Torrefacto refers to a particular process of roasting coffee beans, common in Spain, France, Portugal, Costa Rica and Argentina. The process involves adding a certain amount of sugar during roasting in order to glaze the beans. This results in a reduction in the acidity and bitter taste of the coffee. The glazed beans are then mixed with normal roasted beans.
Biologist Isabel López Galilea, a researcher at the University of Navarra, has studied the effects of various roasting and preparation methods on the antioxidant capacity of coffee. According to her study, “The Influence of Torrefacto Roasting on the Principal Components of Coffee and its Antioxidant and Pro-oxidant Capacity”, the addition of sugar during the torrefacto roasting process increases the production of compounds with antioxidant properties. It was demonstrated that both ground and brewed torrefacto coffee has higher antioxidant capacity than standard roasts. In addition, it was found that the espresso method of extraction yielded higher antioxidant activity than other brewing methods. * Source
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2 comments:
This is a great article, I like the caffeine that coffee offers however, it is far too bitter. I find myself adding hot chocolate mix just to compensate for the bitter taste. This sounds like a better alternative because it sounds like a sweeter brew. Definitely something I would like to try!
Torrefacto coffee... yum! I just came back from Spain and the coffee there is out of this world! The torrefacto coffee is not sweet but adds just a tiny bit of "carmel" flavor (it's in quotes because it's not really a carmel flavor, at times I thought it was mocha-like, others simply smoother and fuller). It's delicious!
I've found some (only 2) on-line sources that sell torrefacto coffee beans from Spain, and I've been using those to re-create and approximate my Spanish coffee experience, and that has been going fairly well. What I'd like to do is get some freshly roasted torrefacto, and it's proving extremely difficult. I have a few local roasters in my area, and I'd like to give them the recipie and steps to the torrefacto roasting process so they can make me some great torrefacto coffee, but I'm having a really hard time finding the steps. Can anyone help?
Thanks.
Ed
P.S. I have done _some_ research, for example I've found roasting machines that are specifically designed for torrefacto roasting that introduce a sugar solution into _during_ the roasting process (when the bean turns yellow or even later). Someone posted a process on ehow.com that might work, but I have no idea whether or not it would produce torrefacto the way it's meant to be. I'm thinking that without specialized torrefacto roasting machinery, that something like the ehow.com method will have to be used at most roasters in the U.S., where a solution of table sugar and water are first used to cover the beans, and then the beans are roasted. But I'm not certain of the details for the best results... what kind of sugar (raw, turbinado, white table sugar, syrup, molasses, etc?), what proportion of water, or if water is the best to use, etc. In other words, the whole process to make the finest product given the limitations. Any ideas?
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