The fault is of tradition and acrylamides

If we turn around the hallway breakfast Of any supermarket, we see multitude of coffee varieties. It is the second most consumed drink in the world and many do for health reasonsbut sUS properties vary depending on whether we drink natural coffee or the enemy of lovers of the Specialty coffee: he Torrefacto.

It is the typical coffee of the Spanish bar, but curiously in Europe is vetoed by its low quality, the null historical roots and the most serious: health motifs.

It is not Spanish thing. Although this is the “Spanish coffee”, really the first record of something similar to torrefact comes from Cuba. The miners roasted coffee with sugar to extend its conservation during the long periods of underground work. The current torrefact we owe it to an Extremadura named José Gómez Tejedor, founder of The star cafes that, on a trip at the end of the 19th century through the Caribbean, He learned technique and patented In 1901.

Until 1921, only coffees the star could exploit the technique of the roasting. And it is a process that consists of toasting coffee and, during the process, add sucrose or glucose syrup –Sugar, ultimately– With a proportion of up to 15 kg of sugar per 100 of coffee. It is a barbarity (and being so bitter, you have to add more sugar to take it, curiously).

But very Spanish. This method was consolidated in Spain thanks to the fact that coffee was maintained in better conditions for a longer time. Consumption at the beginning of the 20th century would not be as massive as it is today and the sugar film allowed longer conservation. In Portugal it also gained popularity, but the explosion, and that consideration of the roasting as “Spanish coffee” occurred in the Civil war.

During and after the conflict, due to the shortage of coffee, the need to keep it and maintain its economic performance, that toasted with sugar became The default form of toasting coffee in the Iberian Peninsula. That is, due to precariousness, the torrefact was consolidated, but when things could change due to better economic conditions and more efficient conservation methods, it was so rooted in the market that remained.

Acrylamide. The problem is no longer so much taste (which, he hears, for tastes, colors), but the consequences of doing so. In the title process, it is generated A chemical compound called acrylamide Due to Maillard’s reaction between sugars and amino acids when they undergo high temperatures. Torrefacto, due to that greater amount of sugar, can contain more acrylamide, surpassing the Natural chopped coffees.

Agencies such as IARC or EFSA have cataloged the compound as “probable human carcinogen” and a European reference limit at acrylamide levels of about 400 μg/kg for roasted coffee and 850 μg/kg for snapshot. The problem is that it is estimated that, while the Natural Tugue Café has about 180 μg/kg, the torrefact goes to 800 μg/kg.

European counterpart. There are no solid epidemiological studies that demonstrate an oncological risk in humans due to coffee consumption with high doses of acrylamide, but yes There is evidence In animal experiments. The European Regulation EU 2017/2158 It forces producers to minimize acrylamide by controlling the gut parameters, but really that in Europe it is not consummated by torrefact is not because it is prohibited or because it is toxic, but because it is not a coffee that has any roots in countries outside Portugal or Spain.

Torrefacto is seen as something of lower quality, has been marginalized by industry and, although there are Exceptions As a type of Belgian coffee to which 3% of sugar is added, it is still an amount lower than that of the Spanish royal. And beyond acrylamide, the real problem of torrefact for someone who consumes a lot of coffee is the amount of sugar.

And in Italy? If you have ever traveled to Italy or if you have bought Italian coffee in grain and you have appreciated that Its color is so dark Like the one we can find in the torrefacto cafes or mixture of Spain, it does not mean that they also consume Torrefacto. In the labeling you read something like ‘Torrefazione’, but it would be a false friend, since it is a word that simply means “tums.”

Sugar is not used in its title process, but a natural tabs are performed. And that dark color is due to the fact that, traditionally, the Italian tums is very intense, so the grains are darker than those we find in other European countries, but the sugar we find in those grains is naturally present in Café itself.

Mix Blend. And how do I see this in the super? Easily, most supermarket coffee and large surfaces (in addition to what they serve in bars and restaurants, is roosted. When we are going to buy it, we can see terms such as 100% Arabica (which marks only the Variety of coffee), but be royal. Also the term mixing, which is basically a mixture between natural giant and torrefact coffee in usual percentages 50/50, 70/30 or 80/20.

Mix, in Spain, is a mixture of both. Then we have the term ‘mixture’ applied in a specialty coffee context, where ‘blend’ is also used. The big difference is that in these ‘blend’, the mixture is made between coffees of different origins, but all of natural gut.

Drink what you like. I have not bought torrefact coffee years, but it is something that usually consumes in some cafes and restaurants because they continue to put. And, although I notice it very much (I can not drink a torrefact alone, unlike a natural coffee, for example), the conclusion of all this is that, as long as they do not expressly prohibit it, it will remain something important in the Spanish tradition, despite the boom of specialty coffee shops.

The real taste of coffee is being masked and it is difficult to drink it without adding more sugar, Something that is a problembut beyond tradition, the torrefact is so rooted in Spain and Portugal that we believe that coffee knows and, if you like it, go ahead.

Images | Café la Estrella, Nathan Dumlao, nousnou iwasaki

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