Freeze-dried coffee: what does it mean, how is it made, benefits and harms

Instant freeze-dried coffee is obtained using freeze dried technology, which means “dry freezing”. The method was discovered in the middle of the last century. After processing, grains do not lose useful and nutritional components: antioxidants, dietary fiber, tannins. Sublimate is more aromatic and richer than granulated or powdered coffee. And its taste is barely distinguishable from a drink made from natural grains.

History of origin

New discovery

Sublimation technology was first used during World War II. American scientists from the National Research Corporation used it to create antimicrobial drugs. And also when transporting blood serum to medical centers.

Sublimation technology continued to be used after the war. NRC specialists have made a new discovery - if you freeze dry foods, they retain more useful components than when you fry them.

Demand for the method

The Americans decided to use technology to create instant coffee. The experiments turned out to be successful. In 1965, Nestle presented a new product. Coffee lovers in America and Europe learned about freeze-dried coffee: what it means and how it differs from instant coffee in powder and granules. We'll talk about this below.

The taste and quick preparation made the drink popular among coffee lovers.

Manufacturers in Europe are also interested in how freeze-dried coffee is made. They entered into contracts with the Americans and started the manufacturing process using this method. By 1980, 40% of the coffee produced by Europeans was freeze-dried.

The experiments continued

The sublimate differed from the natural drink in taste. Starbucks spent 20 years looking for a way to eliminate the difference.

Experts used different types of grains. We experimented with roasting methods and freezing temperatures.

Only at the beginning of 2000 was it possible to achieve results. The new product was called “Stardust”.

In 2022, Starbucks entered into a contract with the Swiss company Nestle. She received the rights to sell Starbucks brand products, including sublimate coffee.

We talked about freeze-dried coffee: what it means and how it came about. Now let's look at how it is made.

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Benefits and harms of freeze-dried food

While water-soluble coffee drinks are growing in popularity, as are the number of types, it's important to know the differences, plus how much harm they cause, so you can make an informed choice.

The caffeine content in the same volume of drink will differ (in instant 50-100 mg/200-250 cm³, in natural 150-200/200 cm³), but it depends more on the source raw material and not on the dehydration technology. This means that you can cheer up with a cup of any coffee, powdered or granulated.

Benefit

Natural ground coffee has a large list of useful properties, unlike water-soluble types, which means it is better than any quickly brewed analogues. The ground grain product has a beneficial effect on the digestive tract, has a noticeable stimulating effect, improves well-being, increases tone, and its antitumor properties are known.

Harm

The harm of natural freeze-dried coffee is that excessive consumption of caffeine-containing products is dangerous for the body, and the benefits are practically zero. If the mood improves when consuming 60±20 mg of caffeine, then at a dose of 280±20 mg heart problems appear, after 400 mg depression and depression appear, and from 1000 mg a person can die.

Negative consequences of excess caffeine, regardless of what drink you drink, ground or granulated:

increased blood pressure;
increased heart rate;
nausea;
heartburn;
insomnia.

And instant coffee, including sublimate, if you drink it constantly on an empty stomach, provokes an imbalance in the acid balance and can aggravate gastritis or stomach ulcers. This is due to the fact that the drink is hot, plus it contains synthetic flavors and substances that occur when coffee beans are improperly heat treated.

Naturally, water-soluble drink is harmful for children, pregnant, lactating, elderly and sick people. If an adult has low blood pressure, then in order to tone yourself up, it is better to opt for coffee made from freshly ground beans, or at least freeze-dried.

Production technology

Main stage

Let's figure out what instant coffee is made from and how sublimate is produced. The basis is low-grade or substandard coffee beans. The raw materials are cheap, but of natural origin.

First, coffee factory workers roast the beans and grind them into dust. The ground mixture is distributed into separate containers and boiled for 4 hours.

The next step is the extraction of essential oils. The container with the raw materials is placed under the steam pipes. It absorbs oils.

The resulting mass is left in freezers, in which a vacuum is created. The composition freezes quickly, but retains the beneficial components. At the same time, moisture does not accumulate in it.

The coffee composition is dried as much as possible. So it is simply broken down into tiny particles. They look like fragments.

Saturation with essential oils

The grains lose their flavor and aroma while the essential oils are extracted from them. Therefore, at the last stage they are saturated with the same oils. Manufacturers of expensive, high-quality brands use natural ingredients.

Synthetic oils are added to budget analogues. They add richness to the drink, but do not contain useful substances.

Can it be considered natural?

Freeze-dried coffee is no more or less natural than other instant types - granular or powder. In all these cases, the starting raw material is coffee beans, but during the production process the product is supplemented with artificial additives. Each user will determine the limit of “naturalness” for himself, because in principle people have quite different opinions about the naturalness of food products.

Freeze-dried coffee is a truly convenient alternative to boiling ground beans in a coffee pot or using a coffee machine. In addition, sublimation makes it possible to preserve the taste and aroma of the raw material quite well in comparison with evaporation, which is used in the production of powdered and granulated varieties of instant coffee.

But a significant disadvantage and the most important inconvenience is that such coffee will not invigorate as much as boiled coffee. At the same time, wanting to achieve the desired effect, a person will increase the size and number of servings. And this is not good for health - over time, a dependence on caffeine develops, and the gastrointestinal mucosa becomes overly irritated. Drinking coffee frequently on an empty stomach can cause stomach ulcers and gastritis.

Freeze-dried coffee, like other instant types of this drink, can be compared to dried vegetables or herbs. The starting raw materials are natural, but then processed, losing some of the beneficial substances and losing their taste and benefits.

Difference from granular and powder

Production technology

We found out what freeze-dried coffee is. Now let's talk about how it differs from simple powder and granules.

The main difference is the manufacturing process. The above describes how instant coffee sublimate is made. The grains are dried and frozen at the same time. The production of granules and powder takes less time. They are simply dried under pressure.

The powder composition is subjected to long-term heat treatment. Therefore, the grain structure is disrupted at the molecular level.

Appearance, taste and aroma

Coffee differs in shape and color. The granular version looks like loose, sloppy particles. Color – dark brown.

The sublimate is made in the form of tiny pyramids. They are light brown.

The sublimate is soaked in essential oils during the manufacturing process. Therefore, it produces a rich and aromatic drink.

Granule manufacturers add artificial flavors. Read more in the article: “The most important things about granulated coffee.”

Caffeine content and price

A drink made from granules or sublimate has the same caffeine content. For 150 milliliters there are about 80 milligrams. Natural coffee contains 20% more caffeine.

When producing granular or powder mass, workers expend less effort. Therefore, the cost of the sublimate is 40% higher.

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What does taste depend on?

The flavor bouquet is determined by several parameters.

Roasting . If the beans are overcooked, then the taste of the coffee will be too bitter, acrid and harsh.
Compliance with production technology . The caffeine content, size and consistency of coffee granules depend on this. If you find a large amount of sediment (sludge) in an unopened can of coffee, this means that something went wrong during the production of freeze-dried coffee and the taste may be affected.
Final processing . It is difficult to guess with what composition this or that sublimate was processed, but you can focus on the smell of dry coffee. It should be bright, but soft and enveloping. A too strong aroma clearly indicates the artificial origin of the aromatic composition. A drink made from such coffee will most likely have an unpleasant synthetic taste.

Instant drink recipe

Experts advise using the following coffee preparation technology to better reveal the bouquet: take two spoons of freeze-dried coffee, one spoon of sugar and a few drops of hot water. Grind the mixture thoroughly with a spoon until a light, homogeneous mass is formed, and then add the required amount of hot water to it. The drink turns out to be as aromatic and tasty as possible.

Coffee and sugar are poured into a preheated cup, a teaspoon of water is added and thoroughly rubbed to form foam. Then add the rest of the water. It should not be hotter than +90 °C. To heat water, it is boiled until air bubbles appear. You should turn off the kettle and wait 2-3 minutes until the water cools down a little.

The more intensively you beat the coffee with sugar, the more fluffy the foam will be (although whipping freeze-dried coffee is harder than powdered coffee). If you are preparing several servings of the drink, it is convenient to use a mixer for whipping. You can decorate muffins with this foam. Sometimes it is laid on top of natural coffee brewed in a French press or Chemex.

Which coffee is better

We found out how it is: freeze-dried coffee and how it differs from granules with powder. Now about the selection rules.

Buy instant freeze-dried crystals in clear jars. This way you can understand how high quality the chosen option is.

Don't pay attention to the color. In fact, it depends on the speed of freezing. When the process is slow, the crystals are darker.

Find out the type of beans used to make your chosen brand of coffee. This information is indicated on the label. This delicious drink is made from Arabica or a mixture with Robusta.

Choose freeze-dried instant coffee with natural flavors.

Consider the smell. If the production of freeze-dried coffee was not carried out correctly, the coffee particles smell like burnt cork. Perhaps the factory workers exceeded the roasting time or used low-grade beans.

Choose sealed packaging: glass or soft. A plastic jar allows light to pass through, which will cause the coffee to taste sour over time.

How to choose good freeze-dried coffee?

If you decide to buy freeze-dried coffee, it is important to follow these rules:

The packaging of freeze-dried coffee must be metal or glass and completely sealed.
All granules should be the same size and identical light brown color.
If the granules break down into powder or have an uneven color, it means that the freeze-dried coffee was made with violations of the technology and should not be drunk.

Famous brands

Coffee beans are sublimated by companies around the world. Famous brands:

Swiss Bushido has a chocolate aftertaste and medium strength. 100 grams costs from 800 rubles.
Carte Noire from Germany is made only from Arabica beans. They produce varieties with a bitter, sour and sweet aftertaste. Cost per 100 grams from 500 rubles.
Grandos is made from Colombian Arabica beans. The main difference is the absence of flavorings. The price of a 100 gram package is from 360 rubles.
The drink from Japanese UCC has fruity notes and no bitter aftertaste. The minimum cost for 100 grams is 700 rubles.
Egoiste strong – caffeine content 4%. The aftertaste is chocolate. 100 grams costs from 360 rubles.

Read about the differences between other brands in the article “Rating of freeze-dried coffee: which is better in quality”

What to look for when choosing

As with any product that has a limited shelf life, you should check the expiration date of the product. In addition to information about it, the packaging must contain information about the composition and manufacturer. For products from foreign manufacturers, this data may not be present on the pack or jar itself, but on a sticker; their presence is mandatory.

The next important parameter is the tightness of the packaging. Through the holes in it, the smell disappears, and pathogens, insects, dust and dirt can penetrate inside. Even if the integrity of the packaging is not compromised, you need to visually assess the consistency of the coffee. The granules should be light brown and large, maintaining an angular pyramidal shape. Large stuck together pieces or, conversely, an abundance of fine powder indicate a violation of the production technology or improper storage.

Freeze-dried coffee is not recommended to be stored for more than 2 years.

Composition and calorie content

The composition of freeze-dried coffee includes oils obtained from natural coffee beans. The main ingredients are chemical additives, stabilizers and preservatives, since after processing no minerals and vitamins remain in the coffee product.

The amount of caffeine depends on its content in natural beans and ranges from 30 to 100 mg per serving. However, due to the uneven distribution of caffeine throughout the bulk of the product during the preparation process, it is almost impossible to calculate the exact content of the alkaloid in the finished drink. One spoon of freeze-dried coffee may contain more of the tonic than another.

Nowadays, on store shelves you can often find a drink marked “decaffeinated” on the packaging. This is the most harmful type of instant coffee, containing dangerous acids and carcinogens that increase the risk of malignant tumors.

The calorie content of the substance is in the range of 80-250 kcal per 100 g of dry product.

Rules for preparing the drink

Ingredients and instructions

To prepare one serving of an invigorating drink you will need a teaspoon of coffee crystals, 2 sugar cubes, 200 milliliters of water.

Warm the cup under hot water or in the microwave. Add sugar and coffee. To make a fluffy foam, pour 10 milliliters of water and rub the mixture with a spoon. Add remaining liquid.

The sublimate whips into foam more easily than the powder. You can use a mini mixer or cappuccino maker.

Crystals reveal their aroma and taste better if they are brewed with water at 85-90 degrees. Boil the liquid and wait 2-3 minutes. Or use a thermometer.

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Supplements

Milk will soften the bitter taste of the drink. Brew the crystals in 150 milliliters of water and add boiled milk.

Additives will improve the taste. Sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon on top and garnish with marshmallows. Or add chopped chocolate. The taste of the drink will be complemented by 30 grams of ice cream.

Find out more in the article “What else is added to coffee for taste and aroma.”

Recipes

Let's look at delicious recipes with instant coffee.

Recipe No. 1 “Iced coffee with coconut milk”

Take 1.5 tbsp. l. fine ice + 200 g coconut milk + 3 tbsp. l. condensed milk Mix everything in a blender. Pour into a cup. Place it in the freezer and every 15 minutes. stir the mixture until frozen. Heat 100 ml of water, pour in 1 tsp. coffee. Add 1 tbsp to the cup. l. frozen mixture. Coffee is ready!

Recipe No. 2 “Coffee with ginger and honey”

Grate 1 tsp on a fine grater. ginger Bring 250 ml to a boil. water. Pour it over 1 tsp. coffee. Add ginger and 1 tsp. honey. Stir and enjoy your meal.

Recipe No. 3 “Coffee with cocoa, cinnamon and condensed milk”

For 1 cup of coffee ( 1 tsp) 0.5 tsp is required. cocoa + 1 tsp. condensed milk + a pinch of cinnamon. 250 over coffee , add all ingredients. The coffee is ready.

Recipe No. 4 “Jamaican coffee with orange”

Cut 2 oranges and half a lemon into pieces. 0.5 over them . Let the fruit sit for 10 minutes. Strain and add 3 tbsp to the fruit water. l. coffee + 3 tbsp. l. Roma Delicious coffee is ready!

What is the benefit

Let's talk about coffee: the benefits and harms of the freeze-dried type. The drink is beneficial for the body only if it is brewed correctly. In this case, it retains useful substances.

Freeze-dried crystals contain amino acids. According to doctors, this substance prevents aging.

Connoisseurs of the drink use coffee as a source of nicotinic acid. It is useful if your cholesterol levels are high.

Thanks to the release of adrenaline and serotonin, coffee lovers feel a surge of strength and positive energy.

Caffeine is beneficial for low blood pressure.

Coffee activates mental work, enhances memory, and saturates the body with microelements: magnesium, iron, phosphorus.

A sublimate drink without additives or snacks has a positive effect on metabolism and accelerates the breakdown of fats. Coffee lovers lose weight faster.

You will only benefit from sublimate if consumed in moderation. 1-2 cups per day is enough.

Advantages and disadvantages

It is known that freshly ground coffee is more healthy and harmless, but freeze-dried coffee can also be beneficial for the human body. It has a positive effect on the body, which consists of:

normalization of low pressure;
lowering cholesterol levels;
activation of the brain;
breakdown of fats;
removal of toxins;
active transformation of carbohydrates into energy;
fight against aging of body cells.

You should know when to use caffeine-containing products in moderation, otherwise their positive qualities will turn into negative ones and harm your health. In addition, coffee is often addictive: the larger the daily dose, the more difficult it is to give up the aromatic drink.

Experts identify a number of main negative consequences when abusing a freeze-dried product:

Manufacturing process

The following technological stages are distinguished.

Coffee raw materials are subjected to primary processing, roasted and ground. For the information of consumers, only low quality varieties are used here, the advantage of Robusta. Instant coffee is not made from quality beans.
After this, the resulting mixture is boiled in a special composition.
The first stage of moisture removal takes place in large containers. The extract is poured into them and subjected to technological processing.
Then comes the quick freezing process.
The last stage is vacuum drying. This allows you to remove any remaining moisture.
At the output we get dried coffee granules.
The taste of freeze-dried coffee is achieved through the inclusion of various flavors in the product.