If you’ve ever wondered how it’s possible to make decaf coffee—which you can buy in whole-bean form—when the caffeine is inside the damn bean, then you’re not alone. Fortunately, there is an answer, and it’s in this video.
In the first of what promises to be a wonderful new series, Mental Floss discusses decaf. First, it’s worth noting that very little decaf coffee is truly stimulant-free: most cups will still have a few milligrams of it lurking in the cup. But in terms of getting it out? That’s a job for solvents—originally benzene and then later, more safely, carbon dioxide. If you don’t like the sound of that then, huh, why not, say, just drink a proper cup of coffee? [Mental Floss]
