In this article, you’ll learn which drinks contain caffeine and how much they have, what decaf means, how producers remove caffeine from coffee, and how you can drink coffee and still sleep soundly.
Caffeine as a substance
Caffeine is a purine alkaloid. It is found in the fruits, seeds, and leaves of 58 plants; they use it to protect the leaves from insects that eat them and to attract pollinators.
There are quite a lot of products in our diet that contain caffeine: coffee, green, and black tea, dark, and milk chocolate, cocoa, and even cola and Pepsi (the list is far from complete).
Caffeine affects the central nervous system, resulting in a number of effects (psychological and physiological), including those affecting muscle contraction and sleep-related processes.
Caffeine increases blood pressure (slightly, by 3–8 mmHg) and heart rate for a couple of hours. Although caffeine is a weak diuretic, it does not contribute to dehydration, contrary to popular belief.
Low doses of caffeine (20–200 mg per day—that is, up to 5 cups of double espresso or specialty coffee) provide an improvement in mood, focus, and energy, but systematic consumption of too large doses (1500–2000 mg per day) can lead to anxiety, sleep disorders, and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
Manufacturers use caffeine in headache and migraine medications, as a respiratory stimulant for colds, to reduce drowsiness, and to enhance physical and mental performance.
Some painkillers, allergy medications, and weight-loss products also contain small amounts of caffeine.
As we can see, caffeine is quite beneficial, if consumed in moderation. However, overuse can lead to overdose and unpleasant consequences.
Symptoms of caffeine overdose:
- Dry mouth
- Lack of appetite
- Insomnia
- Irritability
- Confusion
- Nausea
- Dizziness
Official sources state that the optimal daily intake of caffeine is 400 mg.
We can’t know for sure how much caffeine is in our cup of coffee, the caffeine content of a drink depends on many factors: the coffee bean’s terroir, the extraction method, and the water-to-coffee ratio.
However, the degree of roasting has the least effect on the caffeine content.
Decaf
Decaffeination is the process of removing caffeine from green coffee beans.
Modern methods allow for the removal of caffeine without removing any aromatic or flavoring substances.
There are many ways to significantly reduce the caffeine content of green (unroasted) coffee beans.
All decaffeination methods involve soaking the green unroasted beans in hot, but not boiling, water to open them. The next steps vary: some methods use solvents, while others use carbon dioxide or special organic concentrates.
The first batches of decaf tasted unpleasant and could pose a health risk (referring to the Roselius Process).
Ludwig Roselius and Carl Wimmer developed the idea in 1903. They treated coffee beans with a saturated salt solution and then used benzene to extract the caffeine.
The Kaffee Handels-Aktien-Gesellschaft (Coffee Trading Company) sold the decaffeinated coffee in Europe under the brand Kaffee HAG, in France as Café Sanka, and in the United States as Sanka.
Kraft Foods now owns both the Café HAG and Sanka brands. Because benzene is a proven carcinogen, modern producers of Coffee Hag and Sanka no longer use the Roselius process.
Decaffeination using carbon dioxide
One of the popular and relatively inexpensive methods for removing caffeine from beans. This method removes caffeine using carbon dioxide at a critical temperature and high pressure.
Pre-treated with steam, the beans are immersed in a supercritical carbon dioxide tank at a pressure of 73-300 atmospheres.
After 10 hours of holding, the pressure is released, the CO2 evaporates, and the caffeine is removed by filtration. Coffee produced by this method is virtually acid-free.
Direct decaffeination method – using concentrates
One of the most popular methods is the “European” method: green coffee beans are first treated with hot steam for half an hour.
They are then soaked for about 10 hours in methylene chloride or ethyl acetate solvents that removing caffeine from the beans.
The solvents are then removed from the beans, and they are soaked for another 10 hours to remove any remaining caffeine.
Ethyl acetate, which is extracted from tropical fruits, is considered one of the most natural methods.
Furthermore, this method preserves all the aroma and flavor of the coffee. The only drawback of this method is that it’s quite expensive, but it’s worth it.
Indirect decaffeination method – “evaporation”
With the indirect method, the beans are first immersed in hot water for several hours. Workers remove the beans and extract the caffeine with dichloromethane or ethyl acetate.
They then separate the caffeine from the solvent through evaporation. The process reuses the same water with new batches of beans. After several extraction cycles, the caffeine content of the water and the beans reaches equilibrium.
After this method, the coffee lacks distinctive flavors, and bready and woody aromas predominate.
To achieve delicious (and even specialty) decaf, there’s a variety of coffee with a naturally low caffeine content (0.3–0.7% versus 1.4% in typical Arabica). This rare variety of coffee tree is called “laurina” and grows on the legendary Daterra Coffee farm in Brazil.
According to world-renowned Berlin roasters “The Barn,” it features tropical fruits like guava and papaya, sweet peach and meringue, and floral notes.
Conclusion
Don’t be afraid of caffeine. But if you have specific health conditions that prevent you from consuming caffeine, decaf coffee or a type of coffee called “laurina” is an excellent solution.
After all, you can drink coffee at any time of day, enjoy the taste, and sleep soundly.
