Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/1297489
28 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 5, 2020 (October / November) By Dan Shryock O pen a chilled aluminum can and pour the contents into a glass. It looks like cold-brewed coffee. It smells and tastes like it, too. But there's something completely different here. This is what Jarret Stopforth and his Seattle-based startup Atomo Coffee call "mo- lecular coffee." Stopforth, a self-described "food hacker" with a Ph.D. in food micro- biology, reverse-engineered coffee's molecular structure to create a new drink made without coffee beans. "This is not conventional coffee," Stopforth says. "What's in your cup is the ex- traction of roasted plant-based non-cellulosic materials. I'm converting it. I'm extract- ing it. I'm roasting it. I'm giving you the same compounds." The effort is attracting attention in the business world. After a Kickstarter cam- paign showed modest success, chief scientist Stopforth and company c.e.o. Andy Kleitsch were able to attract $2.6 million in a seed investment by Horizons Ventures in 2019. Another $9 million investment by Horizons and three other venture capital firms arrived in August 2020. With the new money, Atomo Coffee is building a 12,000-square-foot roastery and production center in Seattle. The first product off the production line next year will be caffeinated cold brew containing 100 mg of caffeine per 8-ounce can. A typical cup of real coffee has 80-120 mg. "Atomo Grounds" will eventually be available for conventional brewing. "Coffee is among the most popular beverages worldwide, with roughly 42.6 liters consumed per person per year," investor Tony Lau of Horizons Ventures said in a statement. "As the climate crisis intensifies, and the demand for coffee continues to rise, a more sustainable coffee is absolutely needed." Stopforth and Kleitsch think they have created one way to help satisfy increasing consumer demand for coffee-style drinks. The company cites what it calls underlying problems associated with large-scale coffee farming. Production demands and climate change combine to force expansion of farming operations and destruction of rainforests. Sneak Preview Of Atomo Sneak Preview Of Atomo "Molecular Coffee" "Molecular Coffee" Atomo Beta Brew. Atomo molecular coffee served over ice.