Caffeine alcohol in boutique coffee

In the 1980s, it was found that consumption of unfiltered coffee raised serum cholesterol levels, a result caused by the caffeine and caffeinol in coffee.

Coffee beans can be separated into coffeeol and coffeeol, which are fat-soluble substances of diterpenes. The only difference between them is the addition of a double bond to the caffeine.

The concentrations of these two substances vary according to coffee variety, Arabica coffee beans contain caffeine and caffeine, while Robusta coffee beans contain half of caffeine and almost no caffeine. These two substances can make up as much as 1% of Arabica beans.

Coffeohol was more effective at raising serum cholesterol than caffeeohol, and the mixture of caffeeohol ( 60 mg/day) and caffeeohol ( 51 mg/day) was only slightly better at raising serum cholesterol than pure caffeeohol ( 64 mg/day). Due to the difficulty of purification and the poor stability of this diterpene, the effect of pure caffeinol on serum cholesterol is unknown.

Both substances can be extracted with hot water but remain on filter paper. This explains why Northern European boiled coffee, Turkish coffee and French compressed coffee contain relatively high amounts of caffeine and coffeesol ( 6-12 mg/cup), while filtered coffee and instant coffee contain low amounts of caffeine and coffeesol ( 0.2-0.6 mg/cup). Although diterpenes are relatively high in steam-brewed espresso coffee, they are only a minor source of caffeine ( 4 mg/cup) due to the small amounts consumed.