Processing
Coffee berries and their seeds undergo several processes before they become the familiar roasted coffee. Berries have been traditionally selectively picked by hand; a labor-intensive method, it involves the selection of only the berries at the peak of ripeness. More commonly, crops are strip picked, where all berries are harvested simultaneously regardless of ripeness by person or machine. After picking, green coffee is processed by one of two methods—the dry process method, simpler and less labor-intensive as the berries can be strip picked, and the wet process method, which incorporates fermentation into the process and yields a mild coffee.[79]
Then they are sorted by ripeness and color and most often the flesh of the berry is removed, usually by machine, and the seeds are fermented to remove the slimy layer of mucilage still present on the seed. When the fermentation is finished, the seeds are washed with large quantities of fresh water to remove the fermentation residue, which generates massive amounts of coffee wastewater. Finally, the seeds are dried.[80]
The best (but least used) method of drying coffee is using drying tables. In this method, the pulped and fermented coffee is spread thinly on raised beds, which allows the air to pass on all sides of the coffee, and then the coffee is mixed by hand. In this method the drying that takes place is more uniform, and fermentation is less likely. Most African coffee is dried in this manner and certain coffee farms around the world are starting to use this traditional method.[80]
Next, the coffee is sorted, and labeled as green coffee. Another way to let the coffee seeds dry is to let them sit on a concrete patio and rake over them in the sunlight. Some companies use cylinders to pump in heated air to dry the coffee seeds, though this is generally in places where the humidity is very high.[80]
Some coffee undergoes a peculiar process, such as kopi luwak. It is made from the seeds of coffee berries which have been eaten by the Asian Palm Civet and other related civets, passing through its digestive tract. This process resulted in coffee seeds with much less bitterness,[81] widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world with prices reaching $160 per pound.[82]
Roasting
The next step in the process is the roasting of the green coffee. Coffee is usually sold in a roasted state, and with rare exceptions all coffee is roasted before it is consumed. It can be sold roasted by the supplier, or it can be home roasted.[83] The roasting process influences the taste of the beverage by changing the coffee seed both physically and chemically. The seed decreases in weight as moisture is lost and increases in volume, causing it to become less dense. The density of the seed also influences the strength of the coffee and requirements for packaging.
The actual roasting begins when the temperature inside the seed reaches approximately 200 °C (392 °F), though different varieties of seeds differ in moisture and density and therefore roast at different rates.[84] During roasting, caramelization occurs as intense heat breaks down starches, changing them to simple sugars that begin to brown, which alters the color of the seed.[85]
Sucrose is rapidly lost during the roasting process and may disappear entirely in darker roasts. During roasting, aromatic oils and acids weaken, changing the flavor; at 205 °C (401 °F), other oils start to develop.[84] One of these oils, caffeol, is created at about 200 °C (392 °F), which is largely responsible for coffee's aroma and flavor.[22]
Grading the roasted seeds
Depending on the color of the roasted seeds as perceived by the human eye, they will be labeled as light, medium light, medium, medium dark, dark, or very dark. A more accurate method of discerning the degree of roast involves measuring the reflected light from roasted seeds illuminated with a light source in the near infrared spectrum. This elaborate light meter uses a process known asspectroscopy to return a number that consistently indicates the roasted coffee's relative degree of roast or flavor development.
Roast characteristics
The degree of roast has an effect upon coffee flavor and body. Darker roasts are generally bolder because they have less fiber content and a more sugary flavor. Lighter roasts have a more complex and therefore perceived stronger flavor from aromatic oils and acids otherwise destroyed by longer roasting times.[86] Roasting does not alter the amount of caffeine in the bean, but does give less caffeine when the beans are measured by volume because the beans expand during roasting.[87]
A small amount of chaff is produced during roasting from the skin left on the seed after processing.[88] Chaff is usually removed from the seeds by air movement, though a small amount is added to dark roast coffees to soak up oils on the seeds.[84]
Decaffeination
Decaffeination may also be part of the processing that coffee seeds undergo. Seeds are decaffeinated when they are still green. Many methods can remove caffeine from coffee, but all involve either soaking the green seeds in hot water (often called the "Swiss water process")[89] or steaming them, then using a solvent to dissolve caffeine-containing oils.[22] Decaffeination is often done by processing companies, and the extracted caffeine is usually sold to the pharmaceutical industry.[22]
Storage
Coffee is best stored in an airtight container made of ceramic, glass, or non-reactive metal.[90] Higher quality prepackaged coffee usually has a one-way valve which prevents air from entering while allowing the coffee to release gases.[91] Coffee freshness and flavor is preserved when it is stored away from moisture, heat, and light.[90] The ability of coffee to absorb strong smells from food means that it should be kept away from such smells.[90] Storage of coffee in the refrigerator is not recommended due to the presence of moisture which can cause deterioration.[90] Exterior walls of buildings which face the sun may heat the interior of a home, and this heat may damage coffee stored near such a wall.[90] Heat from nearby ovens also harms stored coffee.[90]
In 1931, a method of packing coffee in a sealed vacuum in cans was introduced. The roasted coffee was packed and then 99% of the air was removed, allowing the coffee to be stored indefinitely until the can was opened. Today this method is in mass use for coffee in a large part of the world.[92]
Brewing
Coffee seeds must be ground and brewed to create a beverage. The criteria for choosing a method include flavor and economy. Almost all methods of preparing coffee require that the seeds be ground and then mixed with hot water long enough to allow the flavor to emerge but not so long as to draw out bitter compounds. The liquid can be consumed after the spent grounds are removed. Brewing considerations include the fineness of grind, the way in which the water is to extract the flavor, additional flavorings such as sugar, milk, and spices, and the technique to be used to separate spent grounds. Ideal holding temperatures range from 85–88 °C (185–190 °F) to as high as 93 °C (199 °F) and the ideal serving temperature is 68 to 79 °C (154 to 174 °F).[93]
The roasted coffee seeds may be ground at a roastery, in a grocery store, or in the home. Most coffee is roasted and ground at a roastery and sold in packaged form, though roasted coffee seeds can be ground at home immediately before consumption. It is also possible, though uncommon, to roast raw seeds at home.
The choice of brewing method depends to some extent on the degree to which the coffee seeds have been roasted. Lighter roasted coffee tends to be used for filter coffee as the combination of method and roast style results in higher acidity, complexity, and clearer nuances[clarification needed]. Darker roasted coffee is used for espresso because the machine naturally extracts more dissolved solids, causing lighter coffee to become too acidic.
Coffee seeds may be ground in several ways. A burr grinder uses revolving elements to shear the seed; a blade grinder cuts the seeds with blades moving at high speed; and a mortar and pestle crushes the seeds. For most brewing methods a burr grinder is deemed superior because the grind is more even and the grind size can be adjusted.
The type of grind is often named after the brewing method for which it is generally used. Turkish grind is the finest grind, while coffee percolator or French press are the coarsest grinds. The most common grinds are between these two extremes: a medium grind is used in most home coffee-brewing machines.[94]
Coffee may be brewed by several methods. It may be boiled, steeped, or pressurized.
Brewing coffee by boiling was the earliest method, and Turkish coffee is an example of this method.[95] It is prepared by grinding or pounding the seeds to a fine powder, then adding it to water and bringing it to the boil for no more than an instant in a pot called a cezveor, in Greek, a bríki. This produces a strong coffee with a layer of foam on the surface and sediment (which is not meant for drinking) settling at the bottom of the cup.[95]
Coffee percolators and automatic coffeemakers brew coffee using gravity. In an automatic coffeemaker, hot water drips onto coffee grounds that are held in a paper, plastic, or perforated metal coffee filter, allowing the water to seep through the ground coffee while extracting its oils and essences. The liquid drips through the coffee and the filter into a carafe or pot, and the spent grounds are retained in the filter.[96]
In a percolator, boiling water is forced into a chamber above a filter by steam pressure created by boiling. The water then seeps through the grounds, and the process is repeated until terminated by removing from the heat, by an internal timer,[96] or by a thermostat that turns off the heater when the entire pot reaches a certain temperature.
Coffee may be brewed by steeping in a device such as a French press (also known as a cafetière, coffee press or coffee plunger).[97] Ground coffee and hot water are combined in a cylindrical vessel and left to brew for a few minutes. A circular filter which fits tightly in the cylinder fixed to a plunger is then pushed down from the top to force the grounds to the bottom. The filter retains the grounds at the bottom as the coffee is poured from the container. Because the coffee grounds are in direct contact with the water, all the coffee oils remain in the liquid, making it a stronger beverage. This method of brewing leaves more sediment than in coffee made by an automatic coffee machine.[97] Supporters of the French press method point out that the sediment issue can be minimized by using the right type of grinder: they claim that a rotary blade grinder cuts the coffee bean into a wide range of sizes, including a fine coffee dust that remains as sludge at the bottom of the cup, while a burr grinder uniformly grinds the beans into consistently-sized grinds, allowing the coffee to settle uniformly and be trapped by the press.[98] 95% of the caffeine is released from the coffee seeds within the first minute of brewing.
The espresso method forces hot pressurized and vaporized water through ground coffee. As a result of brewing under high pressure (ideally between 9–10 atm), the espresso beverage is more concentrated (as much as 10 to 15 times the quantity of coffee to water as gravity-brewing methods can produce) and has a more complex physical and chemical constitution.[99] A well-prepared espresso has a reddish-brown foam called crema that floats on the surface.[94] Other pressurized water methods include the moka pot and vacuum coffee maker.
Cold brew coffee is made by steeping coarsely ground seeds in cold water for several hours, then filtering them.[100] This results in a brew lower in acidity than most hot-brewing methods.
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