Manufacturing Flavored Coffee Beans

The sprouting of specialty coffee shops has stirred many people worldwide into drinking coffee.  Even multi-national coffee shop companies have decided to go head on and open coffee shops in China where tea is very popular amongst hot beverages. 

The flavored coffee bean sector has tripled or even quadrupled its sales volume for the past few decades when people have realized the rich complementary flavor of flavored coffee beans.  Coffee experts would view the flavoring of the coffee as an enhancement of what really is the true coffee flavor and not to overpower it. 

Many have come to love their favorite flavored coffee bean but only a few have come to see and share what really goes behind in making it. 

Processing of the beans

The common method of processing the coffee bean is the dry method.  The harvested beans are laid on the dryer and are exposed to the sun for it to dehydrate.  Through milling, the coffee bean is then separated from the plant or other debris.  The next step is roasting the beans.  Roasting can have five different levels of roast which are commonly known as the following: American Roast, Viennese Roast, Italian Roast, French Dark Roast, and Espresso Black Roast.

Adding the Flavor to the Beans

The best type of roast where a flavor can be appreciated is the medium roast.  The flavor is just right to be tasted without sacrificing the roasted coffee’s taste nor having too powerful a roast to be flavored with.  Having a mild roasted coffee bean flavored can raise the coffee’s taste to be lost with the flavoring and a dark roasted coffee can trample the flavoring added to it. 

An industry wide practice is to limit the flavoring oil to only 2 – 3% of the total weight of the processed batch to have a good balance of taste and aroma between coffee roast and flavoring. 

Packing the Flavored Coffee Beans

After the mixing process, the flavored coffee beans are packed in foiled packages to ensure freshness and seal all the oils inside to preserve that rich taste, texture and aroma.  Since the process of roasting coffee beans releases the essential oils and may stale quickly, packing these beans must be done as quickly as possible so that it won’t be exposed to the atmosphere and to ensure that the packaging is oxygen free as possible. 

To ensure fresh flavored brewed coffee, the processed roast must be consumed within two to three weeks from its manufacture date and must be stored in a cool, dark place.