S'mores; Hazelnut; Salted Caramel, sound delicious right? How many of us are guilty of bringing these coffee-flavoured beans or instant coffee home? As an idea, brands make it sound like consuming these treats in flavoured-coffee form is a healthy alternative to the real thing – these smell delicious, bring with it the promise of no extra calories, and they make coffee time extra special. There are a few things that you might want to keep in mind as you're browsing those shelves. While we enjoy and sip in oblivion, a number of flavoured coffee brands are adding something incredibly unhealthy to your cups. These facts might just change the way you like your coffee.
The Flavouring Process
The process of flavouring beans begins in the lab where chemists use natural and synthetic ingredients to concoct these flavours. Some flavours can take up to 80 ingredients to achieve taste. Once a flavour is developed, it is then diluted and coated on the roasted beans by a spraying method, hence the shiny coating you see on the bean. The process is not sustainable and leaves a massive carbon footprint.
An Amalgamation Of Chemicals And Preservatives
The most common coffee flavouring chemical compound propylene glycol, also exists in engine coolants. Common coffee flavours like Irish cream, peanut or even hazelnut are made with chemicals and compounds including ethyl alcohol, dimethylamine-D1, and formamidine acetate. Don’t believe me? Next time you buy a pack read the fine print.
It's A Way To Disguise Low-Grade Coffee
Unroasted beans can stay fresh for anywhere between three months to a year. Once they've been roasted, though, the perfect window to use them typically comes between seven and ten days. So what about beans that age out before they're sold? Adding flavour to the coffee is an easy way to mask the quality of the bean. Flavoured coffee is made of cheap—and often old—coffee beans sprayed with synthetic flavouring and bathed in oils.