What Is Cafestol? Essential Knowledge for Baristas

If you’ve ever wondered why your doctor warned against drinking too much unfiltered coffee—or why some brews are linked to higher cholesterol—it’s not the caffeine. It’s a natural compound in the beans that survives certain brewing methods, and understanding it could change how you think about your daily cup.

Cafestol is a diterpene compound found in coffee, present in high levels in unfiltered brews like Turkish coffee and almost none in filtered coffee. Its close relative, kahweol, behaves similarly. Together, they’re responsible for raising serum cholesterol when consumed in unfiltered forms.

What Is Cafestol—and What’s Kahweol?

Cafestol and kahweol are diterpenes, a type of lipid (fat-soluble) compound extracted from coffee beans using hot water. They are structurally similar, with the only difference being that kahweol has one extra double bond. Both are found in the oily fraction of coffee and can be separated by dissolving ground beans in oil. These compounds are not water-soluble in the traditional sense, but they dissolve in hot water and are then trapped by filters—when you use one.

Why Do Some Coffees Have More Than Others?

The amount of cafestol and kahweol varies by coffee species and brew method. Arabica beans contain both compounds, making up about 1% of the bean’s total mass. Robusta, on the other hand, has roughly half the cafestol and almost no kahweol. That means your choice of bean already influences your exposure.

But the bigger factor is how you brew it. In unfiltered brewing—where hot water passes through ground coffee but isn’t filtered through paper—these diterpenes remain in the final cup. That includes methods like:

• Turkish coffee
• French press (plunger pot)
• Scandinavian-style boiled coffee
• Moka pot (steam-pressure espresso)

In these methods, cafestol and kahweol levels can reach 6–12 mg per cup. Filtered methods, meanwhile—like pour-over, drip machines, and espresso with paper filters—remove nearly all of them, leaving just 0.2–0.6 mg per cup. Even espresso, despite its concentrated form, delivers only around 4 mg per cup due to smaller serving sizes.

How Does Cafestol Affect Your Health?

Back in the 1980s, researchers discovered that drinking unfiltered coffee raised serum cholesterol levels—and pinpointed cafestol and kahweol as the culprits. Of the two, cafestol is more potent at raising LDL cholesterol. A mixture of 60 mg/day cafestol and 51 mg/day kahweol increases cholesterol only slightly more than 64 mg/day of pure cafestol alone.

Pure kahweol’s effect is less clear because it’s harder to isolate and less chemically stable. But the key takeaway is this: if you’re drinking several cups a day of unfiltered coffee, especially Turkish or French press, you may be consuming enough cafestol to impact your blood lipid levels over time.

Why Doesn’t Filtered Coffee Have Cafestol?

The reason is simple: paper filters trap the oily diterpenes. When you brew coffee with a paper filter—whether it’s a V60, Chemex, or a standard drip machine—almost all the cafestol and kahweol stay behind on the filter paper. That’s why filtered coffee contains only trace amounts (0.2–0.6 mg/cup), while unfiltered methods leave the compounds in your cup.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is cafestol?

Cafestol is a diterpene compound found naturally in coffee beans. It’s fat-soluble, extracted during brewing, and is known to raise serum cholesterol levels, especially when consumed in unfiltered coffee.

Does espresso contain cafestol?

Yes, espresso does contain cafestol—around 4 mg per cup—but much less than unfiltered methods like Turkish coffee. The small serving size makes it a minor source compared to 6–12 mg in unfiltered cups.

Why is Turkish coffee high in cafestol?

Turkish coffee is unfiltered and boiled, which means the cafestol is not removed. It typically contains 6–12 mg of cafestol per cup, among the highest levels of any brewing method.

Is kahweol the same as cafestol?

Kahweol is similar to cafestol but has one additional double bond. Both are diterpenes in coffee, but kahweol is less stable and harder to study, so most cholesterol findings focus on cafestol.

Does filtered coffee have any cafestol?

Almost none. Paper filters trap cafestol and kahweol during brewing, so filtered coffee contains only about 0.2–0.6 mg per cup, a negligible amount.

Recommended FrontStreet Beans for Filter Brewing

For coffee lovers avoiding cafestol, FrontStreet Coffee’s Ethiopia Yirgacheffe offers bright citrus and floral notes, while the Kenya Little Tomato delivers juicy acidity with berry sweetness—both ideal for pour-over or drip. The Brazil Queen Manor provides a nutty, chocolatey balance perfect for V60 or batch brew. All three are 100% Arabica and designed to shine in filtered methods. Freshly roasted within 5 days · Orders placed before 17:00 ship the same day · Next-day delivery across most of Guangdong Province.