MYTH-UNDERSTANDINGS
COFFEE IS NOT A BEAN. True. Coffee is a seed and is the inner part of a coffee cherry. The thin red skin is peeled off during the processing. Some processes (natural) leave the skin on during the drying phase. Another natural process (honey process) removes the skin but leaves a pulp like layer on - the mucilage – while it dries. Both natural processes result in a completely different coffee bean flavour profile.
DARK ROASTS DON’T HAVE MORE CAFFEINE. True. Most people think dark roasts “taste” stronger therefore they have more caffeine. The opposite is in fact true. The longer a bean is roasted (or cooked) the more caffeine compounds are burned off. So, light roasts will have more caffeine than dark roasts.
DECAF COFFEE IS A LOWER GRADE OF COFFEE. False. We use the same single origin beans in our decaf coffee but they have undergone a process to remove most of the caffeine. The Cadillac of caffeine removal is the natural Swiss water process – a 100% Canadian company! The processing uses water to take out the caffeine. This extra step actually makes the green bean more expensive to purchase. We know its counter-intuitive – less caffeine but more expensive.
ESPRESSO HAS MORE CAFFEINE THAN DRIP COFFEE. True And False. This is a long standing myth in coffee circles. The truth is based in a technicality. Caffeine is soluble in water. If you use the same beans, and make one ounce of espresso and an 8 ounce cup of coffee, the espresso will have 63mg of caffeine per ounce. The brewed coffee will have 12 to 16 mg of caffeine per ounce. Why is this? Because the espresso shot is one ounce and all the caffeine is concentrated in that one serving. An 8 ounce cup of coffee has about 95-128 mg of caffeine per cup but only 12-16 per ounce. So, do you feel more energetic after a shot of espresso because you are consuming the caffeine dose much quicker and in a smaller serving as opposed to the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee.
ESPRESSO IS NOT A ROAST LEVEL, A BEAN, OR A STANDARD BLEND. True. Espresso is a brewing method. That’s it. But let’s be real – everyone assumes it is bean so we will too. Did you know that each roaster customizes their espresso blend with typically a mixture of Brazil (for the crema and body), Columbian for complexity, and another bean to add a specific flavour profile that the roaster wants in their espresso blend. The exact proportions are a roasters secret – just like Colonel Sanders secret recipe.
LIGHT ROAST COFFEE PACKS MORE OF A CAFFEINE PUNCH. True. Light roasted coffee spends less time in the roaster and spends less time cooking. That means that the beans will expand less during the roasting (cooking) and therefore will be smaller in size when removed from the roaster. If you use a fixed measuring tool like a measuring cup, or other similar measuring utensil, you will get more light roast beans in your measuring cup than medium or dark roasted beans. That is 100% due to the amount of time in the roaster. Dark roast beans are the largest and light roast beans the smallest. Chin Chin recommends that you measure your coffee based on weight and you won’t go wrong.
COFFEE DEHYDRATES YOU. FALSE. Coffee is 98% water. 98%! The most recent studies by the FDA and the European Food Safety Authority conclude coffee is beneficial for athletic performance and that the amount of water you are putting into your body far exceeds the amount of water that leaves your body as a result of the coffee.
COFFEE IS HARD ON YOUR STOMACH - TRUE and FALSE. This is true for some people. If it is true for you, then we highly recommend that you drink medium-dark or dark roasts. Both of these are much lower in acidity and much easier on your stomach. ANY light roast coffee is going to be higher in acidity - remember acidity in coffee is good - it's a flavour profile) so if you're sensitive to acidity - avoid the light roasts.