Chemical free decaf coffee is shockingly hard to find unless you order from specialty brands sold online. I’ve decided to give up on Methylene chloride processed coffee for good but I’d still like to enjoy Starbucks from time to time. I’ve dug through the web and found that most Starbucks decaf coffee uses the direct method (aka Methylene chloride processed) but there are some exceptions. While Starbucks doesn’t advertise this fact on their website anymore, some internet sleuthing has led me to uncover that the Decaf Sumatra blend uses a non-solvent based CO2 decaffeination method. There’s a catch however, the only confirmation from Starbucks that I could find was this tweet from 2014:
Unfortunately, the Swiss water processed Komodo Dragon blend mentioned does not seem to be sold anymore. However, the CO2 process does not use any chemical solvents during the process and is a more premium way to decaffeinate coffee. If this is suitable and you’re willing to assume Starbucks hasn’t changed anything since 2014 then the Sumatra blend is your best bet.
