1. November 2026

How coffee decaffeination started

The trigger was a chance discovery

Several sources describe how Roselius in the year 1903 came up by chance with the idea to decaffeinate coffee, when a shipment of green coffee beans came into contact with seawater during transport and subsequently contained significantly less caffeine but still had plenty of aroma. This was the crucial observation: caffeine can be selectively extracted if the coffee beans are first “opened” with water.Bremen coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius is therefore considered being at the origin of commercial coffee (and susequently tea) decaffeination.

Additional information in collapsible elements

This is a test ...

Legende zum Bild

Realisation of the first coffee decaffeination process (Roselius process)

The Roselius process is the first industrially applied decaffeination process for coffee. The process, using organic solvents to remove caffeine from green coffee beans, was developed by Ludwig Roselius around 1906. He later founded the Kaffee HAG brand, which made decaffeinated coffee popular and was sold in Germany and many other countries.


Ludwig Roselius (1874–1943) German coffee merchant and founder of Kaffee HAG.
He was born in Bremen and is considered the inventor of commercial decaffeination of coffee.

How the Roselius process works:

1. Steaming the green coffee beans
The beans are treated with steam to open up the cell structure.

2. Extraction with solvent
The beans are then treated with a solvent (originally benzene) that selectively eliminates caffeine from the green coffee beans.

3. Removal of the solvent
The solvent residues evaporate through heating and drying.

4. Roasting
The decaffeinated coffee beans are then roasted as usual.

Advantages
Technically simple, very efficient at removing caffeine, basis for modern decaffeination processes.

Disadvantages & current assessment
Benzene is harmful to health (now banned), loss of aroma due to aggressive extraction.
The Roselius process is historically important, but no longer permitted today. Modern methods, using ethyl acetate, CO₂ or the Swiss Water Process, are significantly safer and preserve the aroma better.