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Sasha Pavlovich is a coffee expert with years of experience as a barista, and she knows quite a bit about caffeine and coffee. She manually curates every single page on CaffeineStats.com to make sure that you are getting the right information at your fingertips.
Sasha's expertise is backed by a strong foundation of credentials. She is a certified Coffee Roast Master, specializes in Green Coffee Analytics, and is a certified Sensory Cup Taster.
It is not a secret, a little of everything in moderation, it’s usually not that terrible. But when coffee is your drink of choice, your body will let you know when that last cup was a little too much.
Caffeine is not the only ingredient that might make you react or act differently. Acid reflux is one of the “side effects” of drinking too much coffee.
The National Institutes of Health estimate that 40% of people in the US suffer from GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease).
Many people blame caffeine as the primary ingredient that increases symptoms for sufferers of this ailment. Is there an acid free coffee variety, or at least, a reduced acid coffee brand?
Before reviewing the best low acid coffee brands, let’s understand the acid in coffee. Like the ancient philosopher, Socrates once said: “let’s define the terms.”
Is lower acidity coffee that great or desirable?
Acidity in coffee is naturally occurring. In fact, very expensive arabica beans are very acidic, although it has less than its counterpart variety, robusta.
Acid content is a desirable taste. That is what coffee connoisseurs refer to when they talk about citric, plummy, or watermelon-like flavors.
Coffee does not taste like any of these fruits, but they compare sourness or sweetness to them. There is a chart, The Coffee Tasters Flavor Wheel, that aids in making these comparisons.
Coffee beans are very complex. Only 20% of the solubles in coffee beans taste good, 10% are not even worth talking about, and the remaining 70%, are impossible to extract. (At least, not by brewing.) Among the 20%, good solubles are the acids and fruity flavors you enjoy in your cup.
Let’s talk about 2 types of acids that we can find in coffee. Chlorogenic acid and quinic acid. Chlorogenic acids are the good antioxidants that make coffee “a healthy food”. These are components inside the coffee bean. More or less of these components are present depending on the variety of coffee you choose.
When coffee goes through the roasting process, depending on what the roaster wants to achieve, this acid component cooks away. “Usually” a dark roast would have less of the chlorogenic acids. Those distinct flavors disappear in this process.
To make things simple, I would refer to these flavors as salty. The saltier, the more acidic the coffee. I’m sure you’ll find this to make sense once you compare coffee from now on.
Coffee, grown at high altitudes, contains more chlorogenic acids as a general rule. Thus, the term “acidity” refers to the concentration of these acids. Acidity in coffee is actually a wonderful thing. I’ll explain that in a minute. Let’s not blame the wrong acid.
Now, let’s go back to the roasting process. Once the high concentrations of chlorogenic acid die down and cook away, it will transform into quinic acid. That’s the acid we all dread, that makes us sick in the stomach. You’ll also experience quinic acid when coffee is old and left burning on the hot plate for too long. Compare your first cup of fresh-brewed coffee to your second cup from the same pot. You’ll notice a sour, sickening aftertaste.
Now, chlorogenic acid can also make very sensitive people sick. In short, both acids need to be balanced somehow. One is salty the other sour.
Quinic acid is not naturally occurring in coffee. A by-product, or the waste result, of the chlorogenic acid (the one with all the antioxidants) through a process called hydrolysis. I read somewhere that quinic acid is “naturally derived” from chlorogenic acid. No. One results from the other. Perhaps, that is an alternative way of looking at it. The official definition is a by-product.
As an example, imagine a green coffee bean as a wholewheat slice of bread. You can toast it light, medium, or, my favorite, dark charcoal roast. Is the charcoal in my toast naturally occurring, or a result of high heat? You be the judge. The same happens with coffee.
All that said, the key to enjoying coffee is moderation, moderation, moderation. Both acids could trigger acid reflux in sufferers of the condition. Many other foods can trigger symptoms too. It is not yet a proven fact that coffee is to blame.
Also, something to consider is the alkalinity of the water and how it reacts with the coffee. We measure alkalinity in a PH (Potential of Hydrogen) scale from 0 to 14. This measures how much hydrogen is in a solution and gives us its acidity. Ideal water would be a 7, neutral. Higher or lower than that would affect the flavors, but in the opposite way. Lower-quality water gives us a more sour, acidic taste. (Note that coffee by itself ranges between 4.5 to 5 on a scale. It is alkaline no matter which variety.) What! Coffee making can really get scientific.
Something to consider is our own alkalinity, that’s normally balanced, if we were perfect. An imbalance in our system can make some people experience the symptoms.
A medium roast would balance out these main acids. There are other acids, but the ones we want to balance out are the ones already mentioned. You can also buy beans that do not contain so much acid in their natural form. Some single-origin varieties are Sumatra, Ethiopia, Brazil, and Guatemala. Colombian, roasted medium to dark roast coffee, would be fine.
Let’s not also forget, the way we make coffee, and the method of extraction will increase the amount of acidity we get in our cup. A French press method will extract everything we want, and everything we shouldn’t have. That’s why many people use it sparingly, only on special occasions, as it raises the body’s levels of cholesterol and acidity.
More low acid coffee brands are available now than ever before. Whether or not the coffee is labeled low acid, you can look at several factors to help select a coffee that is lower in acid. Some factors are innate within the bean and others have to do with how the beans are processed. While you can’t get a completely acid free coffee, you can get close.
Be sure to get 100% arabica coffee. These have less acid than robusta beans. Also, look for beans that are grown at lower altitudes. Coffees from Sumatra, Brazil, and several Central American countries are all low in acid.
Roast level is an obvious way to choose a lower acid coffee. The longer a coffee roasts, the lower in acid it will have. That means a dark roast will be the least acidic. However, roasters can manipulate their roasting process to produce a lower acid coffee with a medium roast.
How you brew your coffee can make a big difference in the acidity of your drink. The things that can affect the final acidity include time, temperature, and grind size.
In general, a longer steep time gets you closer to acid free coffee. Also, brewing at a lower temperature reduces the final acidity. A coarser grind lets you use a lower temperature and longer extraction time and still gives you a satisfying cup. This means that cold brew will give the least acidic brew.
Finally, adding milk to your coffee can lower acidity. But, if you’re lactose intolerant, that defeats the purpose. You can try adding plant-based milk like almond milk to see if it helps reduce your symptoms. Almond milk actually has components that help neutralize stomach acid.
So, why does all this focus on the acidity of coffee? If you’re reading this, you probably already know.
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a severe form of acid reflux. GERD is practically an epidemic in America. Stress and bad diets contribute to acid reflux. But even healthy foods can be acidic. Foods like citrus fruit, tomatoes, and coffee contribute to acid reflux.
We drink so much coffee, that this is an easy place to reduce your overall intake of acidic food and drink. Downing lower acid coffee can also help with issues like gastric ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome.
We give the low-acid crown to Lifeboost Coffee. Their medium roast yields a brew with an enticing aroma and a smooth, medium/light body. The whole focus of the company is on creating healthier coffee. They also support sustainable, organic farming. Their coffee is good for the planet as well as being good for your belly.
Honorable mention goes to Fabula Coffee Espresso Roast. It has many of the same desirable qualities as the coffee from Lifeboost. It may come down to personal preference between these two low-acid coffee brands.
We also wanted to give a shout-out to Volcanica’s Low Acid Coffee. If you don’t have a high-quality burr grinder, Volcanica gives you options for grind size. This brew has many of the same desirable qualities as the coffee from Lifeboost. It may come down to personal preference between these two low-acid coffee brands
All these brands attempt to resolve a legitimate problem. Remember that moderation is always key. If you drink too much reduced-acidity coffee, say 10 cups a day, it might do you as much harm as a couple of cups of the “normal” acidity kind.
Acidity could be a tricky subject. It can be an outstanding trait of a distinct coffee, and yet the bitterness we associate with coffee might result from cooking essential nutrients away. Aren’t we all looking for more balance in our lives? The best balance of two worlds, in this case, acids, will do the trick. If you’ve had to cut back or, gasp, stop drinking coffee, we hope this article can get you back to the elixir known as coffee.
Coffee is usually considered low acid when the pH is 5.5 or higher. A typical cup of coffee has a pH level of around 5. For reference, lemons have a pH of 2, and water is about 7.
The combination of caffeine and acids in coffee frequently lead to heartburn and other gastrointestinal problems. Choosing a low acid coffee can decrease these effects in people with sensitive stomachs.
In general, dark roasted coffee is less acidic than lighter roasts. Some medium roasts can be low acid if they are roasted for a more extended period of time. Of course, the brew method factors into the acidity in your cup. Cold brew coffee is the least acidic brew method.
