes choose Mountain Water for proximity-to-origin advantages over Vancouver-based Swiss Water.

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