The morning alarm rings and you slowly rise for your daily routine.  You can’t wait to get the first taste of your day: Coffee!  One of the first things millions of people do worldwide to start their day is enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee.  Some people brew their own fresh coffee, some buy it ready made at their local convenience store or coffee shop, while others turn to their favorite brand of instant coffee (just add hot water, stir and it’s ready).

Approximately one third of all coffee consumed worldwide is instant coffee.  That number is lower in the United States, but other countries such as Great Britain and Japan love the stuff!  Instant coffee differs from the fresh ground bean version because it has already been brewed before at the factory.  The raw beans are cooked to perfection by the manufacturer.  They are then ground and brewed to very specific taste standards.  After the perfect brew is made, it is freeze dried and ground into tiny morsels just begging for some hot water to release their flavor again. 

The consistency and quality of the instant coffee that comes from each brewed batch is of vital 
importance to the manufacturer.  If the end product is not consistent with the customers’ taste standards, then the brand will lose customers to other manufacturers who have a better, more consistent, brew.  It is during the brewing process where the inline refractometer plays a huge role in quality control.

In the production of instant coffee, as large batches of coffee are brewed, process refractometers are used to monitor concentrations in evaporation procedures. The process refractometers are used to measure the amount of total dissolved solids (TDS), which refers to the amount of the soluble flavor material from the coffee bean that is extracted as a part of the brewing process. Coffee grounds are made up of about 70% non-soluble material and about 30% of soluble compounds. These soluble compounds are responsible for the coffee's taste. For a delicious instant coffee time and time again for the customer, the manufacturer must keep tight TDS tolerances on their batches of brew.  If the TDS measurement varies too much in each brewed batch, the end product will be inconsistent. This will lead to customer dissatisfaction, and ultimately loss of sales.

So the next time you enjoy a nice hot cup of instant coffee...thank the refractometer for helping maintain its’ deliciously consistent taste!

Electron Machine Corporation manufactures inline, process refractometers for large scale food and beverage production applications.