Cooking Myths Debunked

Myth: Decaffeinated Coffee Contains Caffeine

True. It’s not enough to keep you up all night, though. Between 97 and 99 percent of the caffeine is eliminated during the decaffeinating process. Coffee purists recommend the Swiss Water Process, in which the beans are steamed, then soaked in hot water until their chemical structure swells, at which point a carbon filter draws out the caffeine. But some caffeine remains after the beans are dried and roasted. “If you drink 6 to 10 cups of decaf coffee a day, or if you are highly sensitive to caffeine, you might feel an effect from those minimal amounts,” says Darrin Daniel of the Allegro Coffee Company, a specialty coffee roaster based in Thornton, Colorado. One cup with dessert, however, should leave you sleeping easy.