Method for promoting extraction of beneficial compounds into beverages naturally containing same, and for extending the duration of freshness of coffee

Abstract

A process for increasing the levels of polyphenolic acid release into coffee which is brewed from beans which are bathed in an aqueous sodium bicarbonate solution shortly after roasting. The same process is applied to other polyphenolics containing beverage substrates, including teas. The bathing of beverage substrates (coffee beans and tea leaves, for example) with the aqueous sodium bicarbonate does not adversely change the taste of the produced beverage, and, in fact, in the case of coffee, such process actually extends the apparent freshness of coffee by inhibiting in the condensation of tannins in the coffee brew, thereby providing, not only the health benefits of the elevated levels of polyphenols, but a means to extend the freshness of the brewed beverage.

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