Awaken the Spirit of Flavor-- the Chemical change and dramatic Evolution of "Baking"

In fact, no one can answer this question very accurately. One of the mysterious characteristics of coffee beans is that their aromatic compounds are very complex. at present, it is known that there are about 700mur850 substances related to flavor in roasted coffee beans. the actual number of substances varies depending on the subject of each experiment and the species of the sample beans, so we can only speculate on the number of substances. It may also have something to do with the geographical conditions of the producing area and the treatment methods of drying and later stage.

Of course, this figure does not include other ingredients that have nothing to do with flavor. About 2000 ingredients have been identified in raw coffee beans of the Arabica species (Coffea Arabica).

This daunting amount of matter makes it natural for Fadu to become the most "complex" thing in daily food and drink. The number of flavor compounds like wine is not as large as that of coffee beans, while vanilla has only about 150 flavor composition positions (this data is provided by professional chemists). Vanilla is also one of the most complex natural condiments. To this day, some "coffee-flavored" food and beverage condiments are extracted directly from roasted beans, rather than by artificial chemical synthesis. This is also due to the "high complexity" characteristics of coffee bean components that are difficult to replicate.

But one thing we can be sure of is that the 700mur850 flavor components in Arabica coffee beans will not show any "fragrance" if they are not "baked". Therefore, "baking" is a necessary action to awaken the spirit of coffee and raw bean flavor.

Rough denial says that "baking" has the following purposes:

1. Take the excess water out of the coffee beans.

two。 The coffee beans are dried and the xylem is expanded, so that the coffee beans can have more vents and the total weight of the coffee beans is reduced by 14% and 20%.

3. Start a continuous process of converting sugar into carbon dioxide gas, which does not stop immediately after baking and continues until the coffee beans are stale.

4.

5. Some of the sugars in coffee beans are converted into caramel, and some of the ingredients are converted into substances that we become "flavor oils". Flavor oils are very small units and easily destroyed, but the ingredients that make up this compound do not look so delicious, such as aldehydes (Aldehydes), ketones (Ketones), lipids (Esters), Acetic Acid (acetic acid), Butyric Acid (butyric acid), (Caleric Acid) and so on.

Coffee is actually made up of caramelized sugar, combined with flavor oils and other components (such as bitter factor Trigonelline, quinic acid and nicotinic acid, etc.), plus about 1% caffeine, a drink that is so complex and mysterious that drinkers all over the world are so happy to drink.

Some of the ingredients of roasted coffee beans are converted into protective caramelized sugar and flavor oils, which are hidden in the loose pores of xylem (if in more deeply roasted coffee beans, some of the flavor oils are forced to be brought to the surface of the coffee beans, making the appearance of the deep-roasted coffee beans always look oily). Carbon dioxide is also emitted from the inside of the coffee beans, a process called "Degassing", which helps protect flavor oils from oxidation (of course, when carbon dioxide emissions stop, flavor oils are quickly oxidized and stale). Vacuum cans, nitrogen-filled bags and so on are artificial preservation containers to protect coffee bean flavor oil from oxidation. When the naturally formed protective measures of coffee beans fail because of grinding, the carbon dioxide gas will dissipate more quickly!