> TCE is a simple, six-atom molecule that can decaffeinate coffee, degrease metal parts, and dry clean clothes Note that TCE hasn't been widely used to decaffe

> TCE is a simple, six-atom molecule that can decaffeinate coffee, degrease metal parts, and dry clean clothes Note that TCE hasn't been widely used to decaffeinate coffee since the seventies. The main industrial decaffeination process currently uses methylene chloride (think supermarket or instant decaf, also decaf from big chains like Starbucks). I personally avoid decaf processed this way but I very much doubt it'll ever be strongly linked to negative outcomes like Parkinson's. Small batch (higher quality) decaf will use the Sugarcane EA process (uses ethyl acetate from fermented sugarcane), or the Swiss water process (uses only distilled water), or the supercritical C02 process. Of these, I favor the sugarcane EA process. As it uses less expensive equipment, it is often be done at or close to source (e.g. a local processing plant in Brazil or Columbia or even at larger farms) and perhaps because of this seems to lock in the flavor better. Swiss water and C02 processes typically involve shipping the green beans to a processing plant in the US or Europe, which adds shipping miles and takes a big chunk of the value capture out of the originating countries. Ethyl acetate is a common chemical in fruit and the amounts left in decaf coffee after processing are less than what you'd consume eating a banana, for example.