The water is evaporated from the extract by various methods, including the use of spray driers or high-vacuum equipment. In freeze-dried coffee the coffee extract is frozen, and the water is removed by sublimation. The product is packed in vacuumized, sealed jars or in cans. Caffeine can be removed from coffee by treating the green beans with chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents. The beans are roasted by ordinary procedures after removal of the solvents.
Decaffeinated coffee is used by people hypersensitive to the caffeine present in regular coffee.
In the 1980s nonchemical methods of decaffeination became more common. Coffee grows well on the islands of Java and Sumatra and in Arabia, India, Africa, the West Indies, and South and Central America. The Americas, where Arabian coffee is grown, produce approximately two-thirds of the world's supply. The soil in which coffee is grown must be rich, moist, and absorbent enough to accept water readily, but sufficiently loose to allow rapid drainage of excess water. Although coffee trees are damaged easily by frost, they are cultivated in cooler regions.