Coffee Over Coffee: Episode 4 - pH Scores

Welcome to another episode of Coffee Over Coffee, where we discuss coffee over coffee. Today, I want to go over pH testing. We roast low acid coffee here at Mavericks Coffee. In fact, we have many of the lowest acid coffees in the United States. To that end, what I wanted to do is go over an analytical report. 

If you are unfamiliar with it, an analytical report is generated from an independent lab that we use to score our coffees. The report will contain the data from their analyst of our coffees. This report is very important for a number of reasons.

First, this is tested by a third-party lab. Completely independent from our influence. I've been doing low acid coffee for many years, and I see a lot of claims online by people who say they produce low acid coffee.

A Helpful Standard for Low Acid Coffee

What needs to be understood is this; there's no universal standard for low acid coffee. Essentially, a person can claim any coffee is low acid. It could be slightly less acidic than a high acid coffee, but still be a high acid coffee. People can claim anything. That is why I like to have things certified by an independent lab for us. That way is not a claim but rather a fact.

Now, here is a rule of thumb I have developed over the last 20 years within the coffee industry pioneering low acid coffee. Any coffee that is not 5.5 or greater is not truly low acid.

pH Scoring Low Acid Coffees

Remember, on a pH scale, coffee is measured from 0 to 7, with 7 being neutral and above 7 being alkaline. Most coffees are around 4.7 to 4.9. At Mavericks Coffee we recommend that a coffee drinker only drink coffees with a pH of 5.5 or greater. This is important because a 0.1 increase, say from 4.7 to 4.8, is actually only a 10% reduction in acid. It’s a logarithmic scale, which means it’s like an exponential scale. So the difference from 4.8 to 5.5 is actually 70% less acid. This is just the starting point for people to use as a tool. 

Low Acid Coffee Analytical Report

So, here's the nuts and bolts of how an Analytical report works.  I'll do a more detailed video in the future. This report is done by a third-party lab, and we don't influence it in any way. We roast the coffee, and the lab, Safe Food Alliance in Kingsburg, comes to pick it up. There’s a complete chain of custody. They test the pH in a laboratory environment based on internationally recognized standards. We then receive the report back. 

This is our analytical report, dated about a week or two ago. It's pH tested by a professional pH meter, not litmus paper. Litmus tests and cheap pH meters can get you in the ballpark but are not very effective or consistent. Also, with third-party lab testing, it prevents any biases. The professional pH meter used adheres to AOAC standard 98.12, an international standard. The result is our pH score of 6.15.

This is important for people with medical conditions like GERD, Interstitial Cystitis, Barrett's Esophagus, Acid Reflux, and more. High acid coffee can exacerbate these conditions. Our coffee, at a 6.15 pH, has over 100% less acid than big box chain coffees with a pH of 4.7 or 4.8. In terms of acidity, that’s a huge difference. 

An interesting fact is that arabica coffee, by weight, can be up to 8% acid before roasting.

International Laboratory Analysis Standards

Back to the analytical report, our Decaf Dark French was tested by a professional meter at AOAC 98.12 method. The result was 6.15. We have the analysis date and the microbiologist’s signature who conducted the test. We do these tests regularly on all our coffees to ensure that the coffee you’re drinking is independently certified. If you have one of those conditions or just prefer low acid coffee, you can be assured. We post the reports on our website under the certification and analytics section.

I hope that’s helpful. This is Coffee Over Coffee, where we discussed pH testing today. I hope you learned something about pH and how you can be sure that your coffee is tested and certified low acid. If you’re currently drinking someone else’s coffee and they claim it’s low acid, check if they have an independent certification. Trust but verify. Have a great day!