Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Coffee is one of the most popular beverages in Canada and elsewhere the world. Although Canada does not produce coffee beans, it does import a large quantity of green beans for processing into highly value-added products. Coffee is rich in antioxidants, which have been implicated in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disorders, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Over the past few years, there is a rapid acceptance of cold brew coffee by consumer because it is less bitter and less acidic than the conventional hot brewed coffees. This characteristic is desirable to consumers who are sensitive to the acidity and bitterness of the beverage. Also, from a health perspective, the reduced bitterness also makes black coffee (i.e., no sugar and crème) more amenable to consumers, thereby reducing their calorie intake. The milder profiles of cold brew coffee are attributable to the brewing process which involves steeping roasted coffee ground in water at refrigerated or temperature, for an extended duration (12 to 24 h). This process presents some unique technical and product challenges that must be overcome to ensure commercial success. Currently, integrated information based on systematic studies is largely non-existing in the literature for cold brew coffee. The proposed research will allow the industrial partner to leverage academia expertise to develop better understand on the extraction and inherent properties of cold brew coffee, which is of strategic importance during the scale up of their bench top proprietary process. Through training of highly qualified personnel, the objectives of this project are: (1) Development of fundamental understanding of cold brew extraction process; (2) Design and build benchtop prototypes for continuous cold brew coffee extraction, to be expanded to pilot-scale process; (3) Understanding the effects of bubbles on brew extraction and foaming properties; (4) Characterizing physicochemical properties of coffee brews. While the main beneficiary of the project is the industrial partner, the scientific knowledge derived will be beneficial for the Canadian coffee industry in general, through increasing their competitive advantage in the domestic and international cold brew coffee markets.