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Low Acid Coffee

Low acid coffee is coffee that is low in Chlorogenic acid. For more about Chlorogenic acid please see our post here. Coffee contains very high levels of this organic acid compound, and it is associated with stomach irritation, pain, heartburn, reflux and other sensitivities among many coffee drinkers.

Consider that there are over 1,600 coffee roasters in the United States. I have found less than 20 low acid coffees roasters on the interent. That means less than .01% of coffee roasters concern themselves with producing coffee with less acid. Coupled with the ubiquity of national coffee chains on every street corner, the probability is near 100% that the coffee you are drinking is very high in acid.

So how do you  know if a coffee is low acid coffee? There is no universal standard or guideline for what qualifies as a low acid coffee. You simply have to take peoples word for it. Since coffee is in such a high demand by most people and drinking the wrong coffee can cause pain and other issues for folks, I wanted to put forth a framework that might be helpful to you when buying low acid coffee brands online.

In my opinion, I would not consider any coffee that does not have a pH level of 5.5 or greater to be low acid.The pH scale is a measure of acidity. On the acidic side of the scale where coffee resides, the higher pH score the less acid.  For more about pH see out post here.  Here are 4 points that have brought me to this conclusion about the pH on coffee.

1. My Experience
2. Customer Feedback
3. Scientific Data
4. Lab Tests

My Experience:

I have been in the coffee industry for over 13 years, from serving drinks to roasting coffee.  During those years, I have served tens of thousands of cups of coffee and have roasted tens of thousands of pounds of coffee. I have also drunk lots of coffees from small roasters to the big roaster chains.

Customer Experience:

I have received a lot of feedback about my customers experience with national coffee brands, regional roasters, and other purveyors of coffee. 

Scientific Journals:

I have read my share of scientific journals on Chlorogenic acid and chemicals reactions in the coffee bean during the roast. The scientific journals confirm what I have actually experienced as a roaster.  Nearly all modern roast profiles, either never achieve the roast temperatures or do not maintain the duration of roast to significantly and positively impact the level of Chlorogenic acid in coffee (see article).  When we place Mavericks slow roast profile side by side with the scientific journals, our roast profiles achieve and exceed the roast temperatures and maintain and exceed the roast duration that the scientific journals place as benchmarks for significant acid reduction. 

Lab Results:

We have tested coffees beans from some of the most popular national coffee chains in the United States and from all the known low acid coffee companies (see article).  The independent lab analysis verifies my experience, the experience of our customers, and the findings of the scientific journal.

Low Acid Coffee Designations:

We have developed a series of badges to indicate the level of reduction in Chlorogenic acid in our coffees compared to the national coffee chains.  Since most people have experience with these national coffee brands, we found it to be the most helpful to establish a standard to measure against. We express the reduction in acid as a percentage, since most people are unfamiliar with the PH scale.  The analytical reports documenting the PH levels for our coffees can be found on our certifications page.

Here are the badges that you will find associated with our coffees:

•          70% Significant Acid Reduction / Light Roasted Coffee
•          80% Major Acid Reduction / Medium Roast Coffee
•          90% Ultimate Acid Reduction / Dark Roast Coffee

Additionally, Mavericks coffees are not just low acid, but are also organic from origin. More information about organic coffees can be found by clicking here.