Karla Franklin, age 10, of Spokane, Wash., for her question:
HOW IS COFFEE DECAFFEINATED?
If you said the leading coffee‑growing country in the world is Brazil, you'd be right. That South American nation produces more than 3 billion pounds of the beans that are used to produce one of the world's most popular drinks. Second on the list is a South American neighbor, Columbia, where more than 900 million pounds of the beans go to market each year.
The United States rates as the largest consumer of coffee in the world. About 415 million cups of the drink are served every single day. "Coffee break" is an integral part of just about every adult's day.
Coffee contains caffeine, a drug that acts as a stimulant to mental and physical energy for many people. Caffeine tends to expand blood vessels mildly so that more blood flows to the heart and brain.
Most doctors say that caffeine taken in small amounts by most people is harmless to health, and may even gently increase the circulation. When taken in large amounts, however, it can cause some people to become nervous and lose sleep. It might also bring on headaches and digestive disturbances.
Because the caffeine in coffee disturbs some people, manufacturers produce a type that does not include any of the offending drug. It is called decaffeinated coffee.
The removal of caffeine to produce decaffeinated coffee is a cold‑water extraction, done with the aid of certain chemicals.
Especially popular today is instant coffee, which can be obtained either decaffeinated or with caffeine. It is made by brewing coffee in huge containers and then evaporating the water from the brew. The remaining powder crystals become coffee again when water is added.
Freeze‑dried instant coffee, which is also available either decaffeinated or regular, is made by converting freshly brewed coffee into an extract and freezing it in slabs. The slabs are ground into chunks and placed in pressurized chambers. Moisture in the form of ice is drawn off, leaving dry coffee crystals.
Coffee has been used in Arabia since the 1200s. Before it became a beverage 700 years ago, it was used as a food and as medicine.
Coffee went from Arabia to Turkey during the 1500s and then to Italy in the early 1600s. After that, coffeehouses sprang up throughout Europe.
Coffee trees probably came to America in the 1660s and then went to Brazil in the 1700s.