If you have a sensitive stomach, you may find that drinking your beloved coffee may be a bit difficult for you. You may find that it gives you heartburn or acid reflux or indigestion. This can be very disappointing if you rely on your morning cup of java to get you going, or if you’re a lover of gourmet coffee brands. However, there is hope for you. There is such a thing as low acid coffee, and it just may be the thing you need to keep drinking the beverage you love the most.

While there is no naturally grown low acid coffee, there are ways of taking the acid out of the product in a natural, chemical-free fashion. This is typically accomplished by using the extracts of certain mushrooms to de-acidify the beans. Reishi mushrooms are most commonly used for this. An extract of the mushroom is roasted with the beans, and the final product is a bean that can make a coffee that’s much easier on your stomach. You’ll no longer get that burning, painful sensation after drinking your morning cup. Best of all, there’s no sacrifice of taste or quality in low acid versions, so you should hardly notice any difference at all in what you’re drinking. The caffeine content will even still be the same.

Low acid coffee also has a few unique health benefits that the regular version doesn’t have. Because of the mushroom extracts used to create it, this coffee can balance your body’s pH levels, regulate your blood sugar, improve your metabolism, and get rid of toxins in your body. You can actually become healthier in a variety of ways by drinking this type of coffee. All you have to do is know where to buy it, since you brew it exactly the same as the regular version. Fortunately, it’s not hard to find. You can get the low acid version at most specialty coffee shops, as well as at some major grocery stores. A lot of health food stores carry it, as well. Just look for the indication of the product’s acid content on the label. If it’s low like you want, the label will say so.

If you can’t find low acid coffee locally, Amazon sells several brands including:

• HealthWise 100% Colombian Supremo, Low Acid Ground Coffee
• Puroast Low Acid House Blend
• Hevla Low Acid Coffee

Coffee begins to lose its flavor when it first picked, but the type of coffee you buy determines how long it will last. If properly stored:

• Whole beans should maintain original flavor the longest.
• Roasted beans may take a week to see a significant decline in flavor.
• Ground coffee begins to lose flavor within an hour of opening. It is also prone to moisture.

The packaging of coffee affects its freshness too.

How coffee is packaged:

1. For the longest lasting roasted coffee, look for plastic film or foil bag with the nitrogen flushed out and closed with a permanent heat seal. A valve lock will keep out external air best. The valve protects the beans from moisture and so the coffee remain fresh longer. The best part of this valve locking system is that you can keep the coffee in its original packaging.
2. Coffee in ordinary plastic bags or wax line sealed bags should be avoided.
   

   Once opened the roasted beans will lose the freshness within just a few days. Ground coffee will be really bad in a very short time once these kind of bags are opened. Both types of coffee need to be stored in a clean and dry air tight container immediately after purchase. As a stop gap you can roll the the top tightly and secure it with a rubber band or piece of tape.

The greatest enemies of fresh coffee are extreme heat and cold. Moisture, air, and even light have a negative impact on the aroma and flavor of any type of coffee. Even if stored in air tight canisters, coffee must be kept as dry as possible.

Don’t put your coffee in the fridge. Cold doesn’t help retain its freshness and the mositure in the refrigerator can damage coffee. Coffee can also pick up other odors that detract from its original flavor.

If you don’t have a good really airtight canister, it’s time to buy one. You can find a wide range of choices online.

Follow these easy tips and you will be able to keep your coffee fresh longer.

Updated 7/20/2009

Coffee drinkers often want to know more about some of the topics covered by this blog. If you have any questions you would like to see added to our Coffee FAQ, please use the comment form to ask them. We will do our best to answer them.

Here are some of the questions we gotten about growing, processing, and making coffee.

Q. Why do I need to know where the coffee was grown?

Different regions produce different kinds of coffee beans. The flavor of coffee beans is affected by the weather, the soil composition and even the amount of sun on the beans as they ripen. Beans from each coffee growing region have a different flavor. Some coffee sellers blend beans from different regions like Mocha Java blend, which combines beans from Yemen (Mocha) and the island of Java. Coffee connoisseurs some times create their own blends.

Q,What kind of coffee is dark roast?

Dark roast coffee doesn’t refer to the kind of coffee bean, but rather to the way the coffee bean was roasted. After being harvested, the ripe coffee beans are roasted. There are medium and dark roasts. Typically, dark roasts have a more robust flavor than medium roasts.

Q. How can I make a great cup of coffee?

Coffee always starts with the beans. Chose a bean and roast you like. For the best coffee, buy whole beans and grind them yourself in a coffee grinder as you need them. Store unused beans in a cool, dry place, in a tightly sealed container. If you purchase ground coffee, keep it in the freezer in a sealed container. Depending on your preference, you may use a drip coffee maker or a percolator. Most people prefer to use unbleached filters in drip coffee makers for better flavor. Make sure your coffee maker is clean. Start with cold distilled or filtered water. Chlorine in tap water can affect the coffee’s taste. Measure the coffee at about a level tablespoon per cup. If you like your coffee weaker, you may add a little less. Now just turn on the coffee maker and wait.

Q. What is Espresso?

Espresso is an Italian method for making coffee. The process of making espresso starts with dark roasted robust beans which are ground very fine and packed tightly into a special drip style coffee maker. The hot water is dripped slowly into the ground coffee producing a very strong dark brew. Espresso is typically served in special tiny cups, or by the shot.

Q. What is cappuccino

Cappuccino is espresso blended with steamed milk, usually about half espresso and half milk. Never use cream when trying to make cappuccino, because it should have foamed milk on the top and cream doesn’t foam when steamed. Low fat or skim milk works well. Usually a little nutmeg or cinnamon is sprinkled on top.

Q. What is a Latte?

A latte is basically cappuccino with more milk. Latte is a shortened form of the Italian caffelatte, which means coffee with milk. The international latte was actually invented in the late 1950s in Berkeley,CA. at the Caffe Mediterranean. Where cappuccino is about 1/3 espresso, 1/3 milk and 1/3 foam, you make latte with about 1/3 espresso and 2/3 heated milk.

Q. Why should I buy organic coffee?

Organic coffee growers use only natural fertilizers and no chemical pesticides. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are not good for the environment, may not be good for you and can affect the taste of the coffee. Organic coffee growers use environmentally friendly farming techniques which are better for everyone.

Q. What is Fair Trade Coffee?

Most coffee growers are small farmers in Asia. Latin America,Africa and the Caribbean. They labor long hours and often aren’t paid fairly for their crop. Fair Trade growers are members of a cooperative that insures that the growers receive fair compensation for their work. Fair Trade coffee was the first fair trade product to be introduced into the United States. There is an independent system which monitors the product to make sure that it was produced under the conditions of fair trade. Peace Coffee only uses Fair Trade coffee beans.

Q. Isn’t Fair Trade organic coffee a lot more expensive?

If you are already buying premium gourmet coffee, Fair Trade organic coffee will not be more expensive. Actually, it may be less expensive than some gourmet brands. You may want to shop around for the best prices. Peace Coffee is an excellent buy. Green Mountain Coffee offers great gourmet coffees that are Fair Trade and organic. Fair Trade coffee is a better buy in the long run because it insures the survival of the small farmers who produce the best, hand picked coffee beans.

Q. Is there any instant coffee that tastes like real coffee?

Although some people scoff at the very idea of ever drinking instant coffee, there are occasions when it is the best option available. It’s a good idea to have some on hand for when you really need it. For quality instant coffee, try Taster’s Choice, Folgers , JFG and Egberts.

Q. I like flavored coffees. Can I buy flavored organic beans?

You don’t have to buy flavored beans. There are organic flavoring oils available that you can use to flavor any beans. Chose a coffee and roast that you like, than follow the directions on the flavoring oil to make your own delicious, organic, flavored coffee beans.

Q. What is chicory and why is it added to coffee?

Chicory is a wild flower and herb with references that date back to ancient Greece. It has a pretty lavender blue flower and grows wild in Europe and the United States. Anyone traveling in the southeast US may have seen it growing along roadsides. For use in coffee, the root of the plant is dried, baked and ground up. It adds flavor to coffee and is thought to kill intestinal worms. It has been used as a coffee substitute. In many Mediterranean countries, India and the American southeast (especially New Orleans) chicory is routinely added to coffee for flavoring. For more information, read our post about a Taste of New Orleans.

Q. How is camp coffee made?

When you are camping you usually don’t have access to electricity. To make camp coffee you will need a stove top percolator or moka pot. Check with camping supply stores for percolators. The coffee for percolators has to be ground coarser and the fine particles need to be sifted out. Moka pots use the same grind as most drip pots. Fill the pot with water, put coffee in the filter and boil for about ten minutes. Great coffee without electricity.

The right grind
A stove top coffee maker brews coffee in a different manner from an electric automatic drip coffee maker. If you’re using a typical percolator, the brewing technology requires a somewhat coarser grind of coffee than what you’ll find at the grocery store. The best option is to grind your own beans a little bit less fine than the store-bought grinds and sift out the smaller particles before you leave home. On the other hand, for Italian coffee makers and moka pots, you’ll want a relatively fine grind.

The right amount
The next decision you’ll need to make about brewing camp coffee is how much coffee to put into the filter. Given the brewing technology being used, you won’t need to add as much as you would with an electric coffee maker. Just two or three scoops (a scoop is about two tablespoons) per quart of water will give you plenty of flavor. Any more than that and you’re risking making bitter coffee. Just don’t expect to get that deep dark color when you’re out camping. Great camp coffee is usually a relatively light in color.

The right timing
One of the important differences between a stovetop coffee maker and an electronic one is the temperature each reaches. The temperature of the water and steam in a percolator or moka pot rises fast and the water quickly reaches a rapid boil. This higher temperature makes for thorough extraction of robust flavors, but brings its own problems. First of all, over-boiling can result in grounds spilling over into the pot. A few grounds aren’t really a problem, but overheating definitely can be. Avoid brewing the coffee for more than 10 minutes or you’ll get an over-cooked pot that’s burnt and bitter. Don’t wait for those gurgling noises before you take the pot off the heat.

A cup of quality coffee makes morning outdoors just that much more enjoyable. When you know how to make great camp coffee, you can leave the tasteless instant coffee at home and brew up a flavorful, aromatic pot of your favorite blend right on your camp stove.

The chicory plant has many different uses, but it is usually associated with coffee. Processing chicory is similar to processing coffee beans. The root of the plant is dried, roasted and ground, and the ground chicory is then brewed as a coffee alternative.

Chicory has a sweet smelling aroma but has a sweet-bitter and sour flavor. When roasted and ground, it cannot be easily distinguished from roasted coffee. As a substitute, it brews just like a regular coffee, but is a little thicker and more soluble so you don’t use so much of it when brewing.

What is nice about it as an alternative is that chicory has no caffeine content. Also, it is found to have health benefits other than being decaffeinated. If coffee serves as an anti-oxidant, chicory helps cleanse the blood and works well for a healthy liver. It is an cheap substitute for coffee.

In New Orleans, chicory has long been used as an additive to coffee. Chicory adds a distinctive taste to coffee and its flavor. Chicory and coffee blend producers use about 30% roasted and ground chicory, thereby cutting the caffeine content of the coffee. It serves to mellow the bitter taste of coffee.

Coffee companies in New Orleans give their customers choices of coffee blends with or without chicory, but the locals still prefer their brewed coffee with a taste of chicory. Consumption of chicory and coffee in New Orleans is relatively high compared to the other places in the United States.

In the coffee town of New Orleans, the neighborhood prefers these top ranking local brands: Community Coffee, French Market Coffee, and Café de Monde, and Morning Call Coffee. New Orleanians prefer to have their coffee strong.

Here’s a simple procedure to make classic Café Noir, otherwise known as Chicory and Coffee. To make really good coffee, use an old-fashioned drip coffee pot. Use one heaping tablespoon of ground coffee and chicory for every cup of water. Bring the water to a boil, then pour a small amount on the pot, just enough to moisten the mixture. Gradually pour the boiled water until the ground mixture has completely dripped through. Now you have a nice cup of Café Noir. For an enhanced taste, you can add a bit of milk and sugar.

For a taste of the Big Easy, try a chicory and coffee blend.