Surely you have had coffee whose sour or tart taste has caused a grimace on your face. </h1 However, the acidity of coffee has nothing to do with it, because we can find two acidities in coffee:
- sour - undesirable
- acidity (acid) - desirable
In the vernacular they appear to be very similar, but in fact they are completely different flavours that compete with each other for our taste buds.
Acidity is indicative of bean defect due to, among other things, the influence of moisture or air bacteria. Acidity is also influenced by the way the coffee is prepared, perhaps by inadequate brewing time or too low a temperature.
Acidity, on the other hand, gives the coffee a variety of perceptible flavours, e.g. beans from Kenya or Ethiopia are distinguished by their sweet acidity, while notes of orange or currant can be felt in the coffee.
Coffee acidity is influenced by:
- variety (Arabica is more acidic than Robusta)
- soil (coffee plants growing on volcanic soils are distinguished by their higher acidity)
- the roasting process (the longer the beans are roasted, the more flavour characteristics the coffee loses, including acidity)
The climate, the time of harvest, the processing method, the firing and brewing method, the purity of the water and the degree of grinding of the beans are also important.
For lovers of sweet aromas, we recommend considering beans from Guatemala or Brazil. If you like coffees with high acidity, African beans are ideal.