STiR coffee and tea magazine

42 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 5, 2017 (October / November) The company has developed several different products, not only with coffee but in teas, sauces and oils. The soluble cof- fee portfolio now offers seven different options for the internal market: Los Portales Platino, Gold, Decaf, Traditional, Cappuc- cino, Freskaf, and Ver-alkaff. Descamex also offers its produc- tion infrastructure to other brands and companies so they can produce customized and private-label products. Making instant Coffee crystals and coffee powder are the two most popular forms of soluble coffee. Each begins as processed and ground roasted beans and both traditionally feature a robusta and ara- bica blend. This inexpensive blend became popular in the 1970s in the United States. Recently changing lifestyle and greater ap- preciation of taste has led to the creation of instant coffee with better sensorial qualities. The first step in producing soluble coffee is to brew it un- der tighly controlled conditions, capturing all the essential oils and aroma as well as suspended particles using sophisticated extraction equipment. Extraction occurs in a series of columns which are filled with roasted and ground coffee. At this stage the grounds receive water at different temperatures and under different atmospheric pressures in order to extract all of the fla- vorful elements. The final result is a dense coffee extract. After creating the extract and discarding the roasted beans, the goal is to separate water with minimal loss of flavor. A cen- trifuge can be used, or the coffee can be heated until the water evaporates. After processing, the extract is exposed to air heated www.coffeetearusexpo.ru 15-17 March 2018 to 480ºF. The hot air is blown downward from a high tower, drying the spray into a powder as it falls. The powder contains 2% to 4% moisture. Spray drying is more efficient and permits larger production runs. It dries quickly and the fine rounded particles of coffee are ideal for packaging. This is the most common and least expen- sive method for producing instant coffee. Freeze-drying consists of cooling the extract to extremely low temperatures which freezes water into tiny crystals. The ex- tract is first cooled to -20 o F. Once frozen, it is placed on a steel belt (or trays or drums) and passed through a freezer at tempera- tures of -40ºF to -50ºF. Ice crystals are removed mechanically and as vapor under vacuum. Production costs are higher, but freeze-drying guarantees enhanced quality since freeze-drying leads to better flavor and richer aroma. That is why freeze-dried coffee is growing in popularity. Throughout the process the beverage loses volatile com- pounds which diminishes aroma. This is why manufacturers use special machinery to capture gases and volatile compounds dur- ing the roasting and grinding phases. The extract is protected from oxidation by introducing nitrogen or carbon dioxide be- fore dehydration. The "coffee essence" is then added back. A patented hybrid process adds microscopic coffee grinds after the coffee is freeze-dried and before packaging. In this varia- tion some of the roasted coffee used to make the extract is pul- verised into particles (about one third of a millimeter in diameter) to create the blend. The surface area is so large they brew instantly and their size mimics the sediment found in drip brew.

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