Freeze-dried coffee. Do you really know it?
For the early instant products, they use the “spray dry treatment method” in general, and the processing cost and the quality requirements of coffee raw materials are relatively low. The is so-called “spray dry”. It simply means to atomize coffee extract and it is high-temperature instant blow-dry. The finished product only has the roasted coke and bitterness of caffeine generally, but the original flavor, aroma, and taste of the coffee will be lost greatly.
So, where does the “fragrant”, “mellow” and “smooth” of spray-dried instant coffee come from?
If you look closely at the list of ingredients for instant coffee, you’ll see that they’re typically made with a combination of creamer, sugar, and other additives to counteract the bitter taste and enhance the smoothness of the coffee. However, we can not deny that there are some consumers who are pursuing the flavor of “bittersweet” and the function of caffeine.
However, it also creates a stereotype in most consumers’ minds, as unhealthy (because of the additives) and cheap (because of the low cost of production and ingredients). Whether it tastes good or not, we do not comment, because it is the subjective feelings of consumers.
But today we hope to reshape the “stereotype” of instant coffee under the drive of a brand-new coffee consumption trend, breaking the traditional prejudice against instant coffee.
Brand-new instant freeze-dried coffee
Freeze-drying technology also tests the quality of coffee raw materials. The coffee extract is concentrated and freeze-dried in an environment of -55 ° C, after grinding into granules and sublimated into the water in a vacuum chamber. it has higher requirements for equipment and factory control. But it can keep the most authentic aroma and flavor of the coffee.
That’s why the “big-grain” instant coffee on the market is packed in glass bottles to show you its granules clearly, and there is only a simple “coffee bean” item in the ingredients list.
Abandoning many additives that it may have an adverse effect on health, freeze-drying makes instant healthier and makes it more “coffee” at the same time. As freeze-drying technology retains the flavor of coffee, the quality of raw materials directly affects the taste of freeze-dried coffee, which is why most freeze-dried coffees use Arabica beans.
Now People’s life is more and more inseparable from coffee and tea. More approaches of getting the “new taste” is revealed and there are many different ways to drink freeze-dried coffee.
Brewing directly with cold/hot water
Brewing with milk
Brewing with sparkling water
Each drink has its own unique flavor, These delicious and creative ways are becoming more and more popular among consumers. High-quality coffee can also be a very convenient drink.
01 The selection of tree species for freeze-dried coffee
Instant coffee also pays attention to tree species that determine the main flavor of the freeze-dried coffee you drink.
Arabica and Robusta are the world’s most important commercial coffee tree species currently. There are many differences. The main differences are flavor, caffeine content, and price.
Flavor: Robusta’s aroma is relatively weak, generally woody, with a bitter taste. Many manufacturers will use deep baking to cover some of its flawed flavors; on the contrary, Arabica has a strong and rich aroma, and high-quality Allah Bica beans can display a variety of flavors, such as floral, fruity, caramel, and other complex and wonderful aromas after careful baking.
Caffeine content: Robusta beans have twice as much caffeine content than Arabica, but the taste of robe beans will be more bitter.
PRICE: now the price of Robusta is on average half price of Arabica, and production is growing at a high rate every year because conditions are looser than in COFFEA Arabica.
All three points of the above basically explain why COFFEA Arabica are always more popular in high-quality and demanding markets. and the reason why most freeze-dried coffees choose Arabica.
02 the Origin of Arabica
Colombia is just behind Brazil, with 14.3 million bags, According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s forecast for COFFEA Arabica.
The International Coffee Organization ICO refers to coffee from Brazil, Ethiopia and Paraguay as “Brazilian Natural Arabicas” because of the impact of their high yields on the coffee market. The other one with that title is “Colombian Mild Arabicas”, ” Which is the third-largest coffee producer in the world, and the largest water-washing producer in COFFEA Arabica, Colombia”.
The reason why Colombia can have this classification is somewhat different from Brazil. In addition to the stable large output, it is considered to be the most representative of COFFEA Arabica’s coffee, and it is more due to the high quality and freshness of its washed coffee.
03 The freshness of the coffee fruit
The reason for the high quality is not only the reform of the coffee tree (see “four species | the evolution of the Colombian coffee tree”), but also the fact that Colombia is one of the world’s freshest coffee producers.
From the north to the south, Colombia has different maturation periods for coffee because of its mountainous terrain, different rainfall distribution, the unique microclimate, and other rich geographical conditions, enabling Colombia to provide the freshest coffee all year round.
04 Hand-picked coffee
Hand-picked beans are also one of the main reasons why Colombian coffee is famous around the world. Colombia’s mountainous terrain is dominated by small plantations. During the harvest season, coffee farmers carefully select ripe coffee fruits one by one on the slopes, with unripe or half-ripe fruit left on the branch to continue to grow. Compared with mechanical picking, the quality of picked coffee beans is higher, and the coffee tree can be prevented from being over-picked and damaging the tree body.
With high-quality tree species, full-grown season fresh supply and hand-picked beans, Colombian coffee offers the best quality beans for the global market year-round.
The treatment method used by Colombian coffee is also “washing”, distributed in the three Andean branches from east to west throughout Colombia, providing coffee farmers with the purest source of spring water. It can be said that Colombian coffee is the magic of coffee and water from beginning to end.
The secret of instant begins with the seeds.
Your Cup deserves better products.