Heavy Metal, Chlorine Detox Bath
Despite the chemicals in the tap water, this is how we enjoy a great detox bath after sticky situations.
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Here's the scoop.
The same chemical in embalming fluids and used for stripping paint is in most decaf coffees. Gross.
Thankfully in recent times people have discovered multiple way to decaffeinate coffee beans. Some are non-toxic and some are less toxic, so we'll go over whats going on here and how you can get nontoxic decaf in Northwest Arkansas.
The Swiss Water typically known as the best way to decaffeinate the beans, but its just gotten so expensive the past couple years. Making it really hard for smaller coffee shops to offer a nontoxic decaf, but many places opt for slightly different methods that are very good too. Swiss Water reigns supreme as far as caffeine content removal because it gets 99% out.
The the Sugar Cane decaf process may not be as popular as Swiss Water, but it may be healthier. Swiss Water is getting some critique on just how pure their process is. Even though it is still much better than most processes, the Sugar Cane is 100% natural and lets water and molasses combine to create a natural "chemical" that removed the caffeine. It's amazing really!
Im my opinion the Sugar Cane is the best process based on what I know.
Before the recent burst of new processes, the MC process was used in basically all decafs. It literally uses the same chemical commonly used for stripping paint to decaffeinate. Its terrible for everyone, but especially pregnant and nursing women who are even more likely to drink decaf!
Methylene Chloride Sucks
Methylene Chloride is an active ingredient in paint stripper that was recently banned by the EPA. The FDA currently allows methylene chloride to be used in some coffee decaffeination processes and brands are not required to disclose the decaffeination process on their label. Reason number 1,578 to never trust the FDA. The thing thats tricky is during this process the beans are first soaked in water, so it sounds like a good process but then they soak them in the "solvent" (yuck!) which is the Methalyne Chloride. That solvent goes to the top and is removed off the beans, but if you know anything about growing your food you know that just like pesticide sprayed around your crops will leak into them, the same goes for these beans. That processes is repeated multiple times because it's not even very effective. So add some more chemicals why don't cha? Sure some of it's removed on some level but enough is there and I don't know anyone who would willing drink any amount of paint stripper. Use that common sense the Good Lord gave you for your protection.
Does Starbucks use the MC Method?
Of course they do. It's cheaper! You can't trust these big chains for crap. Only buy coffee locally and freshly roasted. Thats hard enough to do. The only place I'm 100% positive is always fresh is 211 Cafe. (Love that place!)
I've asked a lot of other coffee shops around here about their decaf and most baristas don't have a clue, so it's hard to pin down which ones are clean. When we travel everyone knows about Swiss Water and can't believe anyone would still used the old chemical decaf. So common Arkansas, step it up. Also keep in mind if you get decaf at the store, it's very likely going to be using the same MC method, so don't buy that, but mostly because its super old and nowhere near fresh by the time it gets to you.
Good Decaf Methods to Look For!
- Sugar Cane Process
- The sugar cane decaffeination process is 100% natural, using water and molasses to ferment into Ethyl Acetate, which then extracts the caffeine leaving it 97% caffeine free.
- Swiss Water Process
- A chemical-free process that uses hot water to remove caffeine from green coffee beans, followed by activated carbon filtering to remove any remaining caffeine. This method is highly popular and produces flavorful decaf coffee that is 99% caffeine free.
- Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Process
- A chemical-free process that uses high-pressure CO2 to extract caffeine from green coffee beans. The CO2 is then separated from the beans, leaving behind decaf coffee with a rich flavor profile.
- Water Processed
- A method that uses water as a solvent to remove caffeine from green coffee beans, without the use of chemicals. This process is similar to the Swiss Water Process and produces decaf coffee with a clean taste.
Where to Get Good decaf in NWA!
I'm going to keep adding to this list as people contact me, but for now all I've found is:
- Alpha Omega Coffee Concepts - Bella Vista, AR - Uses Sugar Cane Process.
- Perisseia Coffee House - Siloam Springs, AR
- Martin Mountain Coffee - Siloam Springs
- Checking with more...(and not hearing back. Is that bad sign? Ha.)
Did we miss you?
Let us know what process, roast and region you use.
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Clean Label Project Blog
Here is a wonderful article about the processes used and the dangers of drinking bad decaf.
