For more specialty coffee knowledge, please pay attention to: Frontstreet Coffee
Senior coffee fans all know that the coffee beans used in specialty coffee are Arabica coffee beans. Its caffeine content is lower than that of Robusta coffee beans, so it also performs better in coffee flavor cupping. Robusta coffee beans have higher caffeine content and better flavor. It’s not that good, and drinking too much is not good for your health, so it’s not used in specialty coffee. In addition, a decaffeinated coffee bean with lower caffeine content than Arabica coffee beans is also popular on the market. So is drinking decaffeinated coffee healthy? What are its advantages and disadvantages? Then in this next article, FrontStreet Coffee will explain it one by one for coffee fans.
What is decaf coffee?
Typically, the caffeine content of coffee beans is measured using a weight ratio. The caffeine content of Arabica coffee beans is 0.9%-1.4% (average 1.2%), while that of Robusta is 1.8%-4% (average 2.2%). Decaffeinated coffee is divided into natural decaffeinated coffee and artificially processed decaffeinated (decaffeinated) coffee. The European Union's standard for artificially processed decaffeinated coffee is that the caffeine content after processing should not exceed 0.1% of the green beans, while the US Food and Drug Administration FDA's standard is to reduce the caffeine content to less than 3% of the original caffeine content.
For example, FrontStreet Coffee currently has a decaffeinated coffee bean from the Huilan production area in Colombia, which has an excellent flavor.
FrontStreet Coffee Colombian Decaffeinated Coffee Beans
Origin: Colombia Cymbidium
Altitude: 1750 meters
Variety: Typica
Treatment method: Swiss water treatment
Flavor: berry, citrus, cocoa, nuts
Is decaffeinated coffee good to drink?
FrontStreet Coffee, a Colombian decaffeinated coffee bean, is produced in Huilan, Colombia's most famous and highest-altitude coffee-producing area. The coffee beans produced here are specially selected alpine coffee beans by the Colombian state-owned company and are known as Colombia's national treasures. Therefore, the flavor of this low-pitched coffee bean from Huilan is destined to not be too bad. After all, the flavor of a coffee bean depends on its production area, variety and processing method. Even coffee beans produced in the same production area need to be graded again. Therefore, as long as the high-quality coffee beans have been screened through layers, how bad will the flavor be? If you drink something bad, it must be because the flavor of the coffee bean itself is not good, and you cannot blame the entire coffee category for not tasting good. If you drink something that doesn’t taste good, you must be drinking it incorrectly.
Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee believes that the bad taste of decaffeinated coffee is not caused by the processing. Because most decaf coffee uses cheap, commercial-grade coffee beans as raw materials. Modern decaffeination technology is quite complicated. In most cases, companies that produce decaffeinated coffee will naturally prefer some high-caffeine content coffee bean varieties (such as robusta beans) when selecting raw materials. Before decaffeinated coffee beans are decaffeinated, the coffee beans have always tasted bad. Like other coffee beans sold in coffee shops, if decaf coffee beans are made from high-quality Arabica coffee beans from the beginning, then decaf coffee can still perform very well even after decaffeination.
And the Colombian decaffeinated coffee green beans selected by FrontStreet Coffee are of Supremo grade. In the Colombian coffee bean system, Supremo is the highest grade. The quality is natural and very guaranteed.
Colombian Decaffeinated Coffee Processing
Low-caffeine treatment methods are divided into four direct/indirect solvent treatment methods, supercritical carbon dioxide treatment method, Swiss water treatment method and mountain spring water treatment method, and the common ones are direct solvent treatment and Swiss water treatment method. As mentioned above, FrontStreet Coffee also mentioned the Swiss washing method used in this Colombian Huilan Bass coffee beans.
Swiss Water Treatment Act
The process of this processing method is to first soak the green coffee beans in hot water. The soaking stage has actually partially removed the caffeine. The soaked solution is then filtered through activated carbon, and finally the solution is poured back into the coffee beans. This series of steps will remove caffeine more effectively. In addition to not requiring the use of chemical solvents, the soaked solution can be reused in different batches of processing. The only drawback is that the coffee will lose its flavor during the filtering process.
However, the caffeine removal rate of this method can reach 99.9%, which is also the method with the highest caffeine removal rate. Although the Swiss water treatment method will lose some coffee flavor, it is low cost, easy to operate, and very efficient. So the decaffeinated coffee beans we see now are all based on the Swiss water treatment method.
Is drinking decaffeinated coffee healthy?
Next, many people think that drinking decaffeinated coffee is unhealthy, but what is the reality?
As mentioned above in FrontStreet Coffee, Decaf is the abbreviation of decaffeinated coffee. There are many ways to remove caffeine from coffee beans. Aside from the caffeine content, the nutritional value of decaf coffee should be nearly the same as regular coffee. However, depending on the method used, the taste and smell may become slightly milder and the color may change. This can make decaf coffee more enjoyable for those who are sensitive to the bitter taste and smell of regular coffee.
Does decaf coffee beans have no caffeine at all? No, decaf coffee actually only eliminates about 97% of caffeine, not completely eliminating caffeine. Although there will still be caffeine, compared to ordinary espresso, the caffeine in decaffeinated coffee will not have any impact on most people.
Therefore, just drinking the amount of caffeine that the body can accept in a day will not cause harm to the body. However, if you drink it without restraint and the amount of caffeine that the body can absorb in a day exceeds the standard, it will naturally cause harm to the body.
The above is the relevant information about decaffeinated coffee compiled by FrontStreet Coffee. I hope it can help coffee fans understand more about decaffeinated coffee. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share how to brew decaffeinated coffee.
How does FrontStreet Coffee brew decaf coffee beans?
After decaffeinated coffee beans release caffeine through soaking, the fiber structure of the beans is different from that of ordinary coffee beans. The strong water absorption causes the extraction speed to slow down, so the brewing parameters need to be adjusted.
Filter cup:Kono filter cup
Water temperature:88.8℃
Amount of powder:15g
Pink to water ratio:1：15
Grinding degree:Coarse grinding/brown sugar thickness (Chinese standard No. 20 screen pass rate 70%)
Front Street segmented brewing:Pour in the coffee powder, add 2 times the amount of water (30ml) and steam for 30 seconds. Then perform the second stage of water injection, gently inject 150ml of hot water in a circular motion, push up the powder layer, and flush out the golden foam surface. When the water level of the powder layer drops slightly, inject the last 45ml. After all the coffee liquid has flowed into the lower pot, remove the filter cup and end the extraction. The extraction time is 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
Colombian Decaf Coffee Bean Brew Flavors:Dark chocolate, caramel, nuts, mellow taste.
For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
