''Torrefacto'' refers to a particular process of

roasting Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat where hot air covers the food, cooking it evenly on all sides with temperatures of at least from an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting can enhance the flavor through caramelizat ...

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

beans, common in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

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Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

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Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. The process involves adding a certain amount of

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

during

in order to glaze the beans. By adding the additional sugar to the beans it increases the effects of the Maillard reaction during the roasting process, thus giving the beans more of that distinct flavor. The glazed beans are then mixed with normal roasted beans. While originally a cheap way of preserving the coffee beans in the 1920s, due to the common use of low-grade

Robusta coffee ''Coffea canephora'' (especially ''C. canephora var. robusta'', so predominantly cultivated that it is often simply termed ''Coffea robusta'', or commonly robusta coffee) is a species of coffee plant that has its origins in central and west ...

the process was also used to hide negative aroma and taste characteristics of the coffee. The addition of sugar during the torrefacto roasting process increases the production of compounds with

antioxidant Antioxidants are Chemical compound, compounds that inhibit Redox, oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce Radical (chemistry), free radicals. Autoxidation leads to degradation of organic compounds, including living matter. Antioxidants ...

properties. Both ground and brewed torrefacto coffee has higher antioxidant capacity than standard roasts, decreased pro-oxidant activities were also observed in a study. In addition, the

espresso Espresso (, ) is a concentrated form of coffee produced by forcing hot water under high pressure through finely ground coffee beans. Originating in Italy, espresso has become one of the most popular coffee-brewing methods worldwide. It is cha ...

method of

extraction Extraction may refer to: Science and technology Biology and medicine * Comedo extraction, a method of acne treatment * Dental extraction, the surgical removal of a tooth from the mouth Computing and information science * Data extraction, the ...

yielded higher antioxidant activity than other brewing methods. According to

Sagi Cohen Sagi () is an Israeli male given name, of Hebrew origin, meaning ''"great, elevated, sublime"''. People Given name *Sagi Muki (born 1992), Israeli judoka *Sagi Hartov (born 1978), Israeli-British cellist *Sagi Strauss (born 1976), retired football ...

, the torrefacto process allows coffee to be kept fresh for longer; lowers its price, as it is mixed with much cheaper sugar; and imparts it with flavors which he variously describes as "burnt sugar", "diluted

asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...

" and "liquefied coal".

References

Coffee preparation

See also

References