How to Make Instant Coffee Less Acidic & Enjoy Every Sip

Ever wondered ‘How to make instant coffee less acidic?’ 

Instant coffee is a drink me and my girlfriend enjoy on a scorching day as it’s light and refreshing. But what makes it less acidic than normal? Stick around, in this article, I’m going to share a bunch of tips and tricks on how to make instant coffee less acidic and enjoy every sip of it. 

Let’s jump straight into it. 

How to make instant coffee less acidic? 

An easy way to tell that your coffee is acidic is that it tastes sour and it’s intense. To make coffee less acidic is to use bottled, filtered, or alkaline water which all have higher pH than tap water, meaning that your coffee is going to be less acidic. Since 97% of your coffee is water, this is going to have a major impact on your coffee’s acidity.

Acidity in pH levels

The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14 and the lower the pH is the more acidic the product is. For example, the pH of orange juice (3.5) is lower than water (7).

Let’s see the pH of a number of different drinks: 

• Coca Cola → 2.7
• Milk → 6.4-6.8
• Tap water → 6.5
• Bottled water → 6.5-7.5
• Filtered water → 6.5-7
• Alkaline water → 8-9
• Soda water → 3-4
• Lemon juice → 2-3
• VInegar → 2-3
• Instant coffee → 4.5-5.5

As you can see the pH of instant coffee is lower than the one of water meaning that the first is more acidic. Those suffering from health issues related to their stomach should find ways to reduce acidity in their drinks. In the following sections, I go over a bunch of ways that make instant coffee less acidic. 

Acidity in coffee 

Let’s talk about acidity in coffee and the factors that make coffee acidic.

What is acidity in coffee? 

Any kind of coffee contains acidity, and more specifically there are different kinds of acids in it. 

The most known ones are: 

• Chlorogenic
• Quinic
• Citric
• Acetic
• Lactic 
• Malic
• Phosphoric 
• Palmitic

What does affect the acidity level in coffee? 

Roasting affects the acidity level in your coffee; the longer coffee beans are roasted, the less acidic they are, so dark roast coffee beans are less acidic than light roasts. 

Coffee beans roasts and acidity

As mentioned above the roast type of coffee beans affects the acidity level. 

There are 3 popular roast types that produce coffee with different acidity levels in pH:

Light roast → 5.3-5.8

Medium roast → 5.0-5.5

Dark roast → 4.5-5.0

As you can see dark roasts are less acidic, while light roasts are the most acidic as they’re roasted the last time. 

People who should skip acidic coffee

Let’s talk about anyone whose health be affected if they have too much acidic coffee for a long time: 

• Acid reflux: if you’re suffering from acid reflux it’s wise to skip coffee with high acidity level as it might deteriorate your situation. Because it contains acid, it will alter the acidity level of your stomach. 

• IBS: it’s wise to avoid acidic coffee if you have IBS symptoms with stomach pain and cramping. It might force you to go to the toilet more often. 
• Issues with teeth: if you have low teeth enamel, it’s a good idea to skip acidic coffee as it might wear away the enamel of your teeth more over time.

The acidity level in instant coffee

The acidity level in instant coffee depends on different factors like the country of origin the coffee types and the processing method. To give you an example, coffee that grows in colder climates with low temperatures grows slower and for that reason, it contains more acidity and caffeine. 

It’s worth mentioning that overly cheap instant coffee is high in acidity, and if you’re having health issues, it’s better to avoid it.

One way to neutralise acidity in instant coffee is to use potassium, many brands use it to make their coffee less acidic.

How do you reduce the acidity in instant coffee?

Let’s go over a bunch of different ways of reducing the acidity in instant coffee.

Add baking soda

Baking soda can neutralise the acidity level of your coffee. All you need to do is add a pinch of soda into your drink and it will be enough to change the pH level of it. Avoid putting in too much as it’s going to make your drink fizzy and it’s going to spoil its taste. 

Add almond milk to your coffee

The idea of neutralising the pH of your coffee is to add an ingredient to your brew that’s less acidic than instant coffee. In this case, a great product is almond milk (6pH) as it’s going to increase the pH of your brew and make it less acidic. An alternative to almond milk is coconut as its pH is 6-6.3 and can neutralise the acidity of your coffee. 

Add salt to your coffee

By adding a pinch of salt to your instant coffee, you make it sweeter and at the same time less acidic. It contains potassium which interacts with coffee acids and makes coffee less acidic. The trick is to add only a little pinch of it, too much salt in your coffee is going to spoil its taste.

Let’s wrap it up

And that’s a wrap, I hope you learned a thing or 2 about how to make instant coffee less acidic which is vital especially if you’re suffering from stomach or even teeth issues. Instant coffee is a special treat, especially on a boiling hot day, so it’s great to enjoy it without facing any health problems.

FAQ

Do you have any burning questions on the topic? Let’s go over a bunch of frequently asked questions to help you get a better understanding. 

Can I make coffee less acidic?

The short answer is: yes

By adding an ingredient less acidic than instant coffee, your brew is going to be less acidic. For example, by adding bottled water which is less acidic than instant coffee you neutralise the pH of your coffee and make it less acidic. 

Does instant coffee cause acidity?

Much like all other coffees instant coffee is acidic. But the level of acidity depends on the country of origin and the process coffee goes into to become instant. If you’re facing any health issues related to your stomach, teeth or any other part of your body is better to avoid acidic coffee at any cost. 

Is it OK to drink instant coffee every day?

It’s vital to assess the situation regularly and see if it causes you acid reflux or any other health issues. It also depends on your body and how tolerant it is to caffeine and coffee acidity. For example, there are people who drink many cups of instant coffee every day and don’t have any issues, while others have one every other day and face issues. So, it’s crucial to make your own assessment.

Is instant coffee worse than espresso?

In terms of the quality of coffee, espresso is better than instant coffee as it’s pure coffee and not processed (the only process that it goes through is fermentation and roasting) while instant coffee goes through processing to become instant coffee. If you want to taste coffee that evokes your senses, I suggest you go for an espresso.