There are people in the world who cannot drink coffee, even though they would very much like to. After having a small black coffee, they experience stomach problems, heartburn, or other unpleasant symptoms, or a chronic condition (such as acid reflux or IBS) prevents them from enjoying this black gold.
However, this does not mean they have to give up coffee forever. Years of research, along with the experience of various roasteries, have made it possible to develop a method of producing coffee that is suitable for people who previously did not drink it because of stomach-related problems.
Coffee has many positive properties: it stimulates, improves mood, boosts metabolism, reduces the risk of heart disease, as well as certain types of cancer, especially pancreatic, bladder, and colon cancer. What is more, it improves circulation and is an excellent antioxidant. In other words: coffee — consumed in reasonable amounts of 2–3 cups a day — is genuinely good for you.
Why coffee can irritate the stomach?
For many decades, it was believed that coffee had irritating properties because of its caffeine content. However, more recent studies have shown that it is primarily the naturally occurring acids in coffee, as well as the waxes found on the surface of raw beans, that are responsible for the irritating effects of this black brew.
While most people have no problem with them, in more sensitive digestive systems they may irritate the lining of the stomach and/or intestines, causing various kinds of discomfort, increased bowel activity, or even digestive issues.
On average, coffee may cause mild or more noticeable digestive discomfort in 2 out of 10 people. These effects are not particularly dangerous, but they do make drinking coffee unpleasant. For those who are not especially fond of a small black coffee, this may not be a problem, but for lovers of dark beans it can feel like a small tragedy. That is exactly why, over the past several years, research has been carried out to find a solution to this issue.
The solution, then, is quite simple. If green coffee beans contain waxes and acids on their surface that may cause discomfort — let us remove them! That, in a nutshell, is how our Low-Irritation Coffee is made.
Green beans (high-quality 100% Arabica from Colombia) are sent to a facility in Germany, where they undergo a multi-stage treatment with high-pressure steam. That is all — and yet a great deal — because no chemicals are used in this process, only water steam. The beans are then dried again to their original moisture level and delivered to my Single Origin roastery.
The second stage in preparing Low-Irritation Coffee is the proper roast level, which must be followed very precisely for these beans, as it is part of the entire process of removing their irritating properties.
Vienna-roasted coffee, meaning dark roasted, has lower acidity. That is one thing, but research shows something more. It turns out that the longer and darker coffee beans are roasted, the higher their content of N-methylpyridinium. This is an organic compound which, once in the body, helps block excessive production of stomach acid.
The roast level of our Low-Irritation Coffee can be classified as Dark (Vienna roast) — although it differs quite significantly from similar roast profiles used for regular Arabicas, the final result in terms of bean color and flavor notes can indeed be described as Vienna roast.
What does Low-Irritation Coffee taste like?
As befits a good-quality Colombian Arabica, it has a classic profile, a creamy and fairly heavy body, and dominant nutty-chocolate notes with a clearly present caramel sweetness.
In other words — it tastes like good coffee :) It is hard to notice any real difference in flavor between Low-Irritation Coffee and a typical Colombian Arabica.
Those with a more developed sensory palate may perhaps detect it, but the difference is comparable to that of a good-quality non-alcoholic beer — almost imperceptible in taste, while not causing any special or side effects.
How to brew Low-Irritation Coffee?
Just like any other coffee — in an espresso machine, a moka pot, brewed the classic way in a mug with hot water, in a drip brewer, in an infuser… exactly like any other coffee. You can add milk, sugar, cinnamon, honey, or anything else that brings you pleasure.
Brew Low-Irritation Coffee exactly the same way you would brew regular coffee, because in fact it is regular coffee — simply without the properties that may irritate the digestive system.
Coffee doesn’t have to taste “sour”
If you do not experience any digestive issues after drinking coffee, and your only reason for wanting to try Low-Irritation Coffee is that you dislike acidic coffee, be sure to try other beans from my roastery’s range as well. Very often, people who used to complain about discomfort after supermarket coffee found that, with good-quality beans roasted properly using artisanal methods, they experienced no such problems at all.
I especially recommend coffees from Central and South America in a dark roast. These beans have very low acidity and are full of sweet chocolate-and-nutty flavor notes.
The stereotype of “sour coffee” is caused primarily by low-quality raw material used by large coffee corporations for industrial production. In the mass-market approach to coffee, bean quality is of secondary importance, and coffee often ended up containing beans from unripe or rotten cherries, parts of the plant, or other elements that had very little to do with actual coffee beans.
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Good acidity can be a good thing!
Acidity in coffee (not “sourness”!) is actually highly desirable — it is a carrier of flavor. That is why it is often very welcome, especially in lighter-roasted high-quality Arabicas (such as African Yirgacheffe or Kenyan Grand Africa) brewed using alternative methods. It helps bring out the coffee’s natural flavor notes more clearly and gives the brew a pleasant, refreshing character.
Just as the acidity of currants or gooseberries can be enjoyable, the acidity in coffee can also be pleasant and refreshing — but that is a topic for a separate article, which you will be able to read from me very soon.