No matter your feelings toward coffee, there’s no denying its acidic qualities. While these acids add depth of flavor and complexity, their presence can sometimes cause discomfort for some individuals such as heartburn or stomachache. Luckily, many delicious low acid coffee options exist that cater specifically to sensitive stomachs.

Coffee’s acids can generally be divided into two categories, organic acids (OAs) and chlorogenic acids (CGAs). The former comprises many of the volatile compounds responsible for giving coffee its characteristic acidity; CGAs provide antioxidant benefits and play an integral part in producing caffeine’s bitter taste. Organic acids further subdivided into citric, acetic, formic, and phosphoric acids for maximum efficiency.

As is typically assumed, acid levels decrease with increased roast degree of coffee brewed to be consumed as beverages. However, the results from this study indicated that there was no significant shift in total concentrations of OAs when changing between lighter, medium or dark roasts; rather, any variance may have been caused by thermal degradation during roasting and may relate to differences in sugar content of samples tested.

Organic coffee not only reduces acid levels in your cup but it can also lower levels of harmful chemicals found in conventionally produced beans. When you opt for organic beans, you ensure no synthetic pesticides were applied directly onto their outer skin or inner husk during processing and roasting – any remaining chemicals on its surface being burned off in this process.