This Is Exactly How Nespresso Decaffeinates Its Coffee Pods

Decaf coffee is a great option for those who are sensitive to caffeine, but still enjoy the comforting taste of coffee. While most coffee brands only offer one decaf variety, coffee giant Nespresso offers seven varieties of decaf coffee pods that vary in intensity, brew size, and machine compatibility. Four are for the modern Vertuo machine, while three are available for the original line of Nespresso machines — and all of them are tasty.

Nespresso coffee is loved for its high quality and great taste, and you don't have to sacrifice either element when choosing from its decaf options. According to Nespresso, the company uses two different methods to remove caffeine from its beans — the water method and the carbon dioxide method. Best of all, both methods undergo the same quality controls as any other Nespresso coffee variety.

During the water decaffeination process, green coffee beans (meaning they have not been roasted yet) are soaked in hot water, which dissolves the caffeine molecules. The carbon dioxide process also starts with a water soak, but the beans are then pumped with carbon dioxide at an extremely high pressure. The carbon dioxide then absorbs the caffeine from the green beans over the course of 5-7 hours. Both of these methods are chemical free and safe for coffee drinkers. Not only are these processes better for you than those that might using solvents, they also result in decaf coffee that tastes better since the beans haven't been stripped by chemicals like methylene chloride.

People around the world have been drinking coffee for hundreds of years (though its exact origins are hard to pinpoint). With that said, it makes sense that decaffeinated coffee is a newer development given the somewhat complicated process needed to make it. Ludwig Roselius is credited with inventing decaf coffee a good 400 years after the original – in 1905. The story goes that a ship transporting coffee beans was partially flooded, and Roselius noticed the caffeine content of the beans was greatly reduced as a result. This led him to discover that caffeine is water-soluble. 

Roselius then promoted decaf coffee as a wellness drink, touting it as better for you than regular coffee. Whether that's true or not is debatable since caffeinated coffee, in limited amounts, can have health benefits. Meanwhile, coffee that's been chemically decaffeinated can have some potential health risks. One thing that's definitely true is that decaf coffee is less acidic, meaning it could be a better option for those that struggle with excess acid or conditions like GERD.