Effect of pressure in the particle size distribution of espresso

• Main Authors: Gonzales, Erick Christopher, Valdez, Lica, Garcia, Emmanuel V., Lloren, Karl Gabriel M., Al-shdifat, Jihan
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2012
• Subjects: Coffee; Coffee > Processing; Particles; Diffraction; Chemical Engineering
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/6523
• Institution: De La Salle University

Coffee is the one of the most traded commodities in the world, and research on its particle size distribution is surprisingly lacking. Particle size distribution (PSD) is a plot that represents the diameter and percentage volume of the particles present in the solution. This makes the research of gaining more information and knowledge concerning particle size distribution of coffee essential. In this research, the objective was to analyze the effect of pressure and bean variety to the particle size distribution in espresso coffee. The method started with pulling the espresso coffee at different pressures and using different bean varieties, which are Mauro, Concerto, Altitude, and Momentum, obtained from the Barista and Coffee Academy of Asia. The sample running was then conducted at Brownstone Asia-tech Inc. using their Laser Diffraction Analyzer to produce data on the particle size distribution of the espresso samples. The results from the study of run 1 of pressure vs PSD show that 9 bar had the most abundant smaller particles produced by the analyzer while 7 bar had the least amount of smaller particles. Moreover, the results from run 1 of the composition vs PSD data, the 100% Arabica had similar number of modes while the coffee blends of both Mauro and Concerto had no significant similarities in terms of the number of modes.