S4: Episode 2: The Episode For The Caffeine Curious
Just about everyone knows coffee contains caffeine but how much do you know about the actual caffeine level of your daily brew? Listen to find out how brewing methods, coffee bean type and roast level all impact the caffeine content in your cup - and how to use this information to control your caffeine buzz!
Listen to ‘Why your coffee is bitter and what to do about it’
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Hello and welcome to The Coffee Drinker’s Guide, a podcast for the coffee curious where I explore and explain the world of specialty coffee to make your daily coffee better and more satisfying.
I’m Angela Holder a coffee roaster and writer on a mission to fight back against bad coffee by giving you the knowledge you need to help you get good coffee and a happier (coffee) life in coffee-break sized episodes. So grab your coffee, pull up a chair and take a break…
In this week's episode we are taking a deep dive into the caffeine content of your coffee…and later I’ll be answering a question about the effect of roasting on coffee’s caffeine levels so stay tuned for that…
A long time ago when I was young and knew very little about coffee I bought a bag of 100% Robusta coffee in a French supermarket, along with one of those enormous cafe au lait bowls that the French drink their morning coffee from. Boy did I think I was sophisticated! Back home in England I brewed myself a bowl - in fact I may have had two - and in the grip of the subsequent caffeine buzz wrote a complete short story in a few hours. While it was a productive afternoon I also felt extremely jittery and weird. I did not continue the habit. Years later as a professional coffee roaster and cupper there were many days when I became somewhat over-caffeinated due to the amount of coffee I tasted and assessed at work. It’s definitely an occupational hazard that every coffee person has to navigate. Hence the spitting at coffee tasting sessions. And sidenote, I still spit during decaf coffee tasting sessions which just proves how strong a habit can be. All of this is to say that everyone knows coffee contains caffeine, a psychoactive compound that affects your nervous system. Many people I know try to regulate how much caffeine they consume via coffee whether that’s through how many cups they allow themselves each day, not drinking coffee after a certain time of day or by drinking decaf - but this is all without knowing anything about what determines the actual level of caffeine in their coffee. So lets take a look at the ins and outs of that now…
So firstly caffeine and the brew
Outside of a laboratory, definitive measurements of the caffeine levels in coffee brewed by the various different brewing methods are tricky to pin down. This is because the amount of caffeine extracted from the coffee during brewing is affected by the type and quantity of coffee used, the grind size, brew time and water temperature. In short - and unsurprisingly - all of the brewing variables that affect extraction of the coffee oils also affect extraction of caffeine. However, research has proven that the greater the quantity of coffee used and the longer the brewing time the higher the caffeine content in the brew. So - generally speaking - cafetière and filter coffee will have a higher level of caffeine in one cup than a demitasse of espresso. Which is why Italians can drink several cups of espresso per day without getting the jitters but why you may find yourself buzzing after a couple of cups of filter coffee.
Next caffeine and the taste
Its probably fair to say that everyone knows that caffeine tastes bitter. But interestingly some have also described it as soapy. It is tempting to make assumptions about the amount of caffeine in a coffee based on the level of bitterness you taste in it but I have to tell you that that is a big old red herring! As I discussed in the episode ‘Why your coffee is bitter and what to do about it’ the level of bitterness in roasted coffee is not wholly due to its caffeine content. Many other bitter tasting compounds are developed during the roasting process through the breakdown of chlorogenic acid, a major organic acid found in coffee. While bitterness is often perceived as an unpleasant taste it is required to balance flavour. A coffee without some bitterness would taste somewhat flat, but those who are very bitter sensitive may want to avoid darker roasts. And if it’s not bitterness but caffeine that you are sensitive to, what’s coming up next should be of interest….
Finally caffeine and the bean
For the scientifically curious, caffeine is a trimethylxanthine compound - I hope I pronounced that correctly! Or to put it another way it’s a psychoactive alkaloid which stimulates the central nervous system. It is widely credited with being the most consumed psychoactive drug in the world due to its presence in coffee, tea and chocolate along with its inclusion in many soft drinks and dietary supplements. Caffeine is naturally present in coffee due to its creation by the coffee plant as an insecticide to protect its leaves, berries and seeds. The level of caffeine found in raw coffee beans is determined by the individual plant’s response to insect attack which means that it varies according to the environment it was grown in. So what does all this mean for you? Plants grown in areas where there are a greater number of insects will produce more caffeine to defend themselves. Since there are fewer insects at higher altitudes, high grown coffee such as Arabica has half the caffeine of low grown Robusta. For years there have been rumours about a caffeine free coffee bush discovered in Ethiopia. Whether this is an El Dorado style myth remains to be seen but it is certainly not being cultivated commercially. So at the moment the only way to drink caffeine-free coffee is to buy coffee that has been through a certified industrial decaffeination process.
And now its time for a Frequently Asked Coffee Question…
And this episode’s question is…
Is the amount of caffeine in a coffee increased or decreased by roasting?
The straight answer is that the level of caffeine in coffee beans decreases during roasting - but not by very much. Caffeine sublimates - by which I mean that it turns from a solid straight into a gas and leaves the bean - beginning somewhere between 160 to 179 degrees Celsius or 320 to 354 degrees fahrenheit depending on which source you use. Most roasters take their coffee above this temperature before finishing the roast. It should be noted that there is a lot of discussion in the coffee community about the difference in caffeine levels between light and dark roasts and crucially how much the level of roast matters to the amount of caffeine you will ingest from your brew. All I have to say is this: if you want to drink coffee but cut down on your caffeine intake then reduce the number of cups you drink per day - and make the ones you drink count by drinking great coffee - or drink decaf. But if you want to increase your caffeine consumption try drinking a robusta coffee brewed by cafetière. I did that once. Never again - it gives me the jitters just remembering!
Thank you for listening to this episode of The Coffee Drinker’s Guide and that was all about caffeine in coffee. I hope I answered any questions you may have had about caffeine, but if not feel free to get in touch on Instagram @thecoffeedrinkersguide, email me at thecoffeedrinkersguide@gmail.com or leave me a text message using the link in the show notes. In the next episode we will be delving into filter brewing and I will be revealing my top tips to up your brewing game so be sure to hit follow so that you don’t miss it, if you haven’t already. To anyone who loves doing puzzles, a reminder that my puzzle book Wordsearch For the Coffee Curious is out now. Get your copy using the link in the show notes. If you do buy a copy and you like it I would be deeply appreciative if you could leave a review. And as always please tell your coffee loving friends about the show and rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts to help other coffee curious people find the show too. Thanks to my executive producer Viel Richardson at Lusona Publishing and Media Limited. You can find him at lusonapub.co.uk. Until next time I’m Angela Holder thanks for taking your coffee break with me - the best way to tackle life is one coffee at a time and here’s to better coffee!
The Coffee Drinker’s Guide is a Blue Sky Coffee Project