How do you decaffeinate coffee? • Hacker News Board

Re: How do you decaffeinate coffee?

#31

Post by bengale » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 5:21 PM UTC

hpcjoe wrote: post #18

Wait ... but ... why? (in jest) I understand why, though some of us think of decaf "coffee", much the same way others view white "chocolate". At some point, the thing you modified it to be, isn't representative of the original thing. IMO, it should not be called coffee or chocolate, even with a descriptive adjective up front. This is a minor nit to pick, but still, for those of us with a strong love of (addition to)…

I drink decaf tea because I like drinking tea but caffeine messes with my heart these days.

Re: How do you decaffeinate coffee?

#32

Post by PaulKeeble » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 5:21 PM UTC

I drink both, caffeine in the morning and once past midday I move to decaf until as late as 5pm, I heavily favour much lower caffeine decaf. In my experience decaf tastes the best from either swiss or CO2 methods and from the beans. The best decaf can come pretty close to decent coffee but its also just as expensive as well. I find it works better under pressure immersion than drip, so more Aeropress or Turkish stove method than French press or V60.

Re: How do you decaffeinate coffee?

#33

Post by sgtnoodle » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 5:25 PM UTC

umvi wrote: post #15

bserge wrote: post #13

Seems similar to the process of removing alcohol from beer while still keeping the taste.

I don't drink but I was always under the impression that alcohol-free beer doesn't quite taste the same (i.e. that the process of removing alcohol doesn't only remove the taste of alcohol, but somehow additionally damages the overall beer taste and makes it inferior).

I've been sampling non-alcoholic beers recently. A few of the brands taste pretty good. I like Athletic Brewing, and the Heineken is good for what it is.

Re: How do you decaffeinate coffee?

#34

Post by currymj » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 5:25 PM UTC

darthrupert wrote: post #25

Coffee has way more active ingredients than just caffeine, so removing just that does not really negate majority of the effects. This would be similar to removing nicotine from cigarettes. Better just go to tea instead of decaf if you're sensitive. Another alternative that allows you to keep using coffee would be to go to your grandparents' coffee cups. They're 2-10 times smaller than the current ones!

whatever other non-caffeine effects coffee might have, they are probably neutral or positive (unlike cigarettes).

Re: How do you decaffeinate coffee?

#35

Post by BurningFrog » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 5:30 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #11

anamexis wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ehh, the whole premise there seems to be "chemicals bad," while acknowledging that the amount of solvent left in the coffee is negligible.

I'm not sure about you, but I prefer the amount of solvent in my food and drink to be "none", rather than "negligible".

I know what you mean, and this is bordering on willful misunderstanding, but I'll still do this:

The most commonly used solvent is water. Ethanol is also a major one: https://www.worldofmolecules.com/solvents/

Re: How do you decaffeinate coffee?

#36

Post by jimhefferon » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 5:31 PM UTC

hpcjoe wrote: post #18

Wait ... but ... why? (in jest) I understand why, though some of us think of decaf "coffee", much the same way others view white "chocolate". At some point, the thing you modified it to be, isn't representative of the original thing. IMO, it should not be called coffee or chocolate, even with a descriptive adjective up front. This is a minor nit to pick, but still, for those of us with a strong love of (addition to)…

:-)

> I understand why, though some of us think of decaf "coffee", much the same way others view white "chocolate".1

Had a cardiovascular adventure some time ago. Caffeine was involved, and so I don't have. I agree decaf is a poor substitute, as is white, but they are all I can get.

Re: How do you decaffeinate coffee?

#37

Post by exabrial » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 5:44 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #11

anamexis wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ehh, the whole premise there seems to be "chemicals bad," while acknowledging that the amount of solvent left in the coffee is negligible.

I'm not sure about you, but I prefer the amount of solvent in my food and drink to be "none", rather than "negligible".

One does achieve "none", tis marketing hype and wasteful. For instance, if you eat or drink any fermented foods, you are regularly consuming organic solvents. Undistilled alcoholic beverages contain quite a few interesting organic solvents that contribute to flavor (and hangovers).

Re: How do you decaffeinate coffee?

#38

Post by lvs » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 5:52 PM UTC

> In 1985 the US’s Food and Drug Administration said the likelihood of any health risk from methylene chloride was so low “as to be essentially non-existent”.

This is somewhat poorly phrased. Methylene chloride is a neurotoxin and likely carcinogen, but it will be driven off by the roasting process. The boiling point of DCM is 40C, and roasting occurs at 200C, so any residual solvent should be long gone early in the roasting process. Nevertheless, this solvent is destructive to the ozone layer and should be phased out of industrial processes as much as possible.

Re: How do you decaffeinate coffee?

#39

Post by mFixman » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 5:52 PM UTC

hpcjoe wrote: post #18

Wait ... but ... why? (in jest) I understand why, though some of us think of decaf "coffee", much the same way others view white "chocolate". At some point, the thing you modified it to be, isn't representative of the original thing. IMO, it should not be called coffee or chocolate, even with a descriptive adjective up front. This is a minor nit to pick, but still, for those of us with a strong love of (addition to)…

If you try to define what is or is not coffee (or chocolate, milk, meat, ...) using its composition you'll end up with a lot of ambiguous and incorrect rules.

The correct way to solve this is to remember that language is an imprecise medium to transmit ideas. White chocolate is chocolate because people consider it chocolate, not the other way around.

Re: How do you decaffeinate coffee?

#40

Post by darthrupert » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 5:56 PM UTC

currymj wrote: post #34

darthrupert wrote: post #25

Coffee has way more active ingredients than just caffeine, so removing just that does not really negate majority of the effects. This would be similar to removing nicotine from cigarettes. Better just go to tea instead of decaf if you're sensitive. Another alternative that allows you to keep using coffee would be to go to your grandparents' coffee cups. They're 2-10 times smaller than the current ones!

whatever other non-caffeine effects coffee might have, they are probably neutral or positive (unlike cigarettes).

No, it has several negative effects on the digestive system that have nothing to do with caffeine. Some positive too, though.

I'm not trying to imply that coffee and cigarettes are equivalent in terms of harm, of course. That would be silly.