Coffee Acidity: The Science and the Experience

When you hear the word “acidity,” you might think sour, tangy, bitter, sharp. But the term is used in at least three ways in the coffee world:

1. Coffee enthusiasts and aficionados identify acidity as the dry, bright, and sparkling sensation that sets a high-quality, high-grown coffee apart from a mundane, lower-grown coffee. Admittedly, this is the rather snooty way of looking at the issue, though it is true that many highly-prized coffees are grown at high elevation and are characterized by their bright, nuanced qualities.

2. On the scientific side, acidity is something to be measured on the pH scale, which uses 7.0 as an indicator of neutrality, numbers under 7 as more acidic and numbers above 7 as lower-acid (or basic). Lemon juice registers at about 2.0; milk at 6.5. A typical higher-acid breakfast blend coffee might land somewhere around 4.7. (Note that “black coffee” is marked on the scale below as a 5; this is an average and certainly not universal.)

3. Many other coffee drinkers see acidity as something that makes their tummy hurt—an unpleasant, astringent quality that disrupts their enjoyment of their daily brew.More and more lately, many coffee drinkers are starting to look for “low-acid” coffees, usually because of a doctor’s recommendation or simply a yucky feeling in their stomach after drinking their daily cup (or ten). And while we could get out the pH strips from the old science kit and start testing every cup, the truth is that it’s more complicated than that. pH level doesn’t always equate directly to a person’s experience of a particular coffee. Luckily, though, there are other ways to identify coffees that are low-acid.

Cold-brewing extracts considerably less of everything from coffees, including acids, so that’s definitely an option. Many enjoy the sweet smoothness of cold brew, which joins our Coffee Bar menu during the warmer months. You can buy your own cold brew system as well; we recommend the Filtron.

Choosing a milk-based espresso drink like a latte or cappuccino is another great way to enjoy a little coffee without irritating a sensitive stomach.

https://www.highergroundstrading.com/blogs/news/coffee-acidity