Coffee may be healthier for you than previously thought
Dr. Kyle Feldmann, a cardiologist, breaks down new findings on the health benefits of drinking multiple cups of coffee a day.
An inconsistent cup of coffee can make or break your day — but new research is shedding light on just how the industry can dial up the production process for a more reliable flavor.
University of Oregon researchers repurposed a tool called a potentiostat, typically used to test batteries, to send an electrical current through coffee.
Through this simple process, they were able to identify coffee's "chemical fingerprint" that determines the drink's flavor.
YOUR MORNING COFFEE COULD BE MAKING YOU MORE TIRED, EXPERTS WARN: 'LIKE A ROLLER COASTER'
"It's an objective way to make a statement about what people like in a cup of coffee," university chemist Christopher Hendon, the lead researcher known around campus as "Dr. Coffee," said in a news release.
Traditional tests mainly focus on measuring the strength of coffee. Yet many other factors go into the way coffee tastes, including roast color and extraction strength.
Scientists have discovered how to use electrochemistry to determine a particular coffee's flavor. (iStock)
The team's research shows how to move beyond measuring the strength of coffee alone to produce a more complete flavor profile cafés can replicate.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES
"The reason you have an enjoyable cup of coffee is almost certainly that you have selected a coffee of a particular roast color and extracted it to a desired strength," Hendon said.
"Until now, we haven't been able to separate those variables. Now we can diagnose what gives rise to that delicious cup."
The new research will enable coffee shops to provide more consistent coffee flavors to customers. (iStock)
During testing, the researchers used four samples from the same English roaster and were able to identify a defective sample that had failed the roaster's quality control, despite the identical appearance of all the batches.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
"In the short term, we hope this is something that will make a difference in coffee shops and in the coffee industry," Hendon said.
A cup of coffee's flavor is determined by more than its strength, researchers report. (iStock)
These findings, which the researchers published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications, are remarkable, but they will take some time to drip down to the consumer, said Bryan Quoc Le, a consulting food scientist and founder and CEO of California-based Mendocino Food Consulting.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
"[The science] still relies on expensive components to make it work into a feasible technology," Le told Fox News Digital.
TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ
"The interesting bit here is that now we have a way to access the subjective quality in the taste and flavor of coffee using quantifiable measurements. Which means we could start seeing a serious improvement in the coffee game across all coffee shops over the years."
