The Grocery Geek recently spoke with resident coffee expert at Seven Miles Coffee – Dr. Adam Carr: Head of Seven Miles Coffee Science and Education Centre (CSEC). The Seven Miles CSEC is a centre created to help improve coffee through scientific experimentation, engineering and world-class education which allows Seven Miles to take an evidence based approach to creating the perfect cup of coffee, from the best way to source, roast and brew coffee.

Seven Miles Coffee have been operating for over 50 years and are based in Manly Vale on Sydney’s picturesque Northern Beaches (also with micro-roasteries in Brisbane and Canberra). The award-winning team at Seven Miles Coffee work hard to deliver high-quality, locally roasted coffee through its brands you may have heard of, including, Belaroma, Gusto, Cultivar, Wilde, Leaf & Berry, and The Cat’s Pyjamas.

Here are a few of the points The Grocery Geek found fascinating in our discussion with Seven Miles:

Dr. Carr has done a significant amount of research on water and in particular, how water impacts the flavour of coffee – the correct water hardness and a high pH are important for maximising extracted flavours in your coffee. Interesting fact: the water that comes from Sydney Water treatment stations deliver the ideal chemical balance for a perfect espresso!

Another part of our conversation was around cold brew coffee, Seven Miles Coffee are big fans of cold brew (they even sell their own cold brew blend, specially formulated to brew the perfect cold brew!) however there is lots of misinformation around cold brew. A common misunderstanding is that cold brew is significantly less acidic than hot brew coffee – this is actually incorrect as research has shown that cold brew is only slightly less acidic than hot brew, however, the pH level does depend on processing method, origin of the coffee and even roast levels. Another interesting note, hot brew coffee has, on average, 20% higher antioxidant activity than cold brew! In review of the research, Seven Miles recommends that at the end of the day, you should drink the coffee you like because you enjoy it, as there aren’t any health benefits one way or the other in the cold vs hot brew coffee debate!

So, what’s next for Seven Miles? With a huge focus on helping consumers understand coffee better, creating better technology and new products to create even better coffee, Seven Miles really are the thought-leaders when it comes to creating the perfect coffee!

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If you’re as interested in coffee as we are, we recommend you jump onto the Seven Miles website as there’s a lot of resources you can read through here (they even have their own Podcast!) – alternatively have a browse through the Seven Miles YouTube channel for great videos on ‘Ideal Coffee Freshness’ to ‘4 Ways to Make Coffee at Home without a Machine’ available here.