Coffee is one of the most widely-drink beverages on earth. Every day, millions of people enjoy a cup of coffee with breakfast, have a cup with their lunch, or enjoy some coffee after dinner. The coffee business is a lucrative one.
Coffee also has been recently shown to have many health benefits. Studies have found that drinking coffee on a regular basis can reduce the risk of developing a number of different diseases, including several forms of cancer. Coffee drinkers tend to live longer on average.
However, coffee is typically a rather acidic beverage, and therefore it does not always agree with everyone. If you love coffee, but find that it upsets your stomach or gives you indigestion, you may want to think about making the switch to acid free coffee.
The coffee plant contains natural acids, and the levels of these acids are often enhanced by the soil in which it grows. While many varieties of coffee are prized for their acidity, not everyone enjoys, or can tolerate, such high levels of acidity. For such people, acid free coffee may be the way to go.
There are a number of different ways in which the acidity of coffee can be reduced, but they all boil down to two approaches. The coffee beans can either be treated in a way that lowers their acidity, or the coffee plants themselves can be grown in a manner that reduces acid levels.
Certain parts of the world tend to be less prone to acidity. For example, coffee plants that are grown in Brazil naturally have lower levels of acidity than those that are grown in Africa, for example. However, acid levels can vary within a country, so there is no guarantee that coffee from a certain country will always be acid free.
Treating the coffee beans in a certain manner can also reduce the acidity of the drink. Steaming green coffee beans before they are roasted removes much of the acid. The beans can then be roasted very slowly, which eliminates even more of the acid.
Dark-roasted coffee may not be advertised as acid free, but such varieties will tend to be lower in acid than light- or medium-roasted coffee. The dark roasting process eliminates more of the acid from the beans.
If you want to try to make your own acid free coffee at home, there is a simple way to do it. However, it does take some time so you have to plan ahead, unlike with single serve coffeemakerswhich are very convenient to use and brews a cup of coffee in an instant with just a touch of a button. Start by taking a pound of coffee and grind it to a fine consistency. Put the grounds in about eight cups of water.
Put the mixture in a dark, cool place and let it soak overnight. In the morning, use a filter to separate the liquid extract from the water. This produces a highly concentrated extract that is low in acidity. You can use this to brew a pot of acid free coffee. This process is also similar with cold brew method.
If you have difficulty drinking coffee because of its acidity, this may be the perfect solution to your dilemma. You can still enjoy a cup of coffee without worrying about indigestion afterwards.
