What is sublimated coffee?? Lyophilized products.

What is sublimated coffee??

This is one of the types of instant coffee, the most modern, tasty and high-quality. If taste and aroma are important to you, that, choosing from a variety of cans, that are on store shelves, It is definitely worth giving preference to sublimated types. So, they are more expensive, but you can get many times more pleasure from such a drink.

What is sublimation??

freeze drying (aka lyophilization) – it's a process, which is used in the food industry to remove water from products, to increase their shelf life. It consists of several stages. First, the temperature of the product decreases (usually around -40 ° C), which causes the free water to freeze. After that, the bound water is removed from the product, as a rule, by increasing the temperature in a vacuum environment. Thanks to low working temperatures and gentle drying conditions, the product retains a maximum of useful substances and aromatic qualities.

Who invented sublimated coffee??

If you ask, who invented sublimated coffee, then the answer will surely surprise you. The author of the patent for freeze-dried coffee was a French journalist and writer, lover of dark jokes Alphonse Alli. He lived and worked in the 19th century, touching the beginning of XX a little. Alphonse was mainly engaged in literary research, but – suddenly for everyone – from time to time he came up with various other amazing things. He invented monochrome painting and for the first time introduced concepts of conceptualism and minimalism into art. But the most interesting was his discovery in the field of the coffee industry.

Alphonse was the first in the world to come up with it, how to create a quick-dissolving drink by sublimation, which became a bestseller a hundred years later. It's a pity, V 1881 year, when the patent was registered, no one was interested in Alli's invention, so that his invention remained another prank of an eccentric creator for a long time. Only closer to the middle of the 20th century, the "innovative" method of sublimation was introduced at coffee factories, who waited so long for his time.

Pioneers of this method were Nestlé and chemist Max Morgenthaler, who reinvented a gentle way of processing coffee concentrate, who gave us the opportunity to drink delicious and high-quality sublimated coffee.

How to make sublimated instant coffee? 10 stages of production – from grain to jar of crystals

The process of making an instant drink, retains the maximum of its valuable properties, takes place in several stages.

Let's start from the very beginning and describe the entire path from blending to finished crystals.

The very first stage – creation of a blend of grains of different varieties.
Raw green grains, carefully selected by special coffee tasters, arrive at the factory, where they are carefully sifted and cleaned by a machine method, to remove any debris, which could get into the party.
Then comes the roasting stage, when the original green color of the grains changes to the more familiar brown. The number of simultaneously loaded grains can reach up to 420 kg (Nestlé factory in Great Britain). Grains are heated to a temperature above 200 ° С, to get a medium roast, which is ideal for instant coffee.
The third stage – fragmentation: roasted coffee beans are sent to industrial mills for grinding. This is not the same coffee grinder, which you can find on the kitchen table. Some of them are able to grind up to 1500 kg of coffee per hour.
At the next stage, the grains are crushed (their pieces are larger in size, than our home grind) brew in hot water – exactly, as we do with ordinary coffee. Thanks to this process, the coffee aroma, flavor and color are extracted from the crushed grain and a very strong concentrate is obtained (much stronger, than we have in a cup).
Simultaneously with this, to minimize loss of aromatics, they are extracted from the beans by pumping nitrogen gas through the coffee grounds. This flavored vapor is placed in a special tank awaiting its prime time.
The finished concentrate is frozen at a low temperature in a freeze-drying machine , which at this time creates a vacuum to reduce pressure.
on the last one, in the third stage, the frozen concentrate is dried, during which all water is removed from it. At the same time, it immediately changes from frozen to gaseous state, completely passing the liquid phase, causing coffee crystals to form in the machine.
Ready crystals are treated with the same flavored steam, which was collected earlier. This technology is called "aroma recovery" and is used to improve the taste and aroma properties of coffee.
At the final stage, ready-made light-brown crystals are packaged in cans, which soon after hit the store shelves.

why is it considered, that sublimated coffee is better than powdered and granulated coffee?

The technology for obtaining sublimated coffee appeared relatively recently and is considered today to be more high-quality and successful, than the previous method of making instant coffee powder.

The difference is really noticeable.

Unlike sublimated, powdered coffee is prepared using a rather aggressive method of hot drying. At the stage, when sublimated is frozen, powdered coffee is processed at high temperatures. As a result, almost nothing remains of the taste and aroma, and the useful qualities of the drink become much less.

Production technologies of granulated coffee and powdered coffee are identical, only at the last stage, the powder particles are combined into granules.

Which coffee is better? – sublimated or ground?

Unequivocal answer to this question, of course, no. If the taste and aroma qualities of the drink are important to you, then ground will always be in the first place. If the priority is speed and convenience of preparation, then leadership will go to the sublimated.

For those, who loves the middle ground, we have good news: not so long ago, a new type of instant coffee appeared – ground in dissolved. It is a perfect compromise between quality and speed. Such a product is instantly brewed in a cup, but due to the particles of ground coffee, it has much higher taste and aroma characteristics.

What is the composition of sublimated coffee??

Though, that manufacturers of instant coffee insist on the identity of the regular and sublimated product, actually the difference, Of course, is – and in taste, and in the aroma, and in the composition. However, it is really much less, than between traditional coffee beans and soluble powder / granulated.

Like regular coffee, sublimated contains:
- caffeine,
- antioxidants,
- B vitamins,
- minerals (potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, selenium),
- a small amount of carbohydrates (0,3 d on 100 d product),
- 0 fats and 0 Protein,
- about 1 kcal of 100 g of drink.
Is there any benefit from sublimated coffee??

IS! Contrary to popular belief, that instant coffee is useless, in fact, such a drink has a number of valuable qualities, almost equal to the qualities of ordinary ground coffee.

Benefits of sublimated coffee

so, instant coffee:
- improves brain functions;
- increases metabolism (caffeine speeds up metabolism and helps burn more calories);
- reduces the risk of neurogenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases;
- reduces the risk of diabetes;
- improves liver health, reducing the likelihood of cirrhosis and oncology;
- improves mental health, reducing the risk of depression;
- contributes to longevity
Besides, instant coffee, as usual, reduces the feeling of hunger, cheers up, gives a charge of cheerfulness and a surge of strength.

Too bad about sublimated coffee

Drinking sublimated coffee (like any other) should be restricted for people with heart disease, increased pressure, diseases of excretory systems, sleep and mental disorders. It is also not recommended to offer instant coffee to younger children, and pregnant and lactating women should reduce the amount of this drink in their menu. And doctors do not advise drinking coffee on an empty stomach in the afternoon.

Myths and truth about sublimated coffee

Sublimated coffee contains various additives

no.

No matter how loudly unscrupulous Internet sources claim this, none of the types of instant coffee, contains nothing, except... the actual coffee. If the packaging says "100% natural coffee", v 100% you won't find any acorns in this product, no chicory, no chemical additives (artificial flavors, dyes, preservatives, stabilizers, etc. P.), not even more garbage "from the floor of the coffee shop". If you buy flavored coffee, it will definitely be marked on its packaging, that this or that flavoring is added (most often vanilla, amaretto, chocolate).

Sublimated coffee contains less caffeine

So.

sublimated coffee, as well as any dissolved, usually contains slightly less caffeine, than coffee beans. One cup of instant coffee, prepared from 1 h. l. (2 Mr) dry matter, may contain 30-40 mg of caffeine (depending on the brand), while a cup of regular coffee contains 70-140 mg. Thanks to this, instant coffee can be the optimal choice for those, who needs to cut back on caffeine. If you, vice versa, I want more strong instant coffee, just put 2 teaspoons of crystals per cup of water, and then the amount of caffeine in a portion of the drink will increase to 60-80 mg.

Sublimated coffee is made from coffee waste

no.

To create any instant coffee in modern production, high-quality grains are used, which have passed a strict selection. They will never be premium (it makes no sense), but no waste and spoiled raw materials in factories, that produce sublimated coffee, not used. Moreover, A whole team of specialists is working on the blend for raw materials, which achieves equal taste and aroma from each new batch of the finished product.

Sublimated coffee should be brewed with boiling water

no.

The same, as you cannot boil ordinary ground coffee, you should not brew sublimated with boiling water – at the same time, its taste-aromatic substances are destroyed. Choose water as a drink, heated to 85-90 degrees.

Sublimated coffee is more expensive, than powder or granular

So.

The production technology of sublimated coffee is more complicated (and therefore the product costs more), than the powder and granular production technology. This affects the final price of the product.

Sublimated coffee does not like moisture and heat

So.

Requirements for the storage conditions of instant coffee are similar to those for ground coffee: in a cool dry place. Otherwise, sublimated coffee will lose its aromatic substances very quickly, and from moisture it can stick together in lumps.

Sublimated coffee can be better than regular coffee

So.

Instant coffee – an excellent choice for a person, who is in a hurry or does not like to wash dishes. There is no residue from such a drink, which is forbidden to pour into the sink (otherwise one day it will get clogged up tightly). And the mug is washed much faster and easier.

Another big plus of sublimated coffee – ease of use in cooking. It is very convenient to add to cocktails and pastries, avoiding unnecessary fuss, but at the same time getting a bright coffee taste.

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Sublimated coffee: how it differs and how useful it is