How do you get the flavor of coffee beans? how many flavors of coffee beans?

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Qianjie-the source of coffee bean flavor

According to incomplete statistics, there are about 1600 kinds of aroma substances in coffee, while at present, more than 800 kinds of aroma can be recognized by human beings. Even coffee trees of the same species will show different flavors because of the planting area, growth altitude, environment, post-treatment and other factors.

Many coffee lovers feel the same way about this obsession with coffee, and it is a happy thing to wake up every morning and smell the aroma of coffee.

Why is the aroma of coffee so intoxicating? The secret lies in the composition of coffee itself, which is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, organic acids and so on. These ingredients produce a series of reactions in the baking process, resulting in aroma.

Among them, the two important reactions are caramelization (caramelization, oxidation and browning of sugars) and Mena reaction (Maillard reaction, reaction of amino acids with sugars). Both reactions require the participation of sugars, and the rich sucrose in raw beans provides the materials needed for these two reactions. Previous studies also found that there was a positive correlation between sucrose content and coffee bean flavor. It is understood that the sucrose (Sucrose) content of Arabica is twice that of Robusta when it is raw, which explains why the coffee bean flavor of Arabica is better than that of Robusta.

The secret of coffee aroma lies in the caramelization reaction and Mena reaction. Let's take a look at the details of these two reactions.

Caramelization reaction

The sugar in the coffee bean is caramelized at about 170-200 ℃, which is exactly the melting point of sucrose (185 ℃) and the temperature of the explosion stage when the coffee bean is roasted. The product of caramelization is divided into two parts: the dehydration product of sugar, which is caramel or sauce color, and the pyrolysis product, mainly some volatile aldehydes and ketones.

Generally speaking, fire-roasted aroma, caramel and color are produced in the caramelization reaction, as well as other aromatic substances such as maltol, Cyclotene, furan and so on. These compounds can also be found in red wine, fruit juices, cream and other foods.

Mena reaction

Recently, more and more coffee shops set up a baking machine in front of the store to bake by themselves, so that not only the cost can be saved, but also the quality can be controlled by themselves. So walking on the street, you can often smell the unique aroma of roasted coffee beans, including the burning blue smoke smell of plant fibers, the sweet smell of cream, the brown smell of toast, and so on. Most of these rich flavors come from the Mena reaction during baking.

In short: Qianjie is a coffee research hall, happy to share the knowledge about coffee with you, we share unreservedly just to make more friends fall in love with coffee, and there will be three low-discount coffee activities every month. The reason is that Qianjie wants to make more friends drink the best coffee at the lowest price, which has been Qianjie's tenet for 6 years!

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