Swiss Water® Process
Decaf without the chemistry set. Here's how it actually works.
Most of the world's decaf is made with chemical solvents — usually methylene chloride or ethyl acetate. It's effective, it's legal, and the residue left behind is measured in parts per million. But it isn't the only way to do it, and it isn't how ours is made.
Both of our decafs are decaffeinated using the Swiss Water® Process: a chemical-free, water-based method that removes 99.9% of the caffeine using nothing but water, time, and temperature.
How it works
The clever part is what the coffee gets soaked in. Not plain water — plain water would strip out the flavor along with the caffeine.
- Green Coffee Extract. A batch of green coffee is used to create a solution saturated with everything that makes coffee taste like coffee — the soluble solids, oils, and acids — with the caffeine filtered out. This is Green Coffee Extract, or GCE.
- The soak. New green beans go into the GCE. Because the extract is already saturated with coffee solubles but holds no caffeine, only the caffeine has anywhere to go. It migrates out of the bean and into the solution, and the flavor compounds stay put.
- The filter. The now caffeine-loaded extract passes through activated carbon filters that capture the caffeine molecules. The GCE comes out clean and goes back to work on the next batch.
- Done. The whole cycle runs roughly 8 to 10 hours and finishes at 99.9% caffeine free.
No solvents touch the coffee at any point. The only inputs are water, temperature, and time.
Why we chose it
Partly the obvious reason: we'd rather not sell a coffee decaffeinated with a solvent, and we'd rather not have to explain parts-per-million residue limits to anyone.
But mostly it's the cup. Solvent processing tends to flatten coffee — it takes the caffeine and a fair amount of the character with it, which is why decaf earned its reputation. A water process that protects the solubles gives you something that still tastes like where it came from. Our Peru decaf tastes like Peru. That is the entire point.
It costs more. We think it's worth it, and it's the same reasoning behind every other decision on this site: do the version that's actually good, then explain honestly what you did.
Our decafs
→ Quiet Drift · Peru Decaf (medium roast, Fairtrade certified)
→ Still Pull · Decaf Espresso (dark roast, built for espresso)
Common questions
Is decaf completely caffeine free?
No, and no decaf anywhere is. The Swiss Water® Process removes 99.9% of the caffeine, which leaves a trace amount — far below a cup of regular coffee, but not zero. If you are avoiding caffeine entirely for medical reasons, talk to your doctor rather than taking our word for it.
Does decaffeination hurt the flavor?
Any decaffeination changes a coffee somewhat. The question is how much. Because the Swiss Water® Process saturates the extract with coffee solubles before the soak, the flavor compounds have little reason to leave the bean — so what you lose is mostly caffeine.
Is it organic?
The process itself uses no chemicals. Whether a specific coffee is certified organic depends on the green coffee, not the decaffeination — see the individual product pages for what each one carries.
SWISS WATER® and SWISS WATER® Logo are trademarks of Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Inc. used under license.
