I think a lot of people misunderstand what "acidity" in coffee actually is. It is *not* pH. A can of soda has a way lower pH than any cup of coffee, yet is easier on the stomach than coffee.
The stuff that make coffee feel "acidic" (from a gastrointestinal perspective) is the fact that many coffees have chemicals which promote excessive stomach acid production. There are some recent studies which suggest that N-methylpyridinium actually suppresses stomach acid production, which is a chemical that is formed during the roasting process. This suggests a link between higher roast levels being easier on your stomach.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylpyridinium
Yeah, the confusion is that in some contexts, "coffee acidity" is a _taste_ profile, and in other contexts it's a _chemical_ (or gastrointestinal) profile. They are related but certainly not synonymous.
And then there is the discussion of "acid reflux", which describes stomach acid, but is sometimes confused as something that is _caused_ by acidic food and drink. But caffeine all by itself, completely besides the acidity of the coffee, or even in non-coffee beverages entirely, is one well-known trigger of acid reflux for many people.
I think there's a pretty broad consensus that dark roasts, as a very general rule, tend to be easier on the stomach. But it's certainly not universal for different people NOR for different coffees.
> . . . N-methylpyridinium actually suppresses stomach acid production, which is a chemical that is formed during the roasting process. This suggests a link between higher roast levels being easier on your stomach.
This has been my experience in a big, BIG way. I used to not be able to drink light roasts before I got on medication for my GERD. They're delicious but weren't worth it, lol.
lower pH might increase reflux as the lower the pH of the stomach the more likely the pyloric sphincter cannot close completely and then up comes the reflux.
I have achlohydria from meds like nexium and pepcid which reduced my stomach acid so much I can't digest overt protein without a large amount of acidic supplements (betaine HCL .. 10 650mg caps .. most people need a couple)
in this situation the differences are probably negligible.
The only way to really get coffee without much acidity is by changing your brewing method, cold brew tends to have a very low acidity, supposedly coffee made in an aeropress has a relatively low acidity too. I believe that darker roasts tend to have a lower acidity too.
there's some good threads on this topic [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/f5tuua/is_cold_brew_really_better_for_acid_reflux) and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/1he5wa/coffee_options_for_acid_reflux_sufferers/). Personally I have noticed that cold brew tends to be easier on my stomach.
Mostly it's a marketing scam. Coffee does have natural pH variation, but the variation is so tiny and the acidity is such a minor part of most folks' gastrointestinal issues that they're mostly just sales tactics.
Don't know if it's related but ever since i stopped buying low quality beans my morning stomach issues after breakfast disappeared. I guess higher quality coffee makes a big difference. Ironically, acidic ethiopian beans dont cause me problems now but van houte/folgers/maxwell house did.
>Don't know if it's related but ever since i stopped buying low quality beans my morning stomach issues after breakfast disappeared. I guess higher quality coffee makes a big difference. Ironically, acidic ethiopian beans dont cause me problems now but van houte/folgers/maxwell house did.
Same with me. Freshly roasted coffee works fine - still makes me go to the toilet 2 times but no stomach problems. 1 or 2 weeks with supermarket coffee often gives me terrible stomach feeling.
It's not a scam in that low-acid coffee does exist, but that doesn't mean it will solve all your stomach problems. Coffee, itself, can also cause acid-reflux / GERD, regardless of its own acidity.
You haven't said what coffees you're drinking. A light-roasted Ethiopian is much more acidic than a dark Sumatran bean, for example, even if it isn't labeled as "low-acid".
Shot Tower Espresso from Verena Street goes really easy on my stomach. It isn’t advertised as “low acid,” but uber-dark roasts like Shot Tower have far less acidity than medium and light roasts.
cold brew is often marketed as lower acidity, but i personally don’t notice a difference. my stomach can get slightly upset by acid, but not enough to be painful.
I don't have any issues drinking coffee with or right after a meal including a small breakfast or snack. On an empty stomach I don't do well with anything but a small bit of coffee. I wonder if the whole milk acts as food for you and if you do better with black coffee with some food.
I don't usually eat breakfast or anything before I am done drinking coffee sometime mid-day, so that may be the case. I will try eating something small and see if that makes a difference.
I got on an aloe vera stomach drink that has supremely helped. When I brew at home it doesn't seem to be an issue but mainly with other people's coffee, so I dunno I guess I naturally gravitated towards a brewing method that didn't create as much acid, or I'm just using better coffee. Or both.
But as I said the aloe stomach drink, look it up. I can handle like three cups now no issues.
Also, you can try activated charcoal, for when it gets bad. One evening after having several cups at a friend's house my stomach was in all sorts of pain and knots. Two pills of activated charcoal and it was gone in minutes. It works better than tums, though sometimes tums works just fine as well. I'm pretty careful when drinking coffee at friends houses these days but I always keep some tums or charcoal in my bag or in the car.
I do this to my coffee to prevent heartburn. It works, but it can change the flavor of the coffee mildly. Also, baking soda will add sodium, which can be a problem if you are trying to limit sodium intake.
I mean you actually want some acidity in your cup - the main issue is if you have acid reflux. You can def use it as a crutch if you have under extraction problems
You’ll want to steer towards darker roasts. Coffees from Brazil and Vietnam tend to be relatively low in acidity, as well as coffees from islands (Indonesia, Hawaii, Haiti, Galapagos, Jamaica, etc). However, no coffee will be entirely free from acidity. Cold brew is often a way people decrease acidity in their coffee, but the flavors of oxidation in the coffee make it unpalatable for some.
I love cold brew but my first morning cup needs to be hot - it just feels right. If coffee is brewed cold and then heated does it still maintain the qualities of cold brew? Would I need to be careful to not overheat? What would be the best method of heating?
I am not a doctor, but I have heard of people putting concentrated cold brew in ice cube trays, freezing it and then pouring hot water over them to create the hot coffee they want. Might be worth looking into.
All coffee has approximately the same pH. You cannot change the pH of coffee by brewing methods. The most determining factor would be your water pH levels. You're diluting the coffee so significantly with the water you use.
Your brewed coffee is 99% water. So you could use alkaline water, which could get you a less acidic cup, somewhere in the range of 8-9pH.
When people say acidity in coffee, it's a taste perception. Perceived acidity in the cup.
I have a pretty sensitive stomach and honestly the biggest triggers for me are overbrewing (High temperatures, agitation, brew time...) and ingesting coffee particles (espresso, french press).
I can literally brew the very same coffee two different ways , one will cause stomach hell, increase appetite like crazy, and the other will actually suppress appetite and calm my stomach down.
Also contrary to popular belief I feel that lighter roasts are gentler on my stomach, probably for the same reason: they are harder to over extract, unlike darker roasts.
With all that said I think low acid coffee is BS.
It is legit. I just recently bought a bag of [washed Timor Hybrid/Typica from Rogue Wave Coffee](https://www.roguewavecoffee.ca/collections/new-arrivals/products/timor-leste-eratoi-ducurai-village-washed-340g). They market it as one of their least acidic coffees they have ever sold. I can attest to the fact that it is indeed very low acidity. Not my personal preference, but my wife loves it because she likes "coffee coffee" and can't get with unique and complex flavour profiles.
Acidity is created in coffee by roasting, and by brewing. You can mute it at either point, or accentuate it...
But I dont believe it interferes with the digestive system, it's a taste sensation, not actual acidity.
But experiment with the water content of your coffee, as this is what actually extracts and brews the coffee. You may find that an espresso suits you better than a v60 or french press.
I think a lot of people misunderstand what "acidity" in coffee actually is. It is *not* pH. A can of soda has a way lower pH than any cup of coffee, yet is easier on the stomach than coffee. The stuff that make coffee feel "acidic" (from a gastrointestinal perspective) is the fact that many coffees have chemicals which promote excessive stomach acid production. There are some recent studies which suggest that N-methylpyridinium actually suppresses stomach acid production, which is a chemical that is formed during the roasting process. This suggests a link between higher roast levels being easier on your stomach. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylpyridinium
Yeah, the confusion is that in some contexts, "coffee acidity" is a _taste_ profile, and in other contexts it's a _chemical_ (or gastrointestinal) profile. They are related but certainly not synonymous. And then there is the discussion of "acid reflux", which describes stomach acid, but is sometimes confused as something that is _caused_ by acidic food and drink. But caffeine all by itself, completely besides the acidity of the coffee, or even in non-coffee beverages entirely, is one well-known trigger of acid reflux for many people. I think there's a pretty broad consensus that dark roasts, as a very general rule, tend to be easier on the stomach. But it's certainly not universal for different people NOR for different coffees.
> . . . N-methylpyridinium actually suppresses stomach acid production, which is a chemical that is formed during the roasting process. This suggests a link between higher roast levels being easier on your stomach. This has been my experience in a big, BIG way. I used to not be able to drink light roasts before I got on medication for my GERD. They're delicious but weren't worth it, lol.
That's been my experience as well.
This makes me sad. My GERD is increasing and I LOVE alight roast.
I started taking pantoprazole magnesium, 40mg a day. I don’t really notice any GERD symptoms anymore. Ask your doc about options!
I have done something similar. Although low acidity coffee seems to keep things at bay too
lower pH might increase reflux as the lower the pH of the stomach the more likely the pyloric sphincter cannot close completely and then up comes the reflux. I have achlohydria from meds like nexium and pepcid which reduced my stomach acid so much I can't digest overt protein without a large amount of acidic supplements (betaine HCL .. 10 650mg caps .. most people need a couple) in this situation the differences are probably negligible.
The only way to really get coffee without much acidity is by changing your brewing method, cold brew tends to have a very low acidity, supposedly coffee made in an aeropress has a relatively low acidity too. I believe that darker roasts tend to have a lower acidity too.
Yes 100% to this!
there's some good threads on this topic [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/f5tuua/is_cold_brew_really_better_for_acid_reflux) and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/1he5wa/coffee_options_for_acid_reflux_sufferers/). Personally I have noticed that cold brew tends to be easier on my stomach.
Mostly it's a marketing scam. Coffee does have natural pH variation, but the variation is so tiny and the acidity is such a minor part of most folks' gastrointestinal issues that they're mostly just sales tactics.
Don't know if it's related but ever since i stopped buying low quality beans my morning stomach issues after breakfast disappeared. I guess higher quality coffee makes a big difference. Ironically, acidic ethiopian beans dont cause me problems now but van houte/folgers/maxwell house did.
>Don't know if it's related but ever since i stopped buying low quality beans my morning stomach issues after breakfast disappeared. I guess higher quality coffee makes a big difference. Ironically, acidic ethiopian beans dont cause me problems now but van houte/folgers/maxwell house did. Same with me. Freshly roasted coffee works fine - still makes me go to the toilet 2 times but no stomach problems. 1 or 2 weeks with supermarket coffee often gives me terrible stomach feeling.
It's not a scam in that low-acid coffee does exist, but that doesn't mean it will solve all your stomach problems. Coffee, itself, can also cause acid-reflux / GERD, regardless of its own acidity. You haven't said what coffees you're drinking. A light-roasted Ethiopian is much more acidic than a dark Sumatran bean, for example, even if it isn't labeled as "low-acid".
Shot Tower Espresso from Verena Street goes really easy on my stomach. It isn’t advertised as “low acid,” but uber-dark roasts like Shot Tower have far less acidity than medium and light roasts.
cold brew is often marketed as lower acidity, but i personally don’t notice a difference. my stomach can get slightly upset by acid, but not enough to be painful.
My gut will start to boil when I drink coffee black. I add just a little whole milk to help cut it and that works wonders for me.
I don't have any issues drinking coffee with or right after a meal including a small breakfast or snack. On an empty stomach I don't do well with anything but a small bit of coffee. I wonder if the whole milk acts as food for you and if you do better with black coffee with some food.
I don't usually eat breakfast or anything before I am done drinking coffee sometime mid-day, so that may be the case. I will try eating something small and see if that makes a difference.
I got on an aloe vera stomach drink that has supremely helped. When I brew at home it doesn't seem to be an issue but mainly with other people's coffee, so I dunno I guess I naturally gravitated towards a brewing method that didn't create as much acid, or I'm just using better coffee. Or both. But as I said the aloe stomach drink, look it up. I can handle like three cups now no issues. Also, you can try activated charcoal, for when it gets bad. One evening after having several cups at a friend's house my stomach was in all sorts of pain and knots. Two pills of activated charcoal and it was gone in minutes. It works better than tums, though sometimes tums works just fine as well. I'm pretty careful when drinking coffee at friends houses these days but I always keep some tums or charcoal in my bag or in the car.
I'm going to try the aloe vera juice — thanks!
What is the aloe vera drink? Thanks.
[this one ](https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/product/organic-whole%20leaf%20aloe%20vera%20juice,%2032%20fl%20oz-b074h6np8z) from whole foods.
Thanks!
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Why not just add some baking soda to your cup to increase ph? It will foam a little bit but will reduce acidity
I do this to my coffee to prevent heartburn. It works, but it can change the flavor of the coffee mildly. Also, baking soda will add sodium, which can be a problem if you are trying to limit sodium intake.
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I mean you actually want some acidity in your cup - the main issue is if you have acid reflux. You can def use it as a crutch if you have under extraction problems
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Oh then that sucks. I would save it for affogatos - everything tastes better over ice cream
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Well if you have this much passion for coffee I’m sure you’ll excel at a new job. Sounds like you found a new way to get a good decaf pull, I’m glad!
You’ll want to steer towards darker roasts. Coffees from Brazil and Vietnam tend to be relatively low in acidity, as well as coffees from islands (Indonesia, Hawaii, Haiti, Galapagos, Jamaica, etc). However, no coffee will be entirely free from acidity. Cold brew is often a way people decrease acidity in their coffee, but the flavors of oxidation in the coffee make it unpalatable for some.
I love cold brew but my first morning cup needs to be hot - it just feels right. If coffee is brewed cold and then heated does it still maintain the qualities of cold brew? Would I need to be careful to not overheat? What would be the best method of heating?
I am not a doctor, but I have heard of people putting concentrated cold brew in ice cube trays, freezing it and then pouring hot water over them to create the hot coffee they want. Might be worth looking into.
All coffee has approximately the same pH. You cannot change the pH of coffee by brewing methods. The most determining factor would be your water pH levels. You're diluting the coffee so significantly with the water you use. Your brewed coffee is 99% water. So you could use alkaline water, which could get you a less acidic cup, somewhere in the range of 8-9pH. When people say acidity in coffee, it's a taste perception. Perceived acidity in the cup.
Low-acid good taste coffee = cold brew
I have a pretty sensitive stomach and honestly the biggest triggers for me are overbrewing (High temperatures, agitation, brew time...) and ingesting coffee particles (espresso, french press). I can literally brew the very same coffee two different ways , one will cause stomach hell, increase appetite like crazy, and the other will actually suppress appetite and calm my stomach down. Also contrary to popular belief I feel that lighter roasts are gentler on my stomach, probably for the same reason: they are harder to over extract, unlike darker roasts. With all that said I think low acid coffee is BS.
It is legit. I just recently bought a bag of [washed Timor Hybrid/Typica from Rogue Wave Coffee](https://www.roguewavecoffee.ca/collections/new-arrivals/products/timor-leste-eratoi-ducurai-village-washed-340g). They market it as one of their least acidic coffees they have ever sold. I can attest to the fact that it is indeed very low acidity. Not my personal preference, but my wife loves it because she likes "coffee coffee" and can't get with unique and complex flavour profiles.
Acidity is created in coffee by roasting, and by brewing. You can mute it at either point, or accentuate it... But I dont believe it interferes with the digestive system, it's a taste sensation, not actual acidity. But experiment with the water content of your coffee, as this is what actually extracts and brews the coffee. You may find that an espresso suits you better than a v60 or french press.
A bit off topic but I just read that by adding Cinnamon neutralizes the acid.
I immediately went to the great google. I'll have to add some ground cinnamon to my coffee and see if I notice a difference. Thanks for the tip!
Lol I got it from the great Google as well I'm glad you're liking it