Origins of our favorite brew
The word «coffee» was introduced in 1582, derived from the Dutch «koffie». This traces back even further to the Arabic word for coffee, «qahwah», which has been speculated to come from «quwwa» (defined as power or energy), or even from Kaffa (also spelled as Kefa) which was a medieval Ethiopian kingdom that exported coffee plants to Arabia. It is believed that coffee was first discovered by a goat herder in Ethiopia who noticed the energy of his goats increase after consuming the coffee fruit (known as «cherries»). From Ethiopia, coffee consumption spread through the Arabian Peninsula and Middle East during the 15th and 16th centuries.
Coffee cherries ripening.
Good coffee: not as straightforward as you might think
Why so expensive — is the taste that good? In order to make Black Ivory Coffee, the coffee cherries are fed to and digested by elephants, in a similar manner to Kopi Luwak (or civet coffee), another expensive coffee type created by fermentation of coffee cherries in the gut of civet cats. The resulting coffee beans are then cleaned, dried, and roasted.
Civet cats can digest coffee beans to create a unique coffee experience with a heavy price tag.
Typically, coffee is grown in (sub)tropical areas, but the ideal climate differs depending on the species. Some prefer higher altitudes and are more suitable for mountainous regions. Others need hot and dry conditions to produce the best quality beans. Now there are over 70 countries that produce coffee. That’s a good thing, because global coffee consumption in 2020/2021 is estimated to be 167.23 million 60 kg bags, which is more than 10 million tons of coffee!
Map showing the different coffee-producing countries around the world.
Changes in coffee consumption practices
The adoption of the pod coffee machine (e.g., Keurig, Nespresso) over the past decade has pushed the consumption of coffee from something generally enjoyed in a café, restaurant, or on the go, to a much higher rate of consumption at home. With this significant shift to pod coffee, the ability to adjust grind size, water temperature, or extraction time used by the best baristas to counter changes in flavor and strength is no longer a possibility. In fact, the ease of pressing a single button and receiving hot, fresh coffee within seconds is exactly why pod coffee is so popular. This puts new pressures on coffee roasters to maintain the flavor and caffeine strength expected of their brand and varieties.
Progression of the coffee bean roasting process.
Science—brewing up your perfect cup
Not all coffee beans are created equal, but luckily science allows us to define many of the key quality parameters that result in the taste and caffeine strength we expect from our favorite brand of coffee. Coffee is generally acidic with a pH of around five. Highly acidic coffee displays a sour, harsh flavor. While there are ways to counteract this on the consumer side, for manufacturers it is even more important to identify that there is an issue to begin with. A simple identifier is the titratable acidity of the coffee, and this has a direct correlation with the taste you associate with your favorite brew.
Traditionally, caffeine has been analyzed by titration, liquid chromatography (LC), or spectrophotometry after a long sample preparation procedure. Now, the analysis of key coffee quality parameters like caffeine content can be done simply and effectively using a single titration system.
Example titration curve for caffeine analysis with OMNIS (click to enlarge).
Find out more about this analysis in our free Application Note!
Metrohm has the solution for your analysis needs
Thanks for sharing the coffee chemistry. We are the Caffe Lombardi Roasters and selling coffee pods and coffee capsule.