How Decaf Coffee Was Invented 400 Years After Regular Coffee

Coffee has had a long and still-ongoing stint in human history. The earliest documentation of the coffee consumption process that most closely resembles our modern-day process of roasting, grinding, and brewing was in the Sarawat Mountains in the 15^th century. It wasn't until approximately 400 years later that coffee's less-potent sister, decaffeinated coffee, was invented by a man named Ludwig Roselius. In 1905, Roselius patented his process for decaffeinating coffee beans by steaming and soaking them in salt water—a trick he discovered when a shipment of beans was accidentally stored in a flooded part of the ship's hull while being delivered, or so the story goes. Roselius's belief that caffeine intake from regular coffee is what led to his father's death fueled his mission to invent a better, and what he considered safer, alternative.

Roselius patented and sold his new creation under a brand he called Kaffee HAG. The German-born and based company marketed its decaffeinated coffee like a luxury wellness item, capitalizing on the new cultural pushes for health that came with a developing world. Decaf coffee even eventually became a drink of choice for the Nazi Party in the 1930s.

Regular coffee is made by harvesting the cherries from coffee plants, milling those to reveal the green coffee beans inside, and then drying and roasting those beans. Then, the roasted beans are ground and brewed into a delicious cup of fresh coffee. However, removing the caffeine naturally adds a few extra steps to this process.

Roselius's original method for removing the caffeine from regular coffee required solvents like benzene to help strip the water-soluble caffeine molecules from the bean. Benzene is not suitable for humans by any stretch, so we no longer use it in decaf coffee made nowadays. Instead, we use different, safer solvents but essentially stick to the same process that Roselius first discovered at the beginning of the 1900s. Unfortunately, solvents aren't selective, and some of the compounds in coffee that contribute to the flavor and color can also be removed during this process. That's why you may notice a very slight difference in flavor with some decaf coffees versus their full-caffeine counterparts. But a high-quality decaf coffee should still taste like a satisfying cup of joe. There is also an entirely water-based extraction method for removing the caffeine from coffee beans, which involves a repetitive process of rinsing, soaking, and filtering to meticulously remove the caffeine. 

Some, like decaf's inventor, Ludwig Roselius, tout the negative health effects of caffeine. But there's the old saying, "everything in moderation," which applies quite well in this instance. While caffeine doesn't necessarily have any significant nutritional value, it does provide a sometimes-needed pick-me-up for people all across the world. There is a limit on how much caffeine one can safely consume in a day, though, which is around the 400 milligrams mark. That's about the same as four cups of coffee, but it isn't a goalpost by any means. The jolt of energy and focus that caffeine provides is literally crave-able, too, with its addiction-forming properties perhaps being one of the unhealthiest aspects of excessive caffeine consumption. Studies have indicated that overserving caffeine can lead to anxiety, rapid heart rate, insomnia, and more. 

If you're someone who loves coffee but is sensitive to caffeine, then decaf may be a healthier choice for you. But decaf does still contain trace amounts of caffeine. The FDA requires 97% of a coffee's caffeine content to be removed in order to be considered decaf, according to the National Coffee Association. That means that most cups of decaf coffee will have about two milligrams of caffeine, on average. So, it seems there is still some innovation to be done in the decaf coffee industry before we achieve a genuinely caffeine-free cup of joe.