The Chemistry that brews in your Cup of Coffee

Does coffee have anything to do with chemistry? Yes it is. We often think chemistry is made of explosions and color changing liquids and those incredibly hard to pronounce chemical names. Well chemistry is all those things and much more. It is about the interactions of atoms and molecules. Chemistry is all around us all the time. Making coffee is chemistry.

Brewing coffee is half art and half chemistry. The exact portions of ground coffee to water, the water temperature and the water contact time with the grounds ass affect the flavor of the final coffee. Brewing of coffee depends on two factors, first the heat contained in the brewing water has a big influence on the extraction. Hot water with high energy can extract more coffee solids faster than colder water because energy facilitates molecular movement faster.

Coffee contains a complex combination of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, amino acids, nucleic acids, vitamins, inorganic compounds, alkaloids and volatile compounds. In all coffee contains more than 1000 different chemical compounds around 800 are volatile chemicals that dissipate rapidly. Coffee rich aroma results from the mixture of about 50-60 volatile chemicals released during brewing.

Water acts as a solvent doing the work of extracting the flavors in the coffee during the brewing process. This is where the quality of the water plays important role as the hardness and the mineral content can significantly affect how coffee brews. Harder water seems to change the rate at which the soluble in the coffee go into solution. Hard water does a poor job of brewing coffee.