Correction: the 99.9% figure on Mountain Water bags is not Descamex's
The widely repeated "99.9% caffeine free" claim for Mountain Water Process comes from roasters and importers, not from the plant. Descamex's own site says decaffeination exceeding 97%. The number appears to have migrated across from Swiss Water's separate guarantee about a different process.
Sources
Industry · Descamex, 2026
Does not say Descamex do not claim 99.9%. That figure circulates widely on Mountain Water bags and in roaster copy, and it did not come from the plant — it appears to have been borrowed from Swiss Water's separate guarantee.
Industry · Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Inc., 2026
Does not say The 99.9% figure is not a certification-body threshold and does not transfer to other water processes. Mountain Water is frequently quoted at 99.9% on the strength of this number; Descamex themselves claim above 97%.
Processes involved
A water process run in Veracruz using glacier-fed watershed water. Mechanically a close cousin of Swiss Water — and the process most often described with a number its own plant does not claim.
A water-only process run at a single plant in British Columbia, using coffee extract already saturated with everything except caffeine. The best known name in decaf, and the most misunderstood — it is a company guarantee, not a certification.