If you are one of the many people who struggle with enjoying coffee because of acid reflux, we wanted to share some tips that can improve your coffee experience.  

Cold brewing: Cold brewing coffee is our number one recommendation for easily brewing coffee that is lower in the types of acids that cause acid reflux. Simply put, cold brewing is allowing ground coffee to steep in water (either at room temperature or in the refrigerator) for an extended period of time (often 12-24 hours).  While we will create a separate post about cold brewing soon, no expensive equipment is required.  You merely need something to steep the coffee in that is air tight and something to separate the ground coffee from the water (e.g., French Press, paper coffee filter, filter bag).    

Roast level: As a general rule, there is a correlation between roast level and acidity.  The lighter the roast the more acidic the coffee will be.  The darker the roast the less acidic the coffee will be.  There are tradeoffs for roasting darker such as a decrease in sweetness and flavors that make the coffee unique, and if you are someone who wants to have the best of both worlds consider cold brewing a medium to medium-dark roasted coffee. 

Elevation grown: Generally speaking, coffee grown at lower elevations tends to be less acidic.  While there are exceptions from these and other regions, coffees from Brazil, India, and Indonesia (e.g., Sumatra, Java) are commonly lower in acidity.    

Baking soda: Adding a small amount of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) will help neutralize the acidity and bitterness in coffee by increasing the alkalinity.  From our experiments, a small “pinch” is all that is needed in a cup of coffee to have a very noticeable impact. If you would like to be more precise with your measurements and be able to easily repeat your results, we would recommend mixing up an alkaline water solution and using a dropper bottle. One other option that we have not experimented with is brewing with water that has a higher alkalinity. With this option you would add a precise amount of baking soda to your brew water, stir to dissolve, and document the results to adjust the strength. We would recommend starting with one teaspoon of baking soda to one litter of water and then adjusting as needed.      

Experimentation: The simplest, cheapest, and most immediate step you can take to reduce acidity is cold brewing.  Following this for most people would be experimenting with adding small amounts of baking soda to the brewed coffee.  When you go to make your next coffee purchase, consider a medium-dark or dark roast.  While a lower grown coffee is optimal, a medium-dark or dark roast of any variety will be lower in acidity.  If you find that you like the benefits of cold brew, but want a more flavorful coffee, try a natural processed coffee. We would love to hear your feedback on how easy you found these tips to implement and the results you experienced.