We often get asked how the Swiss Water Process (SWP) works and what the benefits of choosing SWP over other decaffeinating methods, so we decided to provide a brief explanation to hopefully answer some of your questions!

Decaffeinated coffee was first developed in Germany in1903. Traditionally, most decaffeination processes utilise solvents to eliminate caffeine, often removing essential chemicals pertinent to flavour and aroma along the way. These methods can often alter cup profiles and diminish origin characteristics, giving rise to a negative perception of decaf from ‘real’ coffee drinkers. The ongoing challenge in the decaffeination process is removing the caffeine without stripping the beans of their inherent aromas and flavour profile. The Swiss Water decaffeination process uses water to gently remove 99.9% of the caffeine from green beans while maintaining the bean’s distinctive origin and flavour characteristics. The SWP was originally discovered in the 1930s in Switzerland and is now patented and utilised by the Swiss Water Decaffeination Coffee Company in British Colombia, Canada. The process ensures that 99.9% of the caffeine is eliminated, while leaving the best of the bean behind. They call it ‘decaffeinated coffee without compromise’.

The SWP utilises water saturated with soluble coffee solids, referred to as Green Coffee Extract (GCE), to remove the caffeine from green beans without eliminating any of the soluble coffee components that make up origin characteristics and aromas. When the green beans are placed into the GCE, the soluble coffee components of the green beans are maintained at equilibrium with the coffee solids in the GCE resulting in a net extractive process whereby only the caffeine is removed. This leaves the coffee’s unique flavour profile intact. The GCE is then moved through a carbon filtration system to remove the captured caffeine molecules, maintaining the concentration level of soluble coffee components, and the green beans are submerged once more. This process continues until the green beans are 99.9% caffeine free. This takes approximately 8-10 hours. After the beans are decaffeinated, they are dried, bagged, tagged and ready to be roasted.

Bennetts choose to stock SWP decaffeinated coffee beans because we believe they maintain the inherent value of coffee and afford our customers with the opportunity to provide a complete coffee experience for regular and decaf drinkers alike.

If you purchase SWP Decaf coffee through Bennetts, you can source promotional material free of charge directly from Swiss Water. Follow this link to sign up to the Swiss Water Education and Support Program to order.