You may have heard the term White Coffee floating around. If you aren’t familiar with this latest trend let me help you understand what it is. White coffee is actually a special light roast of regular coffee. The best white coffees are comprised of certified organic Arabica coffee such as the one linked above by Nectar of Life. It’s not exactly clear who “invented” white coffee, but it is a relatively new phenomenon.
Coffee beans start off green. When they are roasted they change in chemical composition, structure and color. The color changes go from green all the way to dark brown. White coffee is roasted to somewhere in between. This light roasted state preserves all the coffees natural caffeine and cholorgenic acids. Many people believe these cholorgenic acids are powerful antioxidants. One thing is for sure, white coffee looks and tastes nothing like traditional brown coffee.
Most people prepare white coffee as espresso, but it can make a powerful drip coffee as well. Since it is so light roasted the beans are extremely dense and a special grinder must be used to grind the beans. That is the reason white coffee is sold pre-ground to a fine grind. If preparing as espresso it is recommended to loosely fill the portafilter basket (no tamp) and run a little bit of water through. You then wait several seconds for the white coffee grounds to swell prior to brewing a full shot. If you prepare the coffee as drip make sure you use a machine that does NOT fast brew. White coffee grounds swell significantly when exposed to hot water. If you use a very hot, slow drip machine the resulting brew will be a dark green, somewhat bitter liquid. It is VERY high in caffeine so only drink a little bit at a time.
White coffee brew (espresso or drip) is usually used to make drinks. It tastes nothing like traditional coffee. It has a green, nutty taste so it goes well with both white and dark chocolate. You can get really creative a make a drink that tastes great to someone who normally doesn’t like coffee. Just beware that white coffee has a lot of caffeine! You want to make sure you don’t over caffeinate your non coffee drinking friends. If you haven’t tried white coffee before give it try today!