If you are sensitive to acidity or have gastric issues such as acid reflux, finding coffee that suits your needs can be challenging. While many believe low acidity coffee to be incongruous with its name, there are ways of lowering its overall acidity without making your cup taste flat or having to compromise flavour.

Coffee’s acidity refers to its desirable primary flavour sensation: tart and crisp, often described as fresh or citrusy. Acidity is one of the hallmarks of high quality coffee and amplifies other notes such as sweetness or bitterness. Furthermore, acidity should not be confused with pH level which has different interpretations altogether.

Acidity levels of your coffee can be affected by various factors, such as bean type and roast level. But perhaps most influential in controlling acidity is your brewing method – cold brewing produces less acidic coffee than hot methods because less acids are extracted from grounds during cold brew process.

Altitude can have an immense effect on how acidic coffee tastes; higher altitude coffees tend to have greater acidity due to slower bean growth at elevated temperatures that gives time for their organic acids to develop further.

For an acidity-reducing coffee experience, darker roasts may be the way to go. A longer roast will break down more of the organic acids responsible for lighter roasts’ acidic taste; therefore, creating less acidy coffee.

Milk will also help to tone down the acidity of your cup of joe. The proteins found in milk balance out its acidic nature to create an even and mild tasting cup.

To help you select a coffee that meets your individual tastes, we have put together a selection of our favorite low acidity roasts, such as VERVE (UK ARTISAN ROASTED), which offers smooth and rich Fairtrade certified coffee by GOOD LIFE COFFEE; BLOOM from Wembly is organic and ethically traded dark roast. All are available online – simply click any button to make the purchase.