Apsolut kafe

Coffee absolute is extracted from the beans of Coffea arabica, a species of flowering plant in the coffee and madder family Rubiaceae. Coffea arabica represents about 60% of global coffee production. The genus Coffea comprises about 80 species and several hundred different types, the most common being arabica and canephora (robusta). A coffee absolute is also made from Coffea canephora, or robusta, from West Africa and Vietnam.

The natural populations of Coffea arabica are restricted to the forests of South Ethiopia, South Sudan and Yemen. The beans of the Salvadoran coffee absolute come from bushy shrubs that grow in the volcanic mountains of southern El Salvador. In mid-spring the coffee tree produces white flowers that give fruits called 'cherries', each with two seeds, the beans, at its centre. Cherries are picked between January and April, then washed, crushed and stripped of their mucilage, and sun-dried for two weeks until they reach a moisture content of 12%.

Unroasted beans lack the taste of roasted coffee beans because of the Maillard and other chemical reactions that occur during roasting. During roasting, caffeol is created at about 200 °C and is largely responsible for coffee's aroma and flavor. Furan-2-ylmethanethiol, also called 2-furfurylthiol, is an organosulfur compound. It has a strong odour of roasted coffee and is a key component of the aroma of roasted coffee. Furans are the most predominant group of compounds among the aromatics of coffee, and they typically have caramel-like odors. Pyrazines, the second most abundant class of aromatic compounds in coffee, contribute roasted, walnut, cereal, cracker or toast-like flavors. The absolute has a shelf life of 12 months.

Use in food flavors

In food flavors, coffee extracts give coffee and brown flavors a strong green-coffee effect and phenolic qualities in the top notes. They withstand high temperatures, which suits them to hard candies, and they also suit pastry flavors such as tiramisu.

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