Instant Coffee

Instant Coffee

Over a hundred years ago, a Japanese scientist Satori Kato working in Chicago introduced a powered solution of the coffee bean. The solution could be made into instant coffee by just adding hot water. Of course this powdered solution became popular with coffee bean producing companies all over America. Nestle, a food company quickly started manufacturing its own instant coffee. Soon instant coffee spread globally like wild fire, with brands such as; Taster's, Maxwell, Folgers, Nescafe, Starbucks, Barista and Costa to name a few. Coffee is now the largest food import to the United States.

Black as the devil, hot as hell, the brew gained popularity during the eighties and saw a 40 per cent rise in instant coffee manufacturing. From crop to last drop, instant coffee proved a popular hit for people on the go. No longer did people have to carefully filter their coffee beans with hot water, but instant coffee could be provided quickly and cheaply. This instant coffee proved particularly helpful to the soldiers during World War II. Soldiers were given instant coffee to keep them warm during the cold, dark nights. Instant coffee proved practical and efficient.

To make the joy of instant coffee the beans have to first be extracted, by passing them through softened water. The water will pass through several hot cells to help separate difficult components like carbohydrates. Once this has been achieved, the coffee beans will gradually be placed through cooler water, leaving coffee solids of about 20 to 30 per cent.

The solution will then be filtered and treated to increase concentration. The goal here is to create an extract that is about 40 per cent solids.

Through this process, often the aroma of coffee is lost. In order to preserve as much of the aroma and flavour as possible, oxygen is removed from the coffee extract. This is accomplished by foaming other gases, such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen, through liquid before it enters the dehydration phase of the manufacturing process.

The solution will the either be spray dried or freeze dried. Spray drying is done by using extreme heat, while freeze drying is the opposite. To capture back that coffee smell, during the packaging process the dried coffee beans will be sprayed.