The high sales volumes of instant coffee around the world indicate that it is very popular. People who choose it because of the possibility of quick preparation sometimes do not even think about what instant coffee is made from and how it is produced.

What is instant coffee made from?

In fact, the lion's share of all brands are made from robusta - this is a cheap, fast-growing variety that allows the manufacturer to reduce its costs. Robusta is less valued, but it allows the drink to be more invigorating due to its increased caffeine content.

It is much less common to find a mixture of Arabica and Robusta (and even more so pure Arabica), and in this case the buyer will have to pay much more for the packaging.

It is also worth noting that mainly broken and crumbled grains are used for production, which cannot be sold in their usual form.

In addition to natural beans, instant coffee contains numerous chemical additives: flavors, dyes, preservatives and other substances. On average, they make up as much as 80% of the total volume and only 20% are natural grains.

The composition of decaffeinated coffee is slightly different. Moreover, it contains even more chemicals than regular one, since acids are also added (they are what contribute to the extraction of caffeine). Carbonic acid is considered the safest, but sometimes others are used, making the drink toxic and very harmful to the body. As a result, people who choose decaffeinated coffee in order to stay healthy get the opposite effect.

However, there are exceptions in which the composition is not replete with so many artificial additives. For example, there is organic coffee, the production technology of which does not imply their use at all. Of course, the cost of packaging will be significantly higher.

Production technologies

Instant coffee is available in three types: powdered, granulated and freeze-dried. In addition to their appearance, their production technologies also differ.

How is instant coffee made? There are 2 manufacturing methods:

• high temperature;
• low temperature

The first method is used to produce powdered and granulated coffee. First, the grains are cleaned, roasted and crushed. After this, it is necessary to extract the soluble substances, for which the crushed grains are kept in special extractors in very hot water (one might say boiled) under pressure for several hours.

After such heat treatment, the resulting mass is cooled and all insoluble substances are filtered out. The dry spray method using hot air is then applied. The result is a soluble powder. If it is processed in a special way using steam, granulated coffee will be produced.

How does a drink manage to retain its aroma and taste after such processing methods? At this stage, various chemicals are added. If organic coffee is produced, then after brewing it is simply dried and packaged.

With the low-temperature method (sublimation), the process begins the same way - the purified grains are roasted and ground. Next, the coffee mass is brewed for several hours. Essential oils and steam escape through special pipes. The culmination of the process occurs when the resulting mass is frozen very quickly, and all the moisture is gone. That is, the coffee simply dries at a low temperature. Many freeze-dried coffee crystals are obtained by breaking.

16 Apr

How and from what is instant coffee made?

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There are many myths surrounding instant coffee, but the main question, the answer to which only manufacturers know, remains open: what is instant coffee actually made from? How natural is it and how is the powder or granules obtained? How exactly is instant coffee produced and how does it differ between different manufacturers? Let's find out together with the founder of the company "Importers of coffee KLD" Andrey Elson and a former employee of the Mospishchekombinat enterprise, who still works in coffee production, but asked not to disclose his name.

The process of producing instant coffee is divided into several stages. First, the green grains are cleaned and sorted. Then they fry and grind not very finely. Afterwards, the mixture is loaded into extraction batteries (about the same as a coffee machine), where the extraction process, that is, brewing, takes place: high pressure, a stream of hot water, through which ground coffee particles are passed. There is nothing supernatural in the extraction process; it also happens, for example, in Turk, only in our case - on an industrial scale. The resulting extract is collected in tanks, where excess moisture is removed from it (similar to how, for example, condensed milk is made from ordinary milk). Next, the concentrated extract is processed using one of two technologies: “spray dry” or “freeze dry”. During a “spray dry”, the extract is sprayed with hot air, which “grabs” the coffee droplets, after which they turn into powder. This is an old technology and is rarely used anymore. Most manufacturers work using the “freeze dry” technology: the extract is fed into sublimators, sprayed and frozen.

Former employee of the Mospishchekombinat enterprise

I have been trading green coffee beans for over 20 years. Our company works with large companies, for example, “Product-Service”, “Strauss”, “Live Coffee”, “Russian Product”, “Moscow Coffee House on Shares”, as well as with small roasters who work in the premium segment in almost all regions of Russia. They make both roasted ground and instant coffee from our beans.

Most instant coffee is made from Robusta; Arabica is rarely used. But not because Robusta is cheap or bad, but because it has a higher caffeine content and high extract content, which ensures the solubility of the product - these are essential factors for production. The caffeine content of Robusta averages 2.2%, while Arabica averages 0.6%. The production of instant coffee is designed in such a way that the coffee loses a certain amount of caffeine and extract during the process. If it is produced from Arabica, there will be practically nothing left of it at the end.

Briefly, the process looks like this: coffee is roasted, ground, brewed, moisture evaporated and ground. They do it quickly - it takes about 15 minutes to fry, and everything else takes about two hours.

There are two production technologies: “spray dry” and “freeze dry”. In the first process, the moisture is evaporated from the coffee, the extract is sprayed, and it turns into powder. In “freeze dry” the same stages are used, only at the end the extract is frozen and fed in a slow stream onto a drum, the temperature of which is about minus 60 degrees: coffee particles stick to the drum while it is spinning, the moisture is frozen out, and the mixture no longer crumbles into powder, but granules.

There are three types of instant coffee: powder (“spray dry”), compressed powder (also “spray dry”; for example, Nescafe Classic) and granules (“freeze dry”). During production, nothing is added to coffee (sugar, flavorings, etc.); this is done only during packaging.

There is such a parameter as glucose content. If in the process of producing instant coffee, coffee husks are used in addition to beans (the pulp of the coffee berry contains sugars), it increases the glucose content.

Every company, be it Jacobs or Nestle, has its own standards. The consumer may not feel much of a difference, but usually there is one: after all, companies use different raw materials, different roasting. For example, if you take three types of Black Card coffee - Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia - you will understand the difference in taste: Ecuador buys a lot of Vietnamese and Indonesian robusta; Brazilian producers make coffee from conilon, Brazilian robusta, which has a completely different, more tart taste; There is no Robusta in Colombia at all, only Arabica.

If you simply try instant coffee from the tape, it will have virtually no smell. The aroma is influenced by the addition of coffee oils, which are obtained in the process between roasting and brewing. It's a technology that captures aroma, liquefies it, and returns it to instant coffee, but there's no chemicals involved. There is very little essential oil, but it gives aroma; it is also added to instant coffee at the time of packaging.

Who invented instant coffee

Instant coffee is much older than it might seem. It was born in 1899, 1901 when the Japanese-American scientist Satori Kato adapted the instant tea technology he invented for coffee.

Instant coffee appeared on the market in 1909 under the name “Red E Coffee” as a result of the invention of the Englishman George Constant Washington, who lived in Guatemala. While he was waiting for his wife in the cafe, his gaze fell on the coffee dust on a silver spoon - condensation of coffee vapor.

We hope that after reading this article, you will definitely come to us! We will definitely find the most delicious coffee for you!!!

Modern instant coffee was born in 1938, when Brazil faced the need to preserve excess coffee beans. The problem was solved by the Swiss chemist Max Morgenthaler. He is called the father of the invigorating instant drink. However, his drink was not particularly successful: experts found it tasteless and unflavoured. However, the issue of surplus had to be addressed, and Nestlé began producing the first truly widespread brand of instant coffee, Nescafe.

The finest hour of instant coffee came during the Second World War. The drink, which can be quickly brewed and drunk without leaving the trench, was highly appreciated at the front. Instant coffee was extremely popular among American soldiers. Returning home, the former warriors felt that they could no longer live without this drink dear to their hearts. The product quickly gained popularity in the United States and then spread throughout the world.

What is instant coffee?

Needless to say, the popularity of instant coffee is great. And yet there are different opinions on this matter. Some accept instant coffee unconditionally, appreciating its high quality and speed of preparation, while others argue that this coffee is far from “real” coffee prepared from coffee beans in the usual way. But every consumer of instant coffee, at least once, has had the question: “is this natural coffee or chemical?”

Truth, as always, hovers between heaven and earth, and in order to grasp it one must try to objectively weigh all the elements, compare the realities of the world, and think logically...

Raw materials

Let's start with the quality of raw materials. Any manufacturer of instant coffee assures us and writes about it on the labels that only the highest quality coffee beans were used for preparation, and only Arabica varieties of unrivaled quality, etc.

At the same time, we know that Robusta coffee is used to produce instant coffee, because... Robusta costs 10 times less than Arabica and is grown several times more than Arabica. And high-grade Arabica beans are bought at auctions by companies specializing in coffee roasting, i.e. companies that supply truly natural coffee beans or ground. In addition, Robusta contains several times more caffeine and, naturally, such coffee is ideal for the production of a soluble analogue.

Often, the production of instant coffee uses coffee beans of the lowest quality (broken, deformed, affected by coffee weevil), and sometimes the production process uses unwanted sediment left over from the harvest.

Manufacturers “enrich” the drink with the addition of crushed barley, oats, chicory, and acorn powder.

Here is what the president of the Russian Tea Coffee Association, Ramaz Chanturia, says about the composition of coffee in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper: “The fact is that the share of green coffee (which, in fact, is traded on world exchanges) in the soluble powder is no more than 15 %".

Take, for example, Chinese instant noodles, and we will find that they contain: about 20% preservatives; about the same amount of flavorings; the same proportion is made up of dyes; as many more hardeners, acidity regulators, flavoring additives. So, if you like such products, then you can safely drink instant coffee.

They say that even Max Morgenthaler (see above) was quite skeptical about this drink. One can only be surprised when, in disputes about the advantages and disadvantages of instant coffee, they argue that supposedly instant coffee is 100% pure coffee. The fact is that the optimal beneficial extraction of soluble substances from coffee beans is 19%, and almost half goes into instant coffee! Still would! Let's take a look at how instant coffee is made.

Manufacturing technology

A hundredweight of coffee berries yields only twenty kilograms of pure beans. After roasting, the grains are crushed and boiled for three to four hours under a pressure of 15 atmospheres, until all soluble substances turn into liquid. The resulting extract is cooled, filtered and further concentrated by evaporation.

Some of the aromatic compounds evaporate along with the steam. They are captured in some wise way, collected in special containers, so that later, at the last stage of production, they enrich the coffee. The concentrated coffee extract is dried in one of three ways, resulting in three types of instant coffee:

1 - Powder. After cooling, the resulting extract is filtered, insoluble and resinous substances are removed and spray dried at high temperatures. Then the resulting powdery mass is cooled. The result is the cheapest powdered coffee available.

2 - Agglomerated instant coffee - coffee in granules. Granulated coffee is no longer a powder that sticks to a spoon, but coffee knocked into small lumps with steam. The production cycle is almost no different from powder production. The only difference is in the last stage, when the powder is churned into granules with steam. It should be noted that intense pressure changes the molecular structure of the bean and has a detrimental effect on the aroma and taste of coffee.

3 - Freeze-dried freeze-dried instant coffee in the form of crystals with clear edges. Sublimation - dehydration, drying of frozen products in a vacuum. Hence the second name for this coffee - frozen. This is the newest and most expensive method of producing instant coffee. Freeze-dried coffee is sometimes more expensive than natural ground coffee or beans. As advertised, freeze drying preserves the basic biological qualities of the material and makes it possible to obtain high-quality products that are close in organoleptic characteristics to fresh ones.

But we understand that in the latter case, again, long-suffering coffee is brewed, brewed, brewed and brewed for the same 3-4 hours at the same pressure of 15 atmospheres, and it is not clear how it is possible to obtain high-quality products with this brewing, approaching the organoleptic characteristics to fresh. (For example, espresso is brewed for 20-25 seconds at a temperature of 85-95 degrees Celsius and a pressure of 9-15 bar and is incomparably tastier and healthier than instant coffee). It’s no wonder that after 3-4 hours of brewing, 50% of the coffee bean simply dissolves... In general, nothing fundamentally has changed. Only the words and terms that advertising companies and manufacturers of an incomprehensible soluble mass use to fool our brains have changed. Dyes and flavors, flavorings, etc. have changed. Probably, instant coffee has become less harmful, but it is unlikely that it has become useful...

Conclusion

The advantages of instant coffee are speed of preparation and longer shelf life. Although, the speed of cooking is now debatable. It takes no more than 25 seconds to prepare delicious coffee from natural beans using a coffee machine. A long shelf life, on the contrary, indicates that the product is unnatural. And remember that manufacturers will never admit what instant coffee is made of and what harm it does.

What is instant coffee made from?

At the moment, manufacturers actually make instant coffee from coffee beans. True, as a rule, the cheapest varieties of coffee are used for this.

There are two ways to obtain instant coffee from coffee beans: high temperature And low temperature.

in the first case, raw coffee is purified, then it is roasted and the beans are crushed into particles up to 2 mm in size. Next comes the stage of extraction of soluble substances. To do this, finely ground coffee is treated with hot water under high pressure for 34 hours. Afterwards, the resulting mass is cooled, after cooling it is filtered and insoluble and resinous substances are removed, then dried with hot air. Then the finished powder is cooled again.

The second method, a low-temperature process, is called sublimation. Sublimation is dehydration, in other words, drying frozen foods in a vacuum. A relatively new method of producing instant coffee. It is expensive, but allows you to preserve the basic biological qualities of the material, since during such treatment oxygen is not oxidized and the volume of the product does not change. The essence of the production of freeze-dried coffee is that the coffee beans are again boiled, then frozen, then the coffee ice is crushed, and, subsequently, the product is fed through a vacuum tunnel, where the ice evaporates, bypassing the liquid state.

After completing any of the above procedures, coffee can be left in powder form or granulated, during which dyes, flavors, and caffeine can be added.

It is very difficult and quite expensive, when making instant coffee, not to lose the original taste and quality of this magnificent drink.

There are also extracts from chicory, but they are called coffee drinks, since they are very similar in taste to instant coffee.

I don’t like instant coffee from the dust of Brazilian roads, it’s not for nothing that they say so, it is made from the worst beans, because good and whole beans are exported without damage, and instant coffee is obtained from the cheapest and most unsuitable varieties of coffee.

Although in Soviet times instant coffee was sold in stores and was in great demand, and grain or granulated coffee was sold under the counter, such coffee was in short supply, only for our own people, due to connections.

But by the way, the Serbs are very fond of Pele’s instant coffee, they came to work in our region, Pele is over.

All these procedures for the production of instant coffee from beans - in addition to roasting and grinding, and repeated brewing and evaporation - reduce the amount of caffeine to nothing. Therefore, in order for at least something of this substance to remain in the coffee lover’s cup, used for production of instant Robusta coffee, it will have more caffeine than Arabica (3 times).

The technology for producing natural instant coffee powder was invented in 1943. The essence of the production technology is as follows: - coffee beans are taken and roasted in a special roaster for coffee. Then it is ground in a large coffee grinder. Then water is poured into a huge vat and ground coffee is poured into the boiling water. The coffee is brewed. Then it is necessarily evaporated, the coffee (instant) settles on the walls of this boiler. Then it is removed with special paper clips - the final product - instant coffee is ready. Then we package it and... put it on sale. This is a rather simplified mechanism for the production technology of instant coffee. Freeze-dried and granulated types of coffee are produced using approximately the same technology, but with some changes. The essence of the changes is that after brewing ground coffee, a vacuum is created in the chamber, and the temperature drops sharply below zero degrees. In this case, crystals of freeze-dried coffee are formed. Here is an approximate scheme for the production of instant and freeze-dried types of coffee. This process is very well reflected in the television series produced by Colombia Coffee with the Aroma of a Woman! I recommend watching it - there you will find an entertaining love story and at the same time learn a lot about varieties of coffee, technologies for its cultivation and production, as well as about the problems of the coffee market on the world market.

Well, logically, coffee should be made from coffee beans, but in fact, instant coffee from coffee beans is a very expensive product that the average resident of any country cannot afford. So most often, and at best, there is only a couple percent of real coffee in a can of instant coffee. The rest is a very high-quality ersatz made from plants that are common in our countries and their cultivation is not expensive. Oak acorns and carrots are primarily suitable for making black instant coffee.

Coffee is a drink that is consumed in almost every family in our city. Some cannot live without it, others consider themselves experts in it, and others do not understand the difference between Nescafe Classic and Jacobs Monarch. Simply put, everyone drinks it, but only a few think about what it really is.

This is probably why, unlike, for example, Germany, which values ​​quality, instant coffee is more popular in Russia. Although its centrosome was and is Brazil.

The fact is that the Brazilians had to somehow and somewhere store the remains of the coffee harvest. Therefore, in 1938, they decided to preserve the coffee, turning to the Swiss chemist Max Morgenthaler. However, its storage method made the coffee a tasteless non-condite. Problems with surpluses remained, and the famous company Nestlé took up the production of the no less famous Nescafe.

It should still be noted that this is not the first instant coffee on the market. The American scientist Satori Kato invented the technology for producing instant tea in 1899, after which he made instant coffee in the same way. And already in 1909, when the Englishman George Constant Washington, while waiting for his wife in a cafe, saw that dust (condensation of coffee vapor) had appeared on a spoon, coffee powder went on sale.

However, instant coffee was only appreciated during the Second World War. American soldiers liked that this drink could be prepared quickly without leaving the trench. After they returned home, they could not refuse it.

Production of instant coffee

The technology for producing instant coffee - both powder and granules - is quite interesting. The only difference is that the “lumps” are obtained at the last stage by dousing the bulk mass with steam. In general, the total production time takes a little more than two hours.

• STAGE I. It should be noted that the taste of coffee is largely influenced by the initial stage. The first factor is the type of coffee itself. Many do not specify this, but simply write “100% coffee” on the can, others are guilty of writing “Arabica” (which is highly dubious). To ensure that the product ends up being reasonably priced, manufacturers usually use Robusta. It is less demanding to grow, i.e. productive, and therefore less valuable. And it contains many times more caffeine than Arabica. In fact, if the latter were used, the coffee would not invigorate, because... would lose this quality when cooked.
  The second significant factor is roasting.
• STAGE II. A large supply of green coffee is roasted at about 200°C for 6 minutes. This is the standard that gives an espresso dark color. A little theory. The darker the roast, the greater the flavor content, that is, the sensation of “bitterness.” This is comparable to overcooking seeds. Plus to everything: such a grain is easier to grind and bite.
• STAGE III. Actually, grinding. The production uses a huge mill that painstakingly grinds the coffee beans as fine as possible. IV STAGE. Now the ground coffee is brewed. Yes, yes, cook for two hours until it becomes a thick syrup or condensed milk. Soluble condensed milk, which is formed into layers or poured into tanks.
• V STAGE. Next, the concentrated extract is processed using one of two technologies: “spray dry” or “freeze dry”. During a “spray dry”, the extract is sprayed with hot air, which “grabs” the coffee droplets, after which they turn into powder. This is an old technology and is rarely used anymore. Most manufacturers work using the “freeze dry” technology - freezing: the extract is fed into sublimators, sprayed and frozen.

Do they add garbage and chemicals?

Many legends go from mouth to mouth about what else instant coffee is made from. One thing is clear that a serious manufacturer will not spoil its reputation by adding a foreign non-coffee substance. But it may leave the husks from the berries. But this is the limit. And there is no point in mixing anything else, because cheap robusta is already used. Another thing is that during production all the aroma is lost. And to return it, the aroma oil produced during roasting is used. Here you can cheat and take another flavoring instead of the “native” one. But also of natural origin. Therefore, there is no need to talk about chemistry. But with an amendment about a trustworthy seller of his goods.

The price varies depending on the type of coffee chosen. Therefore, a jar can quite adequately cost around 600 rubles. But very low price tags do not promise tasty, high-quality coffee.

Let's add that good instant coffee tastes like the same drink from a coffee machine, because... The resulting product is similar in its properties with a lower proportion of caffeine, aromatic and beneficial substances than, for example, in coffee prepared in a cezve. So, stock up on Turks and don’t regret 5 minutes for a really tasty coffee.

Text Magazine ORSK.RU