CA2090169A1

CA2090169A1 - Colloidal roasted coffee as aromatizer

Info

Publication number: CA2090169A1
Application number: CA002090169A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Jerome F. Trumbetas; Jimbay P. Loh
Original assignee: Kraft General Foods Inc
Current assignee: Mondelez International Inc
Priority date: 1992-03-12
Filing date: 1993-02-23
Publication date: 1993-09-13
Also published as: CN1081829A; NO930897L; NO930897D0; KR930019118A; AU3399393A; AU658718B2; EP0560609A1; FI931069A; JPH0638681A; NZ247115A; FI931069A0

Abstract

ABSTRACT
Roasted and ground coffee having a moisture content of less than 5% is micromilled in an edible oil, such as coffee oil, to a particle size of under 20 microns to provide an oily dispersion. The dispersion can be used as an aromatizer for foodstuffs at a level of 0.002 to 4.5%, particularly soluble coffee and roasted and ground coffee.
the dispersion is stable, has excellent dispersion qualities, added body, smoothness and a rounded taste, aroma, and flavor comparable to freshly brewed coffee.

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Description

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~ ,OLLOIDAL ROAS~ED COFFEE AS AROMATI ZER
TECE~NICAL FIELD
The present inventlon relates to a coffee flavor and coffee a.oma source of micromilled coffee. The product 5 can be used to provide fresh-ground coffee flavor and aroma to coffee and coffee-flavored food products, such as ice cream, candy, chewing gum, fillings and the like. More particularly, the micromllled co~fee flavor and aromatizer can be used to increase the coffee flavor and aroma of a soluble coffee beverage and to enhance the flavor and aroma of roasted and ground coffee. The product is stable, has excellent dispersion qualities, added body, smoothness, and a rounded taste and flavor comyara~le to fresh brewed coffee.
Additionally, the invention relates to methods of making the stable, micromilled coffee flavor and aromatizer.
DESCRIP~ION OF THE PRIOR ART
It has been recognized by the prior art that finely ground coffee tS to 20 microns in particle size) can be used to impart the aromatic and flavorful elements of roasted coffee to a soluble coffee beverage by incorporating or admixing 2 to 20~, preferably about 8 to 12~ of the finely ground coffee in the soluble coffee. British Patent No.

2,006,503 to Morgan et al. is representative of this art.
The prior art admixtures have the drawback that 5 regardless of how well mixed the products are, they result in poor flowability and poor ease of spooning out. The a~ove patent to Morgan et al. solves these problems by forming an agglomerated coffee. However, the agglomeration still does not solve the problem of the colloidal coffee settling ou~ to 3 form a sediment in the bottom of the coffee cup. While some sediment may be a positive factor for certain applications~
it i in most cases a consumer negative.

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20~b9 1 U.S. Patent No. ~,594,257 to Leblanc et al. while not directed to aromatization shows the addition of 1% to 15~
colloidal coffee particles ~5 to 2S microns, prefera~ly 10 to 15 microns) to soluhle coffee which has been milled to a 5 particle size of 30 to 75 microns. The colloidal cofee helps in forming an improved agglomerated coffee having a roasted and ground appearance.
U.S. Patent No. 4,594,258 to Vitti et al. shows the addition of about 0.01% to 1.0% of cofee oil (instead of 10 colloidal coffee) to produce a similar improved agglomerate.
Still another negative feature of the finely ground coffee particles of the prior art is their stability. The finely ground coffee particles while having a strong aroma and flavor initially, lose this quality very quickly when 15 exposed to ambient conditions. Thus, unless protected fr exposure to air, the flavor and aroma qualities of the small Farticles are lost.
A further negative of the prior art finely ground coffee is that the flavor and aroma inte~sity i5 such that at 20 least 2%, preferably about 10%, of the coffee must be used to provide a flavor and aroma Lmprovement. Admixtures utilizing amounts less than 2% provide no perceptihle improv2~ent.
It is also recognized that if roasted coffee is dry ground (in air), especially in the case of no cooling, 25 accelerated aroma loss and degradation are apparent. While wet-milling in water has been use~, this has resulted i~ poor flavor, poor stability and poor dispersion ~ualities.
Thus, it would he desirahle to provi~e a micromilled coffee which has a stronger flAvor and aroma th~n 30 the prior art finely groun~ coffees used for this purpose.
- It would also he desirable that such micr~m;lled coffee have an increased stability over the prior art products.

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i - ~no~.-er des raDle ~ea~ure of the micro~illea __ffee ' 5 ~hat it leaves no sediment in the c~ffee cup when the -offee bever2ge is consumea.
Su~MARY ~F ~HE -~VENTION
This invention is founded on the discovery that a -atable, but potent coffee flavor and cofree aroma can be produce~ from dry, -oasted and ground coffee beans having a moisture content of less than a~out 5% which are milled in an edible oil to give a ~article size of between a out 0.1 ~o -~ about 20 microns in the ground beans.
The whole beans are first roasted and then quenched ir. a manner which provides a moisture content in ~he roasted beans of less than about ~ molsture, preferably less than ~bout 4fi moisture, and most preferably less than a~aut 2~
-, moisture. The beans are then pre-ground ~withaut additian of moisture) to a coarse partlcle size of about 100 to 300 microns. The dry gro~d beans are then si~rried with a~
edible oil, such as cof~ee oil or veqetable oil, at a level of about 5~ to about 10% for the ground coffee and about 95%
2~ to ahout 90% for the oil. The ground coffee is then micromilled in the prese~ce of the oil to reduce the particle size of the coffee to below 20 microns. The microparticles of coffee are dispersed uniformly throuqhout the oily liquld to give a dispersion which has superior properties over other 25 aromatiz~rS.
These properties include Lmproved suspe~sion stability (no sediment in the bot~om of the coffee C'lp), a smooth mouthfeel and added body to the coffee bevera~e. The aromatizer has a po~ent coffee flavor, taste and aroma which 3 _s comparable to freshly brewed roasted and gro~nd coffee.
Moreover, ~he flavor and aroma is unusually sta~le (over three (3) months) when expased to amhient canditians and does wadtspEcla4os. BPS

1 not lose its flavor or aroma qualitles due to oxidation. Due to the potency of the aromatizer, effective aromatization of various foodstuffs can be achieved by simply incorporating about 0.002% to about 4.5~ of the aromatizer bas~d on the 5 weight of the foodstuff, soluble coffee, or roasted and ground coffee being aromatized. In the case of soluble coffee, about 0.02 to a~out 3.0~ based on the weight of the soluble coffee i5 suita~le. In the case of roasted and ground coffee, about 0.002 to about 1.5~ is suf~icient. This 10 gives as lo~ as about 0.0014% of roasted coffee aromatizer in the reconstituted instant coffee or brewed coffee beverage (in the cup).
The above process also produces a uni~ue aromatizer which comprises the micromilled particles of roasted coffee 15 at a moisture content of less than about 5~ and a particle size of ~elow about 20 microns dispersed in an edible oil.
All percentages (~) recited in this specification and claims are by weight.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF T~E INVENTION
Whole coffee beans, prefera~ly Col~mbians or other good quality coffee beans re first subjected to a conventional roasting operation. The roastLng operation is then terminated by a quenching operation which either avoids the use of water or subsequently removes any water in the 25 beans which would give a moisture content of a~ove 5%.
Preferably, the moisture content shG~ld be kept under about -4% and as close to 0~ as possi~le. The roasted ~eans are then suh~ected to a coarse pre-grind. This may be accomplished by a conventional dry grind tech~iques known in 3 the coffee art or by grinding roasted coffee in oil using a colloid or a tooth mill. Thic will give a coarse particle size of about 100 to 300 microns.

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& 9 1 According to the present invention, an edihle oil is then added to the dry, ground roasted coffee to form a slurry of the oil and roasted ground coffee heans. The oil m~y he any suitable oil or lipid material capable of farminy a coating or "encapsulating" the roasted groun~ coffee during the micro-milling step. The amount of oil added will vary somewhat depending on the nature of the oil. Coffee oil is the preferred oil for this invention but any vegetable oil which is sta~le to oxidative degradation can be used. Cor~
10 oil, olive oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are suit~le.
Typically, about 30% of the selected oil is ad~ed to about 70% of ground, dry coffee in fonming the oil-co$fee slurry.
However, as little as about 30%, and as much as about 95%, of the oil can be used in forming a suita~le slurry for wet-15 milling.
The oil slurry which can contain from a~out 5% toabout 70% of the dry roasted and ground coffee can then be wet-milled in appropriate wet milling app~ratus such as a Dyno-Mill wet grinder. The Dyno-Mill is manuactured by 20 Willy A. Bachofen AG and can be obtained in the United States through Glen Mills Inc., 203 Brookdale Street, Maywood, New Jersey 07607. The Dyno-Mill grinds the slurry o~ ground roasted coffee in oil to an extremely fine particle size.
The finely ground particles are disp~rsed withi~ the oil to 25 give a homogenous paste. The slurry to be processed i~
pumpe~ through a horizontal chamber cont~ining ceramic (zirconium oxide) hea~s at 1~7 to ~.0 mm. Of course, glass or steel beads can also ~e used. An agitation ~haft with rotor discs moves the beads at great speed impac~tng them 30 millions of times agaLnst the proces~ solids. The Lmpact forces generated by this action reduce the ground roasted coffee to between about 0.1 and about 20 microns with 75 to wad/SPEC/8405.BPS

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1 80% of the coffee between about 2 and about 10 microns. This create~ a uniform dispersion of the small particles in the oily paste. The oily dispersion or paste is discharged continuously while the beads are retained in the Dyno Mill by a "dynamlc separator" which forms an adjustable gap that holds the ceramic beads in the machine while allowing the oil dispersion to exit.
The disper~ion is characterized by the following particle size distributio~ for the roasted co ff ee micro-10 particles which are dispersed in the dispersion.
~lcroDs ¦~ B~ Weight ;
~2 5-25%
l .
<10 80-95%
~ . . . .
>10<20 5-20 _ _ _ - _ , Typically, less than 20% of the particles are between 10 and 20 microns, less than 25~ are between 0.1 and 2 microns, and at least 75% are between 2 and 10 microns.
While the above particle size distribution is effective to give the desired aromatization results of this invention, it is preferred that 100% of the coffee particles be reduced to a size of between about 0.1 and ahout 10 microns, and preferably between about 0.1 and abaut 5 25 microns. An average particle size of between ahout 2 microns to about 10 microns is very suitable for achieving the results of this invention. The smaller the size of the coffee particles, the more potent the coffee ar a an~ the coffee flavor.
As indicated, the aromatizer of th s invention is very potent anh while a broad range of from abaut 0.002~ to about 4.5% by wPight based on the weight of the foodstuff is operative, it has been found that as little as a~out 0.002%

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l to 1.5% of the aromatizer is sufficient to give the desired flavor and aroma Lmprovement to the foodstuff. In the case of soluble coffee, the range is about 0.02% to 3.0%, with about 0.08% to 1.8% preferred~ In the case of roasted and ground coffee, the range is about 0.002 to 1.5~, with about 0.1~ to 0.6~ preferred.
Thi5 invention will now be descrihed by rPference to several examples which will show preferred emhodLments and their advan~age over the prior art.

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209~9 ~romati_ea Soluhle Coffee Col~ ian coffee beans were roasted and then ~uenched _n air o give a molsture ccntent _n the -oasted ~ beans of less than 2% moisture. The dry roasted bean~ were hen pre-ground t~ gi~Je a coarse particle size o_ a~out 100 microns.
The dry roasted and ground coffee was mixed with coffee oil to rorm the following slurries (-O by weight):
1 _ I i ---- I 1~ T ~ ~ l .
Ex. ¦ A ¦ ~ ¦ C ¦ D
ground c~ffee5~ 30~ 50% 60-o_ 70~ aO%
-offee oil95~ 70~ 50% 1 40% 30~ 20 -'~TAL100% 11:)0% 100% 100% 100% 100%
_,_-- _ _ _ _ Eacn slurry was t~oroughly blended to form a dispersion of the coffee in the coffee oil. The dispersion was then ground in a "Dyno-Mill" KDL wet-mill grinder availa~le from Glen ~ills Inc. of 203 Brookdale Street, Maywood, New Jersey 07607. The dispersion of ground roasted coffee was pumped through a horizontal grin~i ng chamher ~illed to 85~ capacity ~ith ceramic (zirconium dioxide) beads. Inside the grinding chamber, a rapid rotating shaft (4500 rpm) fitted wi,th sp~cially designed discs drove 'he beads to rotate a~ an even more rapid rate. The high impact force of millions of beads pulverized the coffee into micromilled par-icles which were discharged t~rou~h a gap or opening in a separator for the beads. The grinding was done at low pressure (0 to 10 psig) and at 50 to 60C.
Tem~eratures a~ove 70C result in flavor degradati~n and burnt off-flavor notes. A uniform, smooth micromilled ~ispersion having an average mean particle size of between 2 wad/SPEC13405.3PS

a.d 10 microns ~as prcduced Ly the 'Ino-Mi'l. Analysis ~f the coffee particles showed a dlstribu,ion be~ween 0.1 to 20 microns.
All or ~he a~O-Je slurries -ave erfective ~ dispersions of ground coffee in oil. ~owever, at the 80%
ground _offee level (~x. F), the dispersion had an exceedingL~ high tiscoslty and the temperatures dur~ng grinding was difficult to control. Ex. C, D, and E (50~, 60%
and 70% ground -offee~ ~ave the opt~mum di,persions.
The dispersion of micromilled coffee of ~xample B
above was incorporated into a soluble coffee powder at the following levels (by ~teight):

3 ~ C ¦ D ~ I F _ 1¦
._ _ ¦ 1 d ¦ 0.3% ¦ 0.5g ¦ ~-9% ¦ 1~5go¦ 3.0% ~
The aDove samples were premixed a~ the measured amounts of paste with about 1/3 of the total soluble coffee powder to be aromatized. The admixture was blended in a Hobart mixer at speed 1 to form a free-flowing, yet slightly cohesive powder. The balance (2/3) of soluble coffee powder was then added and the admixture blended f~r an additional minute ~o give a homogenous aromatized salu~le coffee.
A hot coffee beverage was made from each of the 5 five samples ~y dispersing 1 ~m of the aromatized coffee powder in 99 gms of hot l90C) water while stirring the ~everage.
All of ~he above samples gave a detectahle improvement i~ the flavor and aroma af the hot coffee 3 beverage. Depending on the _ndivid~al prererence, the aromatizer level between 0.3~ to 0.5% was most preferred. At this level, the coffee had added body, more smoo~hness and wad/SP~C/8405.3PS

1 more of a rounded taste and flavor of freshly brewed coffee.
At the 1.5% and 3.0~ level, the flavor and aroma were exceedingly strong. The 0.9% level gave an acceptable flavor and aroma impact. This was also true in the case of 0.1~
level; a perceptible flavor and aroma impr~vement was readily detecta~le although weaker than the 0.3% to 0.9~ level.

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Negative Result A coarse grind of roasted Columbian coffee beans similar to Ex. 1, (except for having a moisture content of J about 7%) was slurried in water (instead of oil) in the following % by weight:
_ - _ - , _; _ l ~x. A B C D ¦ ~ ¦ F
l ___ . _ __ _ lO¦ ground coffee ~ 10% 15~ 30~ 40~ 70~ I
water 95% 90~ 85% 70% 60% 30%
TOTAL 100% 100% 100% 100~ 100~ 100%
. _ _ __ Each slurry was thoroughly ~lended to form a 5 dispersio~ of the coffee in the water. The watery dispersion was then ground in a "Dyno-Mill" following a procedure similar to that of Ex. 1. All samples, except Sample A, failed due to high viscosity. Milling or size reduction efficiency was poor due to development of a rubbery, thick, 20 viscous tex~ure of hydrated roasted coffee. The Sample A
product which was successfully micromilled to the Ex. 1 particle size was placed in storage at 10C. A tobacco-like off-odor was noted within two days of storage. This compared .-~ery unfavora~ly with the Ex. 1 product which could ~e stored 25 at 10C for over six (6) months without developing any of~-notes or loss of coffee flavor and aroma.
Efforts to mix the a~ueou dispersion of Sample A
while still s~ahle (within 24 hours of storage at 10Cj failed due to formation of large lumps in the Hobart mixer.
3 The lumps became as hard as rock candy making any homogeneous mix impossible.

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2 ~ & ~

1 Comparison of the Sample A aqueous dispersion wi~h the oily disper~ion of Ex. 1 showed the olly dispersion to be far superior in potency of aroma and flavor to the aqueous dispersion of Sample A.

.

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romatized Roasted and Ground Coffee The Sample C of Example 1 oil dispersion of micromilled coffee (50% roasted coffee and 50% coffee oil) 5 was admixed at the 0.1~ and 0.14~ level in roasted and ground Columbian coffee to test the applicability of the aromatizer to brewed coffee. The coffee was then brewed and compared to a control with na aromatizer added. All tasters indicated that the aromatized brewed coffee was different, had a lO stronger flavor and aroma intensity characterized by a woody note (similar to brewed Colombian coffee).

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Aromatized "Postum~"
The Sample C of Example 1 dispersion was incorporated in Postum~ (a roasted wheat grain beverage 5 powder) at the 1.1% level based on the total weight of the Postum~ powder. A hot Postum~ beverage was made by dispersing 1 gm of the aromatized Postum~ in 99 gm of hot (99C) water while stirring the beverage. All tasters indicated a dramatic improvement in the flavor and taste of lO the Postum~ bevera~e in the direction of a more coffee-like flavor and aroma. Moreover, the aromatized Postum~ dispersed better than the unaromatized Postum~.
As is sPlf evident and as emerges from the foregoing, this invention is in no way limited to the 15 specific examples and em~odiments which have been more particularly described; but encompasses, on the contrary all modifications of the appended claims.

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Claims

1. A process for making a stable coffee flavor and aroma source from roasted coffee beans which comprises:
making a slurry of dry roasted and ground beans with an edible oil, said slurry containing about 5% to about 70% ground roasted coffee and about 95% to about 30% of edible oil, said roasted and ground coffee having a moisture content less than about 5%; and milling the ground roasted coffee in the presence of said oil to a particle size of between about 0.1 to about 20 microns to thereby form a stable dispersion of said coffee in said oil.

2. The process of Claim 4 wherein the edible oil is a coffee oil.

3. The process of Claim 1 wherein the edible oil is vegetable oil.

4. The process of Claim 1 wherein the dry roasted and ground coffee has a moisture content of less than 2% and the coffee particles are milled to a particle size of between about 0.1 to about 10 microns.

5. The process of Claim 1 wherein the coffee particles are milled to an average particle size of about to about 10 microns.

6. The process of Claim 1 wherein the coffee particles are milled to a particle size of between about 0.1 to about 5 microns.

7. The process of Claim 2 wherein the slurry comprises from about 50% to about 70% ground coffee beans and from about 50% to about 30% coffee oil.

8. The process of Claim 1 wherein the dispersion of micromilled coffee in oil is incorporated in a foodstuff to give an enhanced coffee flavor and aroma.

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9. The process of Claim 8 wherein the dispersion is admixed with soluble coffee powder at a level of about 0.02% to about 3.0% based on the total weight of the soluble coffee.

10. The process of Claim 8 wherein the dispersion is admixed with soluble coffee powder at a level of about 0.08% to about 1.8% by weight of the soluble coffee.

11. The process of Claim 8 wherein the dispersion is admixed with roasted and ground coffee at a level of about 0.002% to about 1.5%.

12. The process of Claim 8 wherein the dispersion is admixed with roasted and ground coffee at a level of about 0.013% to about 0.60%.

13. A process for aromatizing soluble coffee powder with a stable and potent brewed coffee flavor and aroma source made from dry roasted and ground coffee beans which comprises:
making a slurry of the dry roasted and ground beans with coffee oil, said slurry containing from about 5% to about 70% ground roasted coffee and about 95% to about 30%
coffee oil, said dry roasted and ground coffee having a moisture content less than about 2%;
milling said coffee in the presence of said oil to a particle size of between about 0.1 to 10 microns to thereby form a stable dispersion of said coffee in said oil; and admixing between about 0.02% to about 3.0% by weight of said dispersion with soluble coffee powder to obtain an aromatized soluble coffee.

14. The process of Claim 13 wherein the coffee particles are milled to an average particle size of between about 2 to about 10 microns.

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15. A process for aromatizing roasted and ground coffee with a stable coffee flavor and aroma from dry roasted and ground coffee beans which comprises:
making a slurry of the dry roasted and ground beans with coffee oil, said slurry containing from about 5% to about 70% of the dry roasted coffee, said dry roasted coffee having a moisture content of less than about 2%;
milling the coffee in the presence of said oil to a particle size of between about 0.1 to 10 microns to thereby form a stable dispersion of said coffee in said oil; and admixing between about 0.02% to about 1.3% by weight of said dispersion with roasted and ground coffee to obtain an aromatized roasted and ground coffee.

16. The process of Claim 15 wherein the micromilled coffee particles are milled to an average particle size of between about 2 to about 10 microns.

17. A stable coffee flavor and aroma comprising a dispersion of about 5% to about 70% of dry roasted micromilled coffee in about 95% to about 30% of an edible oil, said micromilled coffee having a moisture content of less than about 5% and a particle size of between about 0.1 to about 20 microns.

18. The coffee aromatizer of Claim 17 wherein the moisture content of the micromilled coffee is less than about 2% and the particle size of the micromilled coffee is about 0.1 to about 10 microns.

19. The coffee aromatizer of Claim 17 wherein the average particle size of the micromilled coffee is between about 2 and 10 microns.

20. The coffee aromatizer of Claim 17 wherein the particle size of the micromilled coffee is about 0.1 to about 5 microns.

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21. The coffee aromatizer of Claim 17 wherein the edible oil is coffee oil.

22. A foodstuff containing from about 0.02 to about 4.5% of the coffee aromatizer of Claim 17.

23. A soluble coffee powder containing from about 0.02 to about 3% of the coffee aromatizer of Claim 17.

24. A roasted and ground coffee containing from about 0.08% to about 1.8% of the coffee aromatizer of Claim 17.

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