The decaffeinated alternative
If you want to do without caffeine, but still love the taste of coffee, you often fall back on decaffeinated coffee. But with the trendy lupine coffee, you can also discover completely new worlds of taste. Already known for many years, the organic coffee is becoming a real trendy drink with a wonderfully fresh and mildly aromatic taste.
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Table of Contents
The lupine – what is it anyway?
The lupine is a plant that belongs to the same plant family as the pea or the bean. The plant used to be widespread in fields and farms, and its bright and white flowers made for beautiful sights. The basic form of the lupine is poisonous, which is mainly recognizable by the strong bitter substances. From 1926, however, the sweet lupine was developed through targeted breeding, which is still widespread today.
Nowadays, sweet lupins are mainly found on organic farms, as the plant is ideally suited to recultivate the soil in the crop rotation. The lupine is used as an effective green manure in many farms and is grown accordingly over a large area. As a useful plant, the lupine has only recently come into focus again. The lupine coffee in particular is very popular. The lupins are harvested in late summer when the seeds are fully ripe. These have to be cleaned and dried so that they can then be refined in the roasting process.
The manufacturing process: How is lupine coffee made?
In contrast to normal coffee, lupine coffee does not contain any stimulating substances such as caffeine. In addition, its aroma is quite harmonious, as the roasting process is carried out over a longer period of time and with a significantly lower final temperature. The lupins are usually roasted in the roaster at an initial 75 degrees. The temperature is raised to a maximum of 205 degrees Celsius during the 20-minute roast. This prevents the lupins from becoming bitter as they cannot burn during roasting.
The end result is dark, but not black, lupins that exude a powerful aroma. For the lupine coffee, these can now simply be ground in a grain or better coffee grinder and prepared like normal coffee. The quality of the lupins is very important for the taste of the end product. It is important because only fully matured and appropriately well-nourished lupins develop their perfect aroma after roasting and can convince even the experienced coffee connoisseur.
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Our tip: Try the chilled lupine coffee once. A pleasant thirst quencher that knows how to convince with both its taste and the lack of caffeine. Ideal for hot and long summer days in the fresh air.
Lupine coffee in self-experiment
Lupins are easy to get from many organic farms. The kilo of pure lupins is priced at just under 7 dollars. Ready-made lupine coffee is of course much more expensive, after all, the gentle roasting process and quality control have to be paid for. But to get a first impression of the variety of lupins, you can buy the raw lupins first. These can be roasted easily and slowly in a coated pan. The lupins jump up and give off a characteristic scent. When the desired degree of roast is reached, the lupins should cool down briefly before they are ground. It is therefore possible to quickly and easily prepare your own lupine coffee with exactly the desired degree of roast. Of course, you can’t compare the taste with professional roasting, but this method is optimal and inexpensive to get an impression of the taste.
Taste and aroma
The lupine coffee tastes very good. The aroma is strongly reminiscent of a classic coffee, but the complexity of the different aromas is much more evident in lupine coffee. Slight hints of almond and autumn leaves mix with a full body of taste with very little bitter substances. Therefore, it also tastes great on a wide variety of occasions. Whether as an espresso in the evening after a good meal, as a classic filter coffee in the afternoon or as a start into the day.
The aroma of lupine coffee is mainly influenced by the roasting. An espresso made from lupins, for example, is roasted significantly darker, but without increasing the temperature too much. Above all, it gets more time to roast, which causes a more complex aroma development. For this reason, it is always advisable to try out different varieties and roasts before discovering the perfect lupine coffee for yourself.
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Lupine coffee from various suppliers
Lupine coffee is trendy. You notice that quickly when you enter this term in the common search engines. However, the number of commercial providers is still very small. There are mainly small suppliers who grow the lupins in addition to organic agriculture and have been selling lupine coffee for several years. In any case, it is important to pay attention to organic cultivation. This is the only way to be sure that the soil is not overloaded with pesticides and fertilizers, which would then also be found in traces in the lupine coffee.
Conclusion
Overall, lupine coffee is a great alternative for all those who want to broaden their culinary horizons and get to know new taste experiences. For those who have to do without caffeine or even real coffee, for example, this special coffee can be an excellent alternative.
The lupine coffee is:
- a biologically harmless product
- rich in aroma
- free from caffeine and other stimulating ingredients
