Instant Dried Coffee 1.

Instant dried coffee is a high quality crystallized form of instant coffee which can be created by the following two methods. (a)Freeze drying:- In this method liquid is forced from the frozen coffee through chemical sublimation. This process forces the ice to vaporize without going through the liquid stage. In the case of instant coffee, this leaves behind a shelf-stable coffee powder that can then be reconstituted in water. (b) Spray drying:-In this method, liquid coffee is sprayed in a fine mist through very hot, and dry air. By the time the coffee droplets land, they have dried into a powder.

2. Common to both spray dried and freeze dried agglomerated, there are following main manufacturing stages: (a)Green Bean Treatment:- Coffee beans are seeds from coffee fruits. After removal of the pulp the green coffee beans are dried, cleaned and packed -typically in 60 kg bagsstored and subsequently transported around the world for further treatment, if required, also including decaffeination. Various blendings of the coffee types is a common practice. This, together with the subsequent roasting gives the final characteristic of the coffee. Modern plants are, however, usually designed, so a blending of the different sorts of beans can take place after the roasting. (b)Roasting:-Roasting is a delicate process, part art and part science, where the roast master must decide exactly how long and hard the beans are to be roasted to get the desired result. It is during roasting that the beans acquire the flavour and colour of the finished coffee. (c)Granulation (milling) of Coffee Beans:- To obtain the best possible quality (Aroma/yield) of coffee extract, it is important to granulate (mill) the roasted coffee beans to smaller fractions (bigger surface) of almost the same size. (d)Extraction:- In extraction process fresh roast and ground coffee is put into a series of percolation columns, typically 5-10, in which hot water and pressure are applied to the grounds to yield an extract with approximately 20% soluble coffee solids, and the balance water.

(e)Extract Treatment (aroma recovery) :-To prevent the desired, and volatile, aroma components in the extract from being lost during thermal concentration, the extract fractions are stripped of their volatiles in an aroma recovery unit. The aroma fraction is mixed with the concentrated coffee extract. The aroma fraction of the extract can also be pre-concentrated using reverse osmosis in a membrane filtration system. This slightly changes the taste profile, which is an advantage for some few niche coffees and in some niche markets. (f)Concentration (evaporation):-The concentration/evaporation of the coffee extract (usually without the aroma fraction) is done under lenient processing conditions in equipment designed specifically for coffee to ensure maximum aroma retention. Concentration serves the dual purpose of increasing the solids content in the extract prior to freeze or spray drying, and making the process as economical as possible. (g)Spray Drying:- There are actually two methods for making instant coffee. In the first, liquid coffee is sprayed in a fine mist through very hot, very dry air. By the time the coffee droplets land, they have dried into a powder. (h)Agglomeration:-Agglomeration is used in cases where spray dried coffee powders need to be presented with bigger particles/agglomerates. An additional process stage is then used involving powder wetting, mechanical impact, after-drying and cooling. Control of wetting is carried out with water and/or saturated steam in an agglomeration chamber equipped with a rotating impacter. The agglomerates are then dried and cooled in the attached fluid bed followed by sieving and packing. Fines and oversize fractions are reprocessed within the agglomeration plant. (i)Freeze Drying:- Freeze drying is by far the most sophisticated process for producing instant coffee- freeze dried coffee is by far also the most value-added instant coffee and obtains the absolute highest prices up to two times of spray dried. 3. Various companies are engaged in producing instant tea and coffee powders. They are

(a) Foreign (i) APV APV, An SPX Brand Pasteursvej 1 DK-8600 Silkeborg Phone: +45 70 278 278 Fax: +45 70 278 330

(ii) Sulzer Sulzer Chemtech Ltd P.O. Box 65 8404 Winterthur, Switzerland Phone +41 52 262 37 86 Fax +41 52 262 00 96 chemtech@sulzer.com www.sulzerchemtech.com

(iii)GEA Niro GEA Process Engineering A/S Gladsaxevej 305 - P.O. Box 45 - 2860 Sborg, - Denmark Tel +45 3954 5454 - Fax +45 3954 5800 - CVR 10050715 (b) Indian (i)CCL Products 7-1-24/2/D, "Greendale", Ameerpet, Hyderabad-500 016, A.P. INDIA. Phone : +91-40-23732455. Fax : +91-40-23732499. Email : info@cclproducts.com