Comparing the Amount of Caffeine in Store-Bought Versus Locally Roasted Blackbird Coffee*

Presentation Author(s) Information

Belinda Schaafsma, Georgia College and State University

Abstract

Are you trying to maximize (or minimize) your daily caffeine consumption through coffee? This can be difficult, since the amount of caffeine in a serving of coffee is surprisingly hard to find. The goal of this project is to determine the amount of caffeine in caffeinated coffee from a local distributor, Blackbird Coffee, and compare it to a store-bought alternative. It is important to the local distributor to inform their customers about the caffeine content because coffee is a popular stimulant and its effects depend on how much caffeine each cup contains. Blackbird Coffee roasts coffee beans in-house, and since roasting can effect the caffeine content, the final amount of caffeine in the brewed beverage for each type of roast was unknown. In previous work, a procedure utilizing liquid-liquid extraction was developed and found to be reproducible for quantifying the caffeine in store-bought Starbucks Dark Sumatra coffee. In this work, it was found that old and new batches of Starbucks Dark Sumatra coffee varied in the amount of caffeine and impurities isolated. This data will be compared with amounts of caffeine in a popular type of brewed coffee from Blackbird Coffee. Multiple trials will be analyzed, and then the caffeine content in Blackbird Coffee will be reported to the distributors and delivered to consumers.

Session Name:

Coffee, Caffeine, and Chemistry

Start Date

10-4-2015 1:15 PM

End Date

10-4-2015 2:15 PM

Location

HSB 207

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Apr 10th, 1:15 PM Apr 10th, 2:15 PM

Comparing the Amount of Caffeine in Store-Bought Versus Locally Roasted Blackbird Coffee*

HSB 207

Are you trying to maximize (or minimize) your daily caffeine consumption through coffee? This can be difficult, since the amount of caffeine in a serving of coffee is surprisingly hard to find. The goal of this project is to determine the amount of caffeine in caffeinated coffee from a local distributor, Blackbird Coffee, and compare it to a store-bought alternative. It is important to the local distributor to inform their customers about the caffeine content because coffee is a popular stimulant and its effects depend on how much caffeine each cup contains. Blackbird Coffee roasts coffee beans in-house, and since roasting can effect the caffeine content, the final amount of caffeine in the brewed beverage for each type of roast was unknown. In previous work, a procedure utilizing liquid-liquid extraction was developed and found to be reproducible for quantifying the caffeine in store-bought Starbucks Dark Sumatra coffee. In this work, it was found that old and new batches of Starbucks Dark Sumatra coffee varied in the amount of caffeine and impurities isolated. This data will be compared with amounts of caffeine in a popular type of brewed coffee from Blackbird Coffee. Multiple trials will be analyzed, and then the caffeine content in Blackbird Coffee will be reported to the distributors and delivered to consumers.