The present invention relates to liquid coffee concentrates, methods of producing and assessing the quality of liquid coffee concentrates and products containing said concentrates.
Consumers produce the traditional “pot of coffee” by extracting the desired components of roast and ground coffee using an automatic drip coffee maker (ADC) or other form of brewer. Although the flavor and aroma of such a coffee beverage is highly desired and appreciated, the inconvenience of the brewing process has lead to the development of instant coffee and coffee concentrate products that allow the consumer to quickly make a single cup of coffee. Unfortunately, the production processes used to produce such coffee products result in finished products having ratios of flavor and aroma components that are different from fresh brewed coffee. As a result, coffee beverages produced from such concentrated products do not have the highly desired flavor and aroma of fresh brewed coffee.
Since the flavor and aroma of fresh brewed coffee is especially desired by consumers, attempts have been made to improve the flavor and aroma of products made from coffee concentrates. Such attempts include incorporating volatile aroma flavor components into the finished concentrates, and the intensification of such components by the application of thermal energy. While such attempts are appreciated, there remains a need for a liquid coffee concentrate having the same ratios of flavor and aroma components as that of fresh brewed coffee brewed from the same coffee used to produce the coffee concentrate.
Applicant's invention relates to a liquid coffee concentrate having a furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol ratio value that is from about 50% to about 210% of the furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol ratio value of fresh brewed coffee brewed with the same coffee used to produce said coffee concentrate. Applicants also claim methods of producing and assessing the quality of coffee concentrates and products containing said concentrates.
As used herein, the term “coffee product” includes, but is not limited to coffee concentrates, coffee extracts and fresh brewed coffee.
As used herein, the term “coffee concentrate” means a coffee extract that has undergone additional processing, such as thermal treatment.
As used herein, the term “pyridine to 5-methyl-2-furfurylfuran ratio value” refers to the number that is obtained when a coffee product's pyridine and 5-methyl-2-furfurylfuran peak area values are determined according to Applicants' analytical test and said resulting pyridine's peak area value is divided by said 5-methyl-2-furfurylfuran's peak area value.
As used herein, the term “furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol ratio value” refers to the number that is obtained when a coffee product's furfuryl acetate and 4-ethyl guaiacol peak area values are determined according to Applicants' analytical test and said resulting furfuryl acetate's peak area value is divided by said 4-ethyl guaiacol's peak area value.
As used herein, the term “unit operation” includes, but is not limited to, equipment used to transfer heat such as heaters and coolers; holders; and transfer lines.
All percentages and ratios are calculated by weight unless otherwise indicated.
As used herein, the articles a and an, when used in a claim, are understood to mean at least one of the components that are claimed or described.
Publications, patents, and patent applications are referred to throughout this disclosure. All references cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The quality of any ready-to-use coffee product, made from a coffee concentrate, is dependent on the properties of the concentrate. Although coffee concentrates contain innumerable aroma and flavor components, Applicants discovered that the flavor and aroma of products made from concentrate approaches that of fresh brewed coffee when the concentrate's ratio value of furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol approaches the furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol ratio value of fresh brewed coffee brewed from the same coffee used to produce the concentrate.
In addition to discovering the correlation between the ratio value of furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol, and flavor and aroma, Applicants discovered that a coffee concentrate's ratio of furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol can be adjusted by the application of thermal energy to the concentrate. While evaluating the suitability of thermal processing, Applicants discovered that the entire, rather than just the hold tube portion, of a time and temperature profile must be considered. Applicants also recognized that the suitability of any set of thermal processing conditions is not only time and magnitude dependent but rate dependent as well. As a result, more common thermal processing descriptors such as Fo are insufficient to describe the thermal processing conditions that will result in the flavor and aroma improvements of Applicants' invention. Thus, Applicants' processing conditions are described in terms of equivalent times and temperatures, as thermal processing conditions that are time, magnitude and rate dependent can be effectively and efficiently described by these descriptors.
A detailed description of Applicants' coffee concentrate and processes of making said concentrate is set forth in detail below.
1. Coffee Concentrate
Embodiments of Applicants' coffee concentrate have a ratio value of furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol that is from about 50% to about 210% of the ratio value of furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol of fresh brewed coffee brewed with the same coffee used to produce said coffee concentrate. Other embodiments of Applicants' coffee concentrate have a ratio value of furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol that is from about 65% to about 150% of the ratio value of furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol of fresh brewed coffee brewed with the same coffee used to produce said coffee concentrate. Still other embodiments of Applicants' coffee concentrate have a ratio value of furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol that is from about 80% to about 120% of the ratio value of furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol of fresh brewed coffee brewed with the same coffee used to produce said coffee concentrate.
2. Process of Making Coffee Concentrate
Coffee extracts that can be thermally processed according to Applicants' process can be prepared by any suitable process used to produce a coffee extract. Preferably, said coffee extracts are non-hydrolysed liquids having pyridine to 5-methyl-2-furfurylfuran ratio values of from about 3:1 to about 25:1 and solids contents of from about 2.3% to about 25% by weight. Other preferred non-hydrolysed liquid coffee extracts include those extracts having a pyridine to 5-methyl-2-furfurylfuran ratio value of from about 4:1 to about 20:1 and a solids content of from about 3.5% to about 10% by weight; and those extracts having a pyridine to 5-methyl-2-furfurylfuran ratio value of from about 4.5:1 to about 15:1 and a solids content of from about 3.5% to about 8% by weight.
Suitable methods of producing a coffee extract include, but are not limited to, extracting said concentrate from roasted and ground, caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee using a continuous flow column. Said columns are typically stainless steel vertical columns having a height-to-diameter ratio greater than or equal to 6:1 and a perforated top and bottom retainer to permit the transport of feed water while simultaneously keeping coffee granules between the retainers. Suitable columns can be obtained from Niro A/S of Soeborg, Denmark.
Suitable extraction conditions include, but are not limited to, operating the extraction process at a temperature less than 149° C. and achieving a flow rate ratio of kilograms water per minute to kilograms of coffee from about 0.1:1 to about 0.5:1, a water front speed of from about 5 cm to about 25 cm per minute, a draw-off ratio of mass of extract to mass of coffee from about 4:1 to about 10:1; and a yield of from about 17% to about 35%. Other suitable extraction conditions include operating the extraction process at a temperature less than 149° C. and achieving a flow rate ratio of kilograms water per minute to kilograms of coffee from about 0.2:1 to about 0.4:1, a water front speed of from about 12.5 cm to about 25 cm per minute, a draw-off ratio of mass of extract to mass of coffee from about 5.5:1 to about 8:1; and a yield of from about 17% to about 30%; and operating the extraction process at a temperature less than 149° C. and achieving a flow rate ratio of kilograms water per minute to kilograms of coffee from about 0.25:1 to about 0.36:1, a water front speed of from about 12.5 cm to about 15.2 cm per minute, a draw-off ratio of mass of extract to mass of coffee from about 6.5:1 to about 7:1; and a yield of from about 23% to about 27.5%. Still other suitable extraction conditions include operating the extraction process at a temperature range of from about 65° C. to about 99° C. or from about 82° C. to about 93° C. and achieving any set of flow rate, water front speed, draw-off ratio and yield parameters detailed previously.
After a suitable extract is obtained, said extract is thermally processed. Suitable thermal processing equipment includes but is not limited to, a MicroThermics model 25DH UHT/HTST unit. Said equipment can be obtained from MicroThermics Inc. Raleigh, N.C. U.S.A. Regardless of the thermal processing equipment that is employed to thermally process a coffee extract, said equipment must be operated such that the extract is heat treated for an equivalent time from about 15 seconds to about 35 seconds at an equivalent temperature of from about 115° C. to about 149° C.; preferably said equipment must be operated such that the extract is heat treated for an equivalent time from about 16.5 seconds to about 30 seconds at an equivalent temperature of from about 126° C. to about 149° C.; and most preferably said equipment must be operated such that the extract is heat treated for an equivalent time from about 18 seconds to about 28 seconds at an equivalent temperature of from about 137° C. to about 149° C. Additionally, when an extract is heat treated for an equivalent time and temperature combination such that the following mathematical relationship is true, the resulting concentrate is sufficiently sterile to be aseptically packaged.
The resultant coffee concentrate used may be used immediately, in the same manner as conventional coffee concentrates, to form coffee containing products or may be packaged according to known methods for later use.
1. Method For Calculating Equivalent Time and Temperature
3. Method of PreDaring Fresh Brewed Coffee For Use In Analytical Method No. 5 below.
Fresh brewed coffee is made using the same coffee used to produce the coffee concentrate of interest.
7. After Step (6) above is completed, remove the Twister™ bar from the 100 ml sample vial and rinse the bar with 4 mls of chilled (5° C.) Milli-Q™ water, and then blott the bar dry with Kimwipes™.
The following examples are illustrative of the present invention but are not meant to be limiting thereof.
3.9 Kg of an all Arabica coffee French roasted and ground is blended with 2.57 Kg of a French roasted and ground Arabica/Robusta blend. This coffee is loaded into an extraction column about 6 inches in diameter and four and a half feet tall. The cap, which includes an exit port with a screen to contain the R&G coffee, is placed on the column. Nitrogen gas is used to flush air from the extraction system. Deaerated distilled water heated to 82° C. is pumped counter-currently through the bed of coffee at about 1.9 liter/minute. 45.2 Kg of extract containing 3.89% solids is obtained and cooled to about 29° C. This extract is filtered through a 10 micron pleated glass filter cartridge to remove sediment and then heat treated for an equivalent time of 21.2 seconds at an equivalent temperature of 145° C. using a MicroThermics model 25DH UHT/HTST unit to produce a concentrate.
Pre-thermal treatment and post thermal treatment samples of the concentrate are tested according to Applicants' analytical methods. The pre-thermal treatment sample is found to have a pyridine to 5-methyl-2-furfurylfuran ratio value of 9.4, and the samples are found to have ratio values of furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol listed below.
3.6 Kg of an all Arabica roasted and ground coffee having roast color of 15.5 L is extracted as in Example 1 at a flow rate of about 1.8 liters/minute, yielding 26 Kg of concentrate containing 3.59% solids. The extract is heat treated for an equivalent time of 26.5 seconds at an equivalent temperature of 141° C. using a MicroThermics model 25DH UHT/HTST unit to produce a concentrate.
Pre-thermal treatment and post thermal treatment samples of the concentrate are tested according to Applicants' analytical methods. The pre-thermal treatment sample is found to have a pyridine to 5-Methyl-2-Furfurylfuran ratio value of 10.2, and the samples are found to have ratio values of furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol listed below.
6.64 Kg of a roasted and ground decaffeinated Arabica and Robusta coffee blend having roast color of 18.1 L is extracted as in Example 1 at a flow rate of about 1.8 liters/minute, yielding 44.4 Kg of extract containing 3.56% solids. The extract is heat treated for an equivalent time of 25.6 seconds at an equivalent temperature of 141° C. using a MicroThermics model 25DH UHT/HTST unit to produce a concentrate.
Pre-thermal treatment and post thermal treatment samples of the concentrate are tested according to Applicants' analytical methods. The pre-thermal treatment sample is found to have a pyridine to 5-Methyl-2-Furfurylfuran ratio value of 12.7, and the samples are found to have ratio values of furfuryl acetate to 4-ethyl guaiacol listed below.
The present is a Divisional Application of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/272,968, filed Oct. 17, 2002, now abandoned which claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/345,234, filed Oct. 19, 2001, both of which are herein incorporated by reference.
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Child | 11048202 | US |