Swiss Water decaf, and the Colorado roasters that use it

What is Swiss Water decaf?

Swiss Water decaf is coffee decaffeinated with water alone, without an organic solvent. Green beans soak in a caffeine-free extract of green coffee, the caffeine moves out of the beans into the extract, and charcoal filters pull it out. The beans are then dried and roasted like any other coffee.

How the Swiss Water Process works

All decaffeination happens before roasting, while the beans are still green, as Wikipedia's coffee article notes. Its decaffeination article describes the Swiss Water steps this way:

1. Green coffee is soaked in hot water, which draws out everything that dissolves, caffeine included.
2. That liquid runs through an activated charcoal filter that catches the caffeine. What is left is green coffee extract: water carrying the flavor compounds of green coffee, without the caffeine.
3. Fresh green beans go into the extract. Because the extract already holds the other compounds but no caffeine, mostly the caffeine moves out of the beans and into the liquid.
4. The extract is filtered again and reused, batch after batch. Wikipedia puts the continuous process at 8 to 10 hours to reach the target.

Wikipedia also notes that United States rules require at least 97 percent of the caffeine to be removed for coffee to be sold as decaf, whatever the method.

Where Swiss Water decaf comes from

The method is older than the brand. Wikipedia records that it was first developed in Switzerland in 1933, commercialized by Coffex S.A. in 1980, and introduced by The Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company of Burnaby, British Columbia, in 1988. When a roaster writes Swiss Water or SWP on a bag, it means beans decaffeinated by that process.

What Swiss Water decaf tastes like

A Swiss Water decaf tastes like the coffee it started as, roasted the way its roaster chose. The sources we use make no claim that one decaf method tastes better than another, so neither do we. What sets the flavor is the green coffee, the roast and your brewing. A decaf from a good single origin, roasted with care, is a good cup; a decaf from tired beans is not, whatever the method.

Swiss Water vs other decaf methods

Many roasters sell a decaf without naming the method on the listing. If the method matters to you, look for it on the bag or ask the roaster.

Colorado roasters that sell Swiss Water decaf

These roasters we list state Swiss Water on their own shop pages, checked September 27, 2026. They are local favorites, and a listing does not mean the roaster is part of the club.

• OZO Coffee in Boulder sells an Organic Decaf Blend and says it is decaffeinated by Swiss Water without chemicals.
• Kaladi Coffee Roasters in Englewood sells Full City SWP Decaf, roasted on its fluid bed air roaster. It also sells a Decaf Peru Penachi, without a method on the listing.
• Camp 4 Coffee in Crested Butte sells a decaf made with the chemical-free Swiss Water Process, hand roasted in Crested Butte South.

Decaf drinkers are customers too, and a Colorado roaster that keeps a good decaf on the shelf is betting on them. Buying it tells the roaster the bet pays off. Why local roasters matter.

How to get decaf in the club

In the plan builder, set the style to decaf. Each box brings a decaf from a different independent Colorado roaster, 12 oz and $16.99 a bag, with the first bag free and $7.99 shipping on that first box. The club does not promise a particular decaf method, because each roaster fills the box from its own lineup; the decaf subscription page lists the methods Colorado roasters publish. With two bags a box, make one regular and one decaf.

Sources and related terms

• Decaf, half caff, green coffee

Sources:

• Wikipedia, Decaffeination (Swiss Water history, green coffee extract, charcoal filtering, 8 to 10 hours, the 97 percent rule, ethyl acetate)
• Wikipedia, Coffee (decaffeination of green beans)
• Colorado decaf methods: the roasters' own shop pages as summarized on our roaster profiles, checked 2026-09-27.