If you’re wondering “is coffee acidic”, this may mean that you’re noticing stomach issues when drinking coffee, or that you’ve simply heard it on the grape vine (they’re quite acidic, by the way…).
Maybe you’ve read something like “fruity acidity” on a bag of coffee beans, and you’re wondering does this actually mean acidic in terms of pH level, or is it simply a taste descriptor?
As with most things coffee related, acidity in coffee isn’t quite as straight forward as it may appear.
But first let’s just deal with the question “is coffee acidic”, in terms of pH.
Coffee is usually considered moderately acidic, around 4.85 – 5.10 on the pH scale. This is due to the presence of natural acids like chlorogenic acid in coffee. Not all coffee has the same level of acidity, and we can reduce the acidity in coffee by choosing particular roast levels, and with the chosen brewing method, and by adding stuff like milk/cream.
So there you go, if you were literally looking for the technical answer, I’ve given it to you straight away without making you read through unnecessary waffle :-).
If you’re like me, though, you love waffles, and you might want to jump a bit deeper into the subject, because there is quite a bit more to it than that, and it may be beneficial to be in possession of the full picture.
Is Coffee Acidic?
As I’ve alluded to above, the short answer is yeah, coffee is fairly acidic.
Brewed coffee generally has a pH between 4.85 and 5.10 , so it’s nowhere near as acidic as drinks such as soda, orange juice or wine, and has a similar acidity to black tea.
Green coffee beans contain many natural acids, including chlorogenic acid. When coffee beans are roasted, these acids break down, transforming the flavor profile.
A light roast coffee retains more of these bright, tangy acids. In contrast, a dark roast lowers acidity, producing a smoother, less acidic coffee.
In short, coffee’s acidity is the secret to its bright, vibrant flavors, which many people love.
Aside from roast level, bean types also influence acidity. Arabica coffee beans are naturally higher in acidity than Robusta coffee beans – and higher grown Arabicas are usually higher in acidity than lower grown Arabicas.
What does Acidic Taste Mean?
One of the reasons people are often concerned about the level of acidity in coffee is they’ll see descriptions along the lines of “bright acidity”, “Juicy acidity”, “green apple acidity” and so on when reading coffee taste notes.
This is referring to the flavor notes of the coffee, not the pH level – and acidity in taste does relate to acidity in pH, but not as intensely.
For example when we say a coffee has “Lemon juice acidity” we’re not saying that it literally has a PH of 2 or so. Actually in terms of PH level it’s unlikely that we’d be talking about any more than a 0.5 – 1 pH difference between a very low acidity coffee and a very high acidity coffee.
So in other words, you don’t need to worry too much if you read “lemon juice acidity” in the taste notes of a bag of coffee beans – this doesn’t mean it’ll have the actual PH acidity of lemon juice, it’s just a taste descriptor, and although the kind of coffee with this kind of taste descriptor may be slightly more acidic in PH, we’re talking about relatively small differences.
What Influences the Acidity Of Coffee In The Cup?
Now we’ve dealt with the “is coffee acidic” question in general, let’s talk about the acidity of different types of coffee.
Not all coffee has the same level of acidity, so if you do need to seek out the lowest acidity coffee possible, you can do this by considering following – which relate to both the acidity in coffee in terms of taste profile, and pH level – but not quite to the same degree.
Beans – Arabica or Robusta?
Generally, Arabica coffee has higher acidity than Robusta, which tends to be earthier and less acidic.
Arabica beans can have more interesting, bright flavors, they also contain more chlorogenic acid.
So an Arabica Robusta blend, for example, can be slightly less acidic than a 100% Arabica (keep in mind that Robusta contains more caffeine, though, so an Arabica/Robusta blend will contain more caffeine than a 100% Arabica.
What Coffee Has The Most Caffeine?
Coffees grown at higher altitudes tends to grow slower, one of the results of this is more acids including chlorogenic acid, which is why higher grown coffees often have vibrant & acidic taste notes.
So as well as Robusta, looking for lower grown Arabica coffees is another way to find lower acidity coffees. In fact a lot of traditional espresso blends are blends of lower grown Brazilian coffee beans and Robusta, which usually make them less acidic than higher grown single origins.
Roast Level
Generally speaking, the darker the roast, the less acidic – and the lighter the roast, the greater the acidity.
The reason for this is simply that a more developed roast causes more break down of the acids.
The reverse is also true, lesser developed roasts don’t break down the acidity as much, and can result in a sharper, more zippy flavor profile – and also a slight reduction in acidity in terms of PH.
Love coffee with a bright zing? Stick with light or medium roasts. Craving mellow, chocolatey notes? A dark roast is your best bet.
Brewing Method
How you brew your coffee can have quite an impact on its acidity.
The best brewing method for low acidity coffee – particular where taste is concerned, and to a slightly lesser degree when it comes to pH, is cold brew.
Cold brew can taste a lot less acidic than the same beans brewed hot, simple because of the slow, cold water extraction. You can, of course, drink cold brew hot, too – so this doesn’t mean that you have to drink your coffee cold in order to reduce the acidity, it just means it’s been brewed cold, you can brew a strong cold brew concentrate and then simply dilute it with hot water.
Again though it’s important to note that although the taste of cold brewed coffee may be much less acidic than the same beans brewed hot, for example it could be perceived as something like 50% less acidity on the palate, the actual drop in pH level is usually more subtle, so for example a cold brew may taste about half as acidic as an espresso – but may be only something like 0.2 – 0.5 different in terms of pH.