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Ingredient: Packaging Options1) What is coffee?Coffee is the seed from within the fruit of the coffee tree. Coffee trees grow in tropical climates and high elevations in numerous countries around the Equator. Red ripe coffee “cherries” are hand picked from coffee trees, then within 24 hours the two seeds within each cherry are removed from the fruit at a nearby coffee mill. Green coffee beans are then exported to coffee roasters throughout the world.
2) What is roasted coffee?Green coffee beans need to be roasted and ground prior to brewing. In a process
as common as cooking, the raw green coffee beans are heated until they turn brown.
This process converts the starch of the green coffee bean into sugars, and then
into brown sugars. The unpalatable and physically tough green coffee bean becomes
sweet and aromatic during roasting as it puffs up to more than double its former
size. The roasted whole bean coffee is then easily ground into numerous particles
to enhance the brewing process. Ground coffee is measured by weight, then steeped
or brewed with hot water to make the desirable beverage “coffee.”
3) What is coffee extract?Coffee extract is brewed coffee that is made from a large amount of fresh
roast and ground (R&G) coffee. In our process, it is brewed with a restricted
amount of pure hot water. Coffee extracts are typically 30 to 1. Coffee extracts
have been made for centuries by numerous methods, but recent developments in
extraction technology have proven to have better taste, aroma, and shelf stability.
4) What does 30 to 1 mean?30 to 1 refers to the brew strength of a coffee extract that is 30 times stronger
than a standard cup of coffee. One gallon of 30 to 1 coffee extract makes 31
gallons of coffee at standard brew strength.
5) What is standard brew strength?Here in New England, a 3-ounce portion of roast and ground (R&G) coffee
brewed to make a 62-ounce pot is considered to be at a standard brew strength.
Brew strength varies throughout America and the world, but most coffee producing
nations will agree that a proper cup of coffee is correctly brewed to this brew
strength target.
6) How much coffee can be produced from one gallon of 30 to 1 coffee extract?30 to 1 is really 30 plus 1, so 30 gallons of hot water is mixed with one gallon of extract to make 31 total gallons. There are 128 ounces in one gallon. Therefore, 128 ounces x 31 gallons equals 3968 beverage ounces. 3968 beverage ounces divided by an 8-ounce cup equals approximately 500 cups in one gallon.
7) Can coffee extract make iced coffee too?Yes, however the recommended ratio is increased to 20 to 1 to account for
the dilution of ice melt. Typically to make iced coffee, a 32-ounce cup is filled
with ice, then 10 ounces of 20 to 1 coffee. Add cream and sugar to taste. The
coffee extract is actually brewed coffee, so mixing it into cold water is no
problem.
8) Can coffee extract be used as an ingredient in other beverages?Yes. Coffee extracts provide the flavor and aroma of coffee to numerous ready-to-drink
(RTD) coffee beverages that are canned and / or bottled. Beverages like energy
drinks, canned iced coffee, bottled coffee milk, liquid meal substitutes, high
protein drinks, coffee liquors and coffee sodas are just a few of the current
examples. There are “super automatic” espresso and latte machines that have liquid
coffee extract in Bag in Box as their source of coffee flavor. Simple iced coffee
dispensers have been developed to make “on demand” iced coffee in food service
from Bag in Box. The intensity of the coffee flavor is determined by extract
usage (ratio) roast level and blend.
9) Can coffee extracts be used in foods?Numerous foods have coffee extracts in them. The most obvious use is in premium coffee ice creams. Not long ago all coffee ice creams were made exclusively with instant coffee, leaving a bitter / woody aftertaste. Now, numerous super premium coffee ice creams are made with single origin coffee extracts. Many new barbeque sauces and marinades have coffee extract as an ingredient. Coffee cakes with coffee icings and coffee glazed donuts with coffee fillings are also on the market. The use of coffee as a food flavor has just begun due to the recent advent of shelf stable coffee extracts.
10) Why is X Café coffee extract different than other extracts?The X Café method of coffee extraction uses pure triple filtered hot water at high pressure to make our 30 to 1 ratio coffee extract. Most people don’t know that a roasted coffee bean is more than 80% wood fiber and only 20% or less extractable flavor. That is why you throw away spent coffee grinds (wood fiber) after you are done brewing! Picture a roasted coffee bean as being a flavorful and fragrant little piece of wood. Your job is to wash the flavor and fragrance out of the wood to make your beverage. When you grind coffee at home prior to brewing it, you are exposing more of the coffee bean’s flavor / fragrance components to the hot water passing over it. The hot water is both the solvent and the carrier of the bean flavor and fragrance into your cup. At X Café, we roast all our own coffee just prior to extraction. Moments later we grind this freshly roasted coffee and convey those grinds into one of our patented coffee extractors. The entire process is nitrogen flushed, sealed and sterile. Very small amounts of triple filtered hot water are passed through the very large bed of ground coffee and high ratio extract is created. Our process is simple and pure. X Cafe utilizes pure hot filtered water and freshly roasted coffee, which we combine at very high pressure to make fresh coffee extract. We extract only 20% of the coffee bean that is flavorful, leaving behind the cellulose which adds only a woody taste. We extract between 75,000 and 500,000 eight-ounce cups of coffee at once under
computer-controlled conditions to bring you consistent quality in every cup.
We are unique due to our extraction method, our shelf stability, and the difference
when you sip our coffee.
11) What do you do with all those coffee grinds?We recycle 100% of all our coffee grind waste into electricity in a nearby
licensed wood fired / biomass boiler / cogeneration facility. Our spent coffee
grinds are in fact flavorless odorless wood, and they are burned along with wood
chips to make energy. We have won awards and received grants to recycle all our
spent coffee grinds into energy.
12) What research or testing have you done on your coffee extracts?The U.S. FDA’s primary concern is with public health, and they have set up extensive standards for all companies involved in food production in the U.S. Among those standards are the pre-market release requirements to perform “challenge studies” on any new food product or method of production. During a challenge study an outside independent lab (OIL) innoculates samples of our extracts with massive amounts of known human pathogens to monitor their growth or lack thereof. We have performed these tests on regular and decaf, light roasts and dark roasts, and at numerous temperatures. All lab tests reveal immediate die-off with no re-growth. In addition, many of the major companies that we service have their own set of food safety requirements that are over and above the FDA’s requirements. We are inspected by numerous organizations like NSF, AIB, FDA, State of Maine, Organic Certifiers, and we are Kosher and Halal certified. Every batch of X Café coffee extract is also tested for microbial activity
and held in quarantine until the OIL certifies that batch as safe.
13) What does shelf stable mean?It means that our product can be stored at room temperature without microbial growth. Products that support the growth of microbial activity must be refrigerated, frozen, or acidulated. We do state a shelf life timeline that is meant to be a guide for best coffee enjoyment. Just as with fresh roasted coffee, the flavor, fragrance and freshness fade in our extract over time. Since X Café is in the coffee beverage business supporting the enjoyment of coffee, we feel that a shelf life statement is proper. Our 30:1 products are best used within 4 months ambient and 6 months when refrigerated. Our 80:1 products are best used within 6 months ambient and 9 months when refrigerated. Our shelf stability statements are meant to be a guide for optimal use and do not relate to food safety issues.
14) So the “best when used by date” of your 30 to 1 coffee extracts is strictly based on “best coffee enjoyment”?Yes, that is correct. Our coffee extract is strongly anti-microbial and can
be used after the shelf stability timelines.
15) What can I do to extend the “best when used by date”?
16) How do I handle the BIB (bag in box) or sample bottles once they are opened?Once the BIB or sample bottle is open, oxygen from the room can begin its process of flavor / fragrance fade at an accelerated rate. As with all foods, it is best kept in the refrigerator for freshness. It will not grow bacteria as it is nutrient poor and is strongly anti-microbial. In a liquid coffee dispenser, the product is best used within three weeks from a coffee enjoyment point of view.
17) How is liquid coffee extract different from instant coffee?A whole roasted bean is approximately 80% wood and 20% flavor (see question 10). X Café extracts only the 20% that is flavor and fragrance. We use pure water as both the solvent and the carrier of coffee’s flavor. When instant coffee is manufactured, a total of 45% of the roasted bean’s weight is extracted. Since 20% of a bean is flavor / fragrance.... where did the 45% yield for instant come from? The instant coffee process uses very hot water at about 370 degrees F at 150 PSI to “melt” the beans fiber into the extract slurry. Upon dehydration, the flavor and the fiber are dehydrated into powders or crystals. Simply put, steam is used as the solvent for instant coffee, and over-extracted bean fiber is the carrier of the flavor / fragrance in instant coffee versus the more gentle extraction used in the patented X Café Method. 18) Does X Café provide brewing equipment?No, but we have distributors who do. One gallon of 30 to 1 is equal to about 12 lbs of R&G coffee. A good candidate for liquid coffee extracts should go through 24 lbs R&G per week to qualify economically for a liquid coffee dispenser. 19) Is there a good liquid coffee dispenser that can be used in a home or office?Yes, look at www.beveo.com or www.esiobev.com to
see new, innovative table-top liquid coffee brewers.
20) What can you tell me about food safety at X Café?
NSF Cook & Thurber conducts an annual third party food safety audit of our facility. Our 2007 score was 97 out of 100.
21) What does the New Product Team (NPT) do?The NPT works with clients developing unique coffee flavors for BIB and ingredient
applications. For ingredient applications, we assist beyond the coffee stage
to final product formulation, nutritional analysis, and processing methods to
extend shelf life. We can also direct you to a variety of co-packers for
final packaging.
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