Water process · MX
Mountain Water Process
A water process run in Veracruz using glacier-fed watershed water. Mechanically a close cousin of Swiss Water, and the process most often described with a number its own plant does not claim.
Also sold as: MWP · Mountain Water · agua de montaña. Same process.
- Solvent
- None
- Caffeine removed
- above 97% (plant's own claim)
- Trademarked name
- Yes: Descamex
- Where it runs
- Descamex, MX
Mechanically a close cousin of Swiss Water: a water-based saturated solution under controlled flow, temperature, pressure and vacuum, with the caffeine-laden solution carbon-filtered and recirculated, followed by a proprietary triple drying system. Run by Descamex in Córdoba, Veracruz, using water from the glacier-fed Pico de Orizaba watershed. The process dates to 1987.
A correction worth making
The widely repeated “99.9% caffeine free” figure for Mountain Water comes from roasters and importers, not from Descamex. Descamex’s own site says descafeinización que supera al 97%, decaffeination exceeding 97%.
If you see 99.9% on a Mountain Water bag, it did not come from the plant. It almost certainly migrated across from Swiss Water, which does make that guarantee, about its own separate process.
Residual note
Descamex state "descafeinización que supera al 97%", meaning exceeding 97%. The 99.9% figure widely printed on Mountain Water bags did not come from the plant.
On the solvent
Water-based, carbon-filtered and recirculated. No extraction solvent, so it falls outside Directive 2009/32/EC.
In the cup
Roasters report tobacco, malt and caramel, with the honest caveat that this depends heavily on origin and roast profile.
Stated as a tendency, not a rule. No published head-to-head sensory comparison of the processes exists, so this is trade consensus plus tasting. The green coffee and the roast matter more than the process.
Questions
- Is Mountain Water Process the same as Swiss Water?
- Mechanically they are close cousins. Both use a saturated water solution with carbon filtration and no solvent. They are run by different companies in different countries, Descamex in Veracruz and Swiss Water in British Columbia, and they make different claims about removal rate.
- Does Mountain Water remove 99.9% of caffeine?
- Descamex do not claim that. Their own site says decaffeination exceeding 97%. The 99.9% figure circulating on Mountain Water bags came from roasters and importers, not from the plant.
Sources
Industry · Descamex, 2026
Does not say Descamex do not claim 99.9%. That figure circulates widely on Mountain Water bags and in roaster copy, and it did not come from the plant. It appears to have been borrowed from Swiss Water's separate guarantee.
Industry · Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Inc., 2026
Does not say The 99.9% figure is not a certification-body threshold and does not transfer to other water processes. Mountain Water is frequently quoted at 99.9% on the strength of this number; Descamex themselves claim above 97%.