What is Agglomerated Instant Coffee? Agglomerating Instant Coffee Process and Manufacturer

Vietnamese Coffee Exporter
What is Agglomerated Instant Coffee? Agglomerating Instant Coffee Process and Manufacturer

What is Agglomerated Instant Coffee? Surely you know a lot about spray- and freeze-dried instant coffee, right? However, currently, on the market, these two products have a lot of differences in price and quality. Therefore, many people want to find a product that can neutralize the cost and quality of the two instant coffees. That is why the introduction of agglomerated instant coffee. This article will help you better understand what is agglomerated instant coffee and its production process.

What is Agglomerated Instant Coffee?

In essence, agglomerated instant coffee is spray-dried instant that has undergone a specific processing step to produce a form that dissolves more readily in coffee preparation, providing the best flavor and aroma. Agglomerated coffee is coffee that has been dried, added powder, and then undergone a second steam belt or steam curtain operation.

This causes the coffee’s particles to clump together and create granules. At very low temperatures, the thick, concentrated liquid coffee gets frozen. Large, golden coffee crystals are produced once the water is removed under controlled conditions.

To sum up, Spraying a little amount of a highly concentrated solution of coffee solubles in water onto a bed of instant coffee particles that has been gently stirred will effectively agglomerate the coffee particles.

Agglomerating Instant Coffee Process

History of the Agglomerating Instant Coffee Process

Several features of instant coffee can be altered using agglomerating procedures in which two or more separate particles are mixed with an agglomerating fluid to produce a single, porous, bigger particle. It is possible to give the agglomerate a deeper and more attractive hue. The size and bulk density of particles can be altered. The rate of dissolving in water can be boosted significantly.

In the past, various fluids have been employed for agglomerating instant coffee particles in multiple methods. For example, coffee oil has been utilized as a fluid for agglomeration. For several reasons, coffee oil has not proven to be an adequate agglomerating fluid. Specifically, the agglomerates created using coffee oil as an agglomerating fluid consist of a limited number of adherent coffee particles held together by the surface tension of the coffee oil and the capillary attraction of the oil for the particles.

What is Agglomerated Instant Coffee (4)
Agglomerating Instant Coffee Process and Manufacturer

These binding forces, which exist primarily at the oil’s contact sites, are often weak. These agglomerates are unsatisfactory because they lack structural integrity; they are highly brittle. In addition, using a substantial quantity of coffee oil, i.e., an amount adequate for effective aggregation, might result in a sticky or tacky product.

Water and steam have been utilized as agglomerating fluids, and the agglomerates generated with these fluids have excellent structural strength. In contrast to coffee oil, these agglomerating fluids only partly dissolve the coffee particles. When the agglomerates are formed, accurate physical links are created between the particles, resulting in a strong agglomeration.

However, these specific agglomerating fluids are unsuitable since they are not very effective agglomerating agents. Because these agglomeration fluids are neither tacky nor sticky, they are ineffective as agglomerating agents and do not readily aggregate coffee particles into agglomerates.

Large volumes of these agglomerating fluids can create considerably more efficient agglomeration. Consequently, post-agglomeration drying may be required. Other low-viscosity liquids have been utilized as agglomerating agents, although these liquids typically present the same difficulties in the agglomeration process as water and steam.

Agglomerating Instant Coffee Process

This invention describes a unique method for agglomerating instant coffee particles using a highly concentrated solution of coffee solubles in water as the agglomerating fluid. This innovative agglomeration technique is effective, and in a preferred embodiment, the approach is particularly beneficial since no post-agglomeration drying phase is required.

What is Agglomerated Instant Coffee (1)
What is Agglomerated Instant Coffee? Agglomerating Instant Coffee Process and Manufacturer

This invention relates to a process for producing an agglomerated instant coffee, which comprises gently agitating instant coffee particles with a moisture content between about 1.5% and about 4% by weight, and spraying thereon from about 1% to about 10%, by weight of the instant coffee particles, of an aqueous solution containing between about 40% and about 70% by weight coffee solubles, preferably such that an agglomerate is formed.

It has been discovered that the procedure mentioned above is remarkably successful and efficient for agglomerating instant coffee. The agglomerates produced by this technology have a high structural strength. They are highly soluble in water and readily fluid.

In addition, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, where the moisture content of the final agglomerated product is maintained below 5% by weight, no post-agglomeration drying procedure is needed. Avoiding a post-agglomeration drying step is desirable since such an activity can be time-consuming, laborious, and damaging to the instant coffee’s flavor.

The agglomerating fluid used in the method of this technology is an aqueous coffee solution that may be easily made by concentrating a typical aqueous coffee extract obtained as stated above. Before drying, coffee extracts may be concentrated by various standard methods, such as those described above.

In the preferred method, however, coffee solids are added to a stream distillate made as described above to form an aqueous solution having between 40 and 70 percent coffee solubles by weight.

What is Agglomerated Instant Coffee (2)
Agglomerating Instant Coffee Process and Manufacturer

It has been discovered that using this agglomerating fluid improves the finished product’s flavor since the flavor-rich distillate is introduced immediately to the instant coffee without undergoing a drying process in which certain volatile flavors are lost.

In the method of this invention for agglomerating instant coffee, a concentrated aqueous coffee solution having approximately 40 to 70 percent by weight of coffee solubles is sprayed onto a bed of gently agitated instant coffee particles to generate the agglomerated instant coffee product.

Preferably, a spray or pressure nozzle or other device generates a spray with most droplets having a diameter between 50 and 500 microns. This droplet size produces the most acceptable instant coffee agglomerates while maintaining a suitable level of wetness. With droplets less than 50 microns in diameter, the droplets are not big enough to aggregate a sufficient number of coffee particles into an agglomeration of the desired size.

With droplet diameters above around 500 microns, the resulting agglomerates, while suitably massive, contain an undesirable amount of moisture. Most preferably, most of the droplets, or at least 50 percent, have a diameter between 100 and 300 microns.

What distinguishes agglomerated coffee from freeze-dried coffee?

Coffee is agglomerated when, after drying, the powder is added, followed by an extra steam belt or steam curtain process that causes the particles to bind together, producing granules.

Freeze-dried instant coffee is produced utilizing an innovative process to dry the coffee. Very low temperatures are used to freeze the viscous, concentrated coffee. Controlled water extraction results in the production of giant, golden coffee crystals.

Helena Coffee Vietnam – The Best Agglomerating Instant Coffee Manufacturer in Vietnam

Helena’s Agglomerated Instant Coffee is produced by a carefully selected process, from selecting input ingredients to controlling heat levels during the roasting process; repatriated extract utilizing European standard technology… enables you to gain valuable experience in the research and development of new products.

The instant coffee production process looks simple but is also quite complicated, requiring particular strengths and great potential. Choosing Helena Coffee Vietnam is choosing a reputable brand; you are choosing a capable and visionary manufacturer with the following advantages:

  • Access to leading Coffee Solutions from R&D experts, helping you to shorten the time and cost of initial investment
  • Access to the world’s leading modern technology – process.
  • With over 25 years of manufacturing experience, we understand the needs of our customers!
  • Products are available in more than 40 countries and regions, so you choose a product from a global brand.
  • Wide range of products to choose from with high standards.

Author

Helena Coffee Vietnam

Helena Coffee Processing & Export in Vietnam | Helena., JSC, which was established in 2016, is a Vietnamese coffee exporter, manufacturer & supplier. We provide the most prevalent varieties of coffee grown in Vietnam’s renowned producing regions.

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