MILAN – Some researchers believe to have identified the ideal combinations of flavour and caffeine contained in the perfect cup of coffee. “Over 20 years ago, I heard a barista claim that dark roasts have more caffeine, but a decade later, I was exposed to the contrasting idea that light roasts were the king of caffeine. Yet, I couldn’t find any convincing data,” explains Zachary Lindsey, an assistant professor of physics at Georgia’s Berry College, as reported in Popular Science.
Zachary Lindsey’s team analyzed the relationship between coffee beans’ chemical properties though different roasting and brewing scenarios. The team focused on natural and washed processed Ethiopian beans.
“When selecting a brew method, the main goal was to implement a procedure that could consistently produce brews within a wide range of extraction yields by only varying the brew time,” continues Lindsey.
The results offered insight at 30 unique coffee combinations on microscopic levels. The team used high-performance liquid chromatography to asses molecular makeup. The study came to the conclusion that light and medium roasts have more levels of caffeine than darker variants on average.
However, darker roast have higher caffeine levels when porosity and extractions yields were uniform across varieties. In conclusion, in order to have more caffeine during the day it is preferable to consume a medium roast blend.
