Roasted coffee and coffee roasting method
AssigneeKraft Foods, Inc.
InventorsGerald S. Wasserman, Niphon Rerngsamai, Dennis F. Hayes, Edmund Frank Mofford, Chantal Dabdoub
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Abstract
A two stage coffee roasting process includes a first stage, green coffee beans are roasted for 5-15 minutes to a roast color of 30-50 Lu. In a second stage, the beans are further roasted for ½-3½ minutes to a roast color of 4-19 Lu. The roasted beans have a reduced density in the range of 0.27-0.38, and a roast color of 4-19 Lu. Analysis of sulfur compounds in the coffee aroma reveals a high level of methylmercaptan, a key compound for the pleasant aroma of freshly roasted and ground coffee. Coffee beans roasted in accordance with the present invention have a generally high titratable acidity at a given density and roast color.
Claims8
A method of roasting coffee which comprises:
- (a) in a first stage, contacting green coffee beans with heated roasting gas for a time period of from 5 to 15 minutes until the coffee beans are roasted to a roast color of from 30-50 Lu;
- (b) in a second stage, contacting the coffee beans roasted in the first stage with heated roasting gas for a time period of from 0.5 to 3.5 minutes to produce roasted coffee having a roast color of from 4-19 Lu;
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- (c) rapidly cooling the roasted coffee to terminate roasting to produce roasted coffee having a density of from 0.27 to 0.38, a roast color of 4-19 Lu and a package headspace methylmercaptan content of at least 10 micrograms per gram of coffee.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.