Welcome to “For the Love of Coffee” - a weekly blog about all things coffee exclusively for the staff of Vienna Coffee!
I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday and are ready to celebrate the dawning of a brand-new year! I can’t believe how fast the past year has flown by. 2022 was a year of BIG changes for me and my family with a move, new jobs, and new challenges. I look forward to the New Year and working side-by-side with all of you as we seize new opportunities, conquer challenges, and soar to new heights as we grow the Vienna Coffee brand to reach more coffee lovers than ever! It’s going to be a GREAT year for coffee!
The humble green coffee bean - a power-packed seed contains a world of aroma and flavor possibilities
Today’s blog will be short and sweet. What’s in a coffee bean? Have you ever wondered about the physical composition of a coffee bean? Perhaps not, but you may be surprised to learn of the amazing amount of organic materials, chemical compounds, sugars, oils, and other physical properties. A single coffee bean has more than one million cells made up of over 850 variable known compounds that appear during the roasting process.
Just a few of these volatile properties are:
Water (around 11% in green coffee) - moisture content in green coffee is responsible for the coffee’s ability to withstand the high heat applied during roasting. After roasting there is less than 2% moisture left in the coffee. The weight of the coffee is reduced by around 20% from pre to post-roast.
Sugars (6-9%) - mostly Sucrose provides sweetness in the cup and also contributes to the coffee’s acidity.
Lipids (16%) - contribute to coffee’s aroma and mouthfeel.
Proteins & Amino Acids (10-13%) - interact with sugars during roasting causing the browning of the coffee known as the Maillard Reaction, which contributes to coffee’s bitter-sweet, roasty, meaty and baked aromas.
Caffeine - around 1% of green coffee weight, but contributes to 10% of the bitterness experienced in brewed coffee.
Organic Acids - primarily chlorogenic acids (7-10%) which contribute to coffee’s acidity, bitterness, and astringency.
Aromatic compounds - over 200 aromatics in green coffee explode to more than 850 in roasted coffee making the humble coffee bean one of the most complex aromatic and sensory-stimulating beverages in existence!
Take time today to enjoy a delicious cup of Vienna coffee and pause a moment to enjoy all of the wonderful aromas, tastes and sensations that the humble coffee bean provides us each and every day.
It’s a GREAT day for coffee!!
~Matt~