What is mold-free coffee?

There have been many recent discussions whether coffee is good for you or potentially harmful for you. Whether you should drink tea as an alternative or whether coffee is okay to drink in moderation. What are the differences between good coffee and bad coffee? Is there mold that grows in coffee?

There has been a lot of proven research that coffee improves brain function and overall health. Coffee gives you long term energy beyond the caffeine rush. Coffee is packed with polyphenols which are key to your health. Coffee can help the way you exercise and overall, the way that you perform your daily tasks. Coffee can elevate the way that you live your life with a healthy amount of energy and a positive mindset.

You may be reading this in doubt due to the way your body has reacted to coffee. You may have felt discomfort in your stomach, anxiety, and jitters. You may even feel negative towards the taste of the coffee. When your body reacts to something in a negative way you should always listen. You may even feel more tired once the caffeine wears off.

These feelings are a result of your body reacting to toxins. When your body has taken in toxins it naturally reacts in these ways. Have you ever walked into a department store and felt your heart rate increase and even a bit anxious? The building that you walked into may be contaminated with mold and your body could be reacting to it. There are toxins everywhere in our environment, in our food, and some of the products that we use. Identifying where these toxins are can help you feel more yourself and eliminate some of the negative side effects.

When grains like corn, nuts, and even coffee are packaged they are at risk of growing mold. The molds that grow on these grains are referred to as mycotoxins. When certain precautions are not taken into the processing of coffee these mycotoxins could very easily grow on the green coffee beans. The mycotoxins could impact your health in ways like cancer, kidney disease and brain damage. The mycotoxin that is most found in coffee is called ochratoxin-A. This mycotoxin can develop over time and be missed if the coffee is not tested regularly.

At Coatl Coffee we are very conscious of these mycotoxins. Some of the practices that we do at Coatl Coffee to prevent these mycotoxins from growing on our coffee are the following. We personally test our coffee on the farm once it has been harvested, processed and ready for packaging. The coffee is tested for ochratoxin-a, moisture content, and quality of our coffee beans. We make sure that the green coffee is packaged in a specially designed bag inside the coffee sack which has been certified to maintain a level of freshness and prevent moisture and air from entering our green coffee sack. The green coffee in our roasting facility is routinely tested in the same ways in order to maintain consistent quality.

In addition to the way we process and package our coffee we use a high-altitude shade-grown arabica beans in our coffee bags. This is not only to prevent mycotoxins, but to ensure you get the best natural flavor in you cup. Roasting coffee is a sensory driven process. We see the coffee turn from green to brown, we hear the first crack, and smell the aroma develop on the beans throughout that process. This is an experience that we would like to pass on to our customers in the brewing and tasting of our coffee.