What’s in your Coffee

What’s in your Coffee

A guide to understanding the chemicals in the growing and roasting process

Chemicals to be aware of…
Not all coffee is free from harmful chemicals. Coffee often contains small of 4-methylimidazole and acrylamide, two chemicals that have been identified by the national Toxiology program as carcinogens. To avoid these chemicals, it is best to follow these below labels

• Organic: Organic coffee is produced without artificial chemical substances.
• Fair Trade: The fair trade certification guarantees that the coffee is produced by farmers who are members of democratically run cooperative and that the final exporter is paid a minimum price and a price premium.
• Shade-grown: This process is considered more sustainable as it helps reduce soil erosion and has significantly less runoff of surface water.

Like espresso? Espresso has lower concentrations of carcinogens because the chemical has less opportunity to transfer in the brewing process.

Health benefits of drinking coffee:

• Prevents tooth decay
• Prevents gallstones
• Prevents Alzheimer’s Disease
• Good source of antioxidants

Would you like cream or sugar? Cream changes antioxidant chemistry and likely lesson the effect

The perfect temperature: Coffee roasting occurs between 220 C and 250 C. At lighter roasts, the beans have more flavor from their origin.

Why caffeine might be better for you…

The are multiple solutions to removing caffeine from coffee beans but two of the most commonly used processes are the direct method and the Swiss water process. The direct method rinses in the beans with either ethyl acetate or dichloromethane for 19 hours. this is a synthetic process that often leaves residue, however ethyl acetate is often labelled as natural since it can be derived from fruits and vegetables. The Swiss water process is safer alternative that uses water as a solvent. This process usually result in less flavorful coffee since the water will also extract desirable oil.

How does TAB coffee compare?

The coffee served in TABS is purchased from crooked porch coffee roaster. It is organic roasted locally and fair-trade. They also use the Swiss water process for the decaf blend, but the product is not shade-grown