| abstract |
Typical known methods for producing large quantities of concentrated extracts from solid raw materials such as ground, roasted coffee are not ideally suited to producing high quality coffee extracts that are rich in flavor and fragrance, and which maintain the varietal characteristics of the roasted coffee from which they are produced. The current invention provides filtration methods e.g. reverse osmosis or nanofiltration for producing such high quality concentrated extracts from more dilute extracts via solvent removal. The invention provides methods that have sufficient flexibility and scalability to be used for a wide variety of applications, including for producing industrial-scale quantities of extracts for the food and beverage industry. The invention provides methods and apparatus that can produce highly concentrated, 'gourmet quality' extracts for use as flavoring agents, beverage concentrates, and fragrances. The solvent-reduced, concentrated extracts produced according to the inventive solvent removal methods can be advantageously used for applications where high quality coffee extracts, with a high concentration of soluble coffee solids, for example of at least 6wt. % - 40wt. %, and a high level of retention of varietal flavor and fragrance characteristics are desired. |