Decaffeinated, but good!

A good coffee whenever you want? It is possible, with a good decaffeinated coffee to alternate with “normal” coffee: the pleasure of a taste break, without too much caffeine.

So why is it still consumed so little? The reason lies in the fact that, unfortunately, the disappointment in the cup remains very frequent and widespread.

Instead, Intenso decaffeinated coffee is so good and appreciated because the quality in the cup always depends, first of all, on the raw materials used and Intenso has always known and selected the best qualities of green coffee, perfectly roasted by state-of-the-art facilities guided by ancient craftsmanship.

A taste that cannot be distinguished from "normal" coffee, a pleasure returned to tasting as absolutely equivalent thanks to the decaffeination process, managed with competence.

does not detract from the taste and aroma.

To be defined as “decaffeinated”, coffee must contain less than 0.1% caffeine, through a process that involves different methods, depending on the solvent used: water, ethyl acetate, carbon dioxide or dichloromethane. Whatever the procedure, the only effect is the elimination of caffeine, without solvent residues and therefore a decaffeinated product with no contraindications for health.

Dichloromethane is the most common solvent and, with diacetyl, the one considered with great suspicion, although it is very easy to eliminate with water vapor and very volatile (it evaporates at only 40 ° C). With dichloromethane it is also possible to de-wax the coffee, that is, to deprive it of the waxes naturally present on the surface of the beans, making them more digestible: the reason why decaffeinated coffee is strongly recommended against gastritis and reflux.

Water is certainly the best possible solvent, but it is less selective and the most invasive because it also eliminates some water-soluble aromatic substances: however, there are different strategies to limit this loss, including the "re-incorporation" that is the reintroduction of these volatile substances.

The use of carbon dioxide is probably the most effective: CO2 has very selective extraction capabilities, but requires complex machinery and very high pressure levels to reach the necessary supercritical state. Not using solvents is an obvious advantage and also the aromas are not damaged.

Similar methods are also used to decaffeinate tea and cocoa, which also contain caffeine (a cup of coffee contains 100 milligrams, one of tea 40 and one of chocolate 20), but also to make cholesterol-free butter or to extract the essence from hop flowers, industrially used to flavour the beer.