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Swiss Water — decaffeination process and caffeine content
Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Inc. · 2026 · swisswater.com
The company's own description of its process and its caffeine guarantee. The primary source for the widely repeated 99.9% figure, and worth reading as what it is: a supplier guarantee about a proprietary process.
How much weight this carries
Reasonable, but not settled. Worth stating with hedging.
What it says
- Swiss Water guarantee 99.9% caffeine-free green coffee out of the process — Stated in the company's own words, as a guarantee attached to their process.
- The process runs on Green Coffee Extract and activated carbon, with no added solvent
- A single facility in Delta, British Columbia, operating since 1988
What it 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%.
- It makes no sensory claim that has been independently tested. The trade consensus that Swiss Water preserves origin character best is consensus, not published finding.
Recorded because the errors in this subject all point one way: toward claims more confident and more flattering to decaf than the evidence supports.
Limitations
A supplier describing its own product. Accurate as a statement of what the company guarantees; not independent verification that the guarantee is met.
Cited on
For measurement, see
- Caffeine content of decaffeinated coffee Peer-reviewed · Journal of Analytical Toxicology 30(8):611
- Mountain Water Process Industry source · Descamex
- Spilling the Beans: how much caffeine is too much Regulatory guidance · US Food and Drug Administration