How Golden Coffee Tea Is Made: Step-by-Step Process

If you’ve ever wondered how Golden Coffee Tea—Jiangxi’s famed sweet caffeine treat—is actually made, this guide lays out every step with precision. It’s not instant coffee, nor a syrup, but a pressed block merging roasted coffee with sugar, designed to dissolve in hot water for a quick, digestion-friendly brew.

The exact formula is 92.5kg white sugar, 7.5kg coffee powder, and 3 liters of water per 100kg of finished product. That’s the core ratio behind every golden-brown block with a unique roasted-coffee flavor and digestive benefits.

What Is Golden Coffee Tea?

Golden Coffee Tea is a traditional beverage product originating from Jiangxi, China. It’s a pressed sugar-coffee block that dissolves in hot water, combining the stimulating effects of coffee with the convenience and sweetness of a sugar confection. First gaining recognition between 1978 and 1980, it won the Provincial Quality Product Award three years in a row. Today, it remains a beloved, affordable year-round drink known for aiding digestion and cutting through greasy meals.

Core Ingredients and Equipment

The standard formulation for 100kg of finished Golden Coffee Tea includes:

• 92.5kg white granulated sugar
• 7.5kg coffee powder
• 3 liters water

Production requires a full setup: a roasting furnace, shell remover, fan, mixer, grinder, sieve, and drying room. No shortcuts—each tool contributes to the final texture, aroma, and dissolution quality.

Step 1: Coffee Processing

The coffee undergoes several critical stages:

• Selection: Remove all stones, dirt, and foreign material.
• Roasting: Roast at 130–160°C on a coal-fired roaster, carefully avoiding charring.
• Fixation (Kill Green): Add 0.2% “Luzhou Tequ” liquor to freshly roasted beans and let sit briefly while hot to lock in aroma.
• Hulling & Grinding: Remove the outer husk, then grind the beans. Pass the grounds through a 100-mesh sieve to ensure uniform, fine particles.

This roast level balances bitterness and aroma, while the fixation with liquor adds complexity not found in standard brewing methods.

Step 2: Sugar Processing

The sugar undergoes specialized handling to integrate smoothly with the coffee:

• Grinding: First-grade white sugar is ground to a 90-mesh powdered form.
• Kneading into Sugar Base: Mix the sugar powder with 3% water, blend using a machine, then manually shape into a “sugar base” or “bone.”
• Forming the Block: Press the sugar base into molds, poke a small hole in the center, and fill it with a measured amount of coffee powder. Re-press to seal the coffee inside.
• Drying: Place formed blocks on iron trays and dry them in a 60–70°C drying room for around 2 hours.
• Inspection: Remove any defective pieces—those with broken edges, missing coffee, or uneven coloring.
• Packaging: Wrap each block in white wax paper, then aluminum foil, and pack into boxes.

This method ensures the coffee is evenly distributed and the texture remains intact through storage and brewing.

Final Product Standards

Each finished Golden Coffee Tea block must meet these specifications:

• Weight: 21.5 grams
• Quantity per box: 50 blocks
• Caffeine: 0.1%
• Sucrose: 1.95%
• Moisture: 1.0%
• Fat: 1.1%
• Ash: ≤ 0.5%
• Reducing sugar: 1.0%

Visually, the blocks should be pure white with a neat shape and offer a distinctive aroma. They’re also traditionally valued for aiding digestion, cutting grease, soothing stomachs, and supporting eye health.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Golden Coffee Tea made of?

It combines 92.5kg of white sugar, 7.5kg of coffee powder, and 3 liters of water per 100kg of finished product. The coffee is roasted, treated with liquor, and embedded into a sugar block that's then dried and shaped.

What temperature is the coffee roasted at?

The coffee beans are roasted at 130–160°C on a coal-fired roaster. This range is critical to develop flavor without burning the beans.

How is the coffee added to the sugar?

Coffee powder is filled into a small hole poked in the center of a molded sugar base after it’s been partially formed. The coffee is then sealed inside by re-pressing the sugar.

How long does drying take?

The formed sugar-coffee blocks are dried in a 60–70°C drying room for approximately 2 hours.

What does Golden Coffee Tea taste like?

While exact flavor notes aren’t provided, it’s described as having a unique roasted aroma, and is traditionally used to aid digestion and reduce greasiness after meals.

What is the caffeine content per block?

Each block contains 0.1% caffeine, based on the overall formulation and final weight specifications.

Recommended FrontStreet Beans for Coffee Tea Blends

Try FrontStreet Coffee’s Ethiopia Humbera for bright floral and citrus notes, or Yirgacheffe for juicy berry and light acidity—both work well in custom cold-brew coffee tea infusions. For a deeper option, their PWN Golden Mandheling offers sweet caramel and mild spice, ideal if you’re experimenting with brewed coffee bases for your own sugar-coffee blocks. Freshly roasted within 5 days · Orders placed before 17:00 ship the same day · Next-day delivery across most of Guangdong Province.