In Russia, coffee has long been a national drink. Over the past 5 years, its import has grown by 30%, reaching 190 million tons in 2017. In cities, coffee houses are almost at every turn. At the same time, according to the most conservative estimates, the share of counterfeit coffee is 20-30%. How not to prepare real coffee and how not to run into it - read in our today's material.
Fake grains
Until the beginning of the 20th century, coffee was considered a premium product and was extremely expensive. Fraudsters took advantage of this by churning out low-quality raw materials on an industrial scale.
Grains were counterfeited in a much smaller volume (this is difficult and costly) than ground, but such a fake brought the greatest income. How is it produced?
- They mix cheap varieties into elite ones. Then they pack it and calmly sell it at a high price. Example: dilute robusta with cibeton (it smells of musk) and pass it off as Kopi Luwak. The scent is similar, but much stronger.
- They make coffee from wheat, barley, maize and other types of dough and give out balls for beans (don't be surprised). Ground olive pits and ... clay are also used - all you need is to roll into balls, cover with sugar solution, fry, tint and add a fake to real beans.
Counterfeit ground coffee beans
Here the scope for scammers is wider. To make their own, excuse me, swill, they resort to various surrogates:
- plant substances with a solid sugar content (locust beans, dried figs, burnt molasses sugar, sugar beet);
- legume seeds (lupins, peas, etc.);
- fat-rich substances (nuts);
- starch-rich substances (acorns, barley, oats, wheat, maize, rye, malt);
- roots and root crops (carrots, chicory, dandelion).
Usually the proportion of surrogates is high, but sometimes counterfeiters become so impudent that there is no trace of natural coffee. The recipe is this: grind and add to the ground “for weight”. Notice that no one cares about taste.
The most common example is chicory as a substitute. Unfortunate producers collect the roots, wash them, cut them into pieces, dry them and fry them, spraying them with oil or syrup. It remains to grind the surrogate and slip it into the package with ground coffee. Funny moment - chicory is also forged! Well, how - such an indispensable ingredient. Beet pulp, turnips, and even sand were added to the chicory mixture to increase mass and cost.
Another example is a mixture of Arabica and Robusta. As you know, Arabica is more expensive and less invigorating (the proportion of caffeine is low), so artisans dilute the product with robusta. Coffee invigorates, but you can’t call it high-quality.
How to spot fake coffee
A few tips:
- look at the packaging (by law, the manufacturer must list the substitutes in the composition - in practice, however, this is not always done);
- it’s good if there is an opportunity to look at the grains - spoiled (overcooked) will immediately catch your eye, an overexposed product will give itself out with shine and oiliness;
- good grains are about the same size and color.
Good coffee is expensive - this is an axiom. Do not trust suspicious outlets. The way out is specialized stores with trusted suppliers. Our company "A Coffee" carries grains directly from plantations. We roast them ourselves. Roskontrol, by the way, advises buying just from roasters - that is, you have come to the right place. Go to the catalog and choose what is closer - traditional or exotic varieties.
The most popular drinks in Russia are tea and coffee. You can buy a variety of them in stores: green coffee and decaffeinated coffee, granulated tea ... Just buy with great care, food safety experts warn.
Coffee today can be considered a truly national Russian drink: coffee houses are everywhere in any major city. Coffee vending machines can be found in any institution, on railway platforms, in shopping centers and airports. And, of course, it's one thing - a bag of "three-in-one", and quite another - is prepared according to all the rules of the art of coffee brewing.
According to the Federal Customs Service (FCS), in 2017 coffee was imported to Russia by almost 11% more than in 2016 - 190 against 172 million tons. For comparison: over the same year, imports of cocoa beans grew by 12%, while tea - by only 2%. Well, over the past five years, coffee imports to Russia have grown by a third.
It turns out that even the economic crisis did not hit the demand for expensive varieties coffee. After all, most of those who are used to drinking a good and high-quality drink are no longer ready to switch to cheaper coffee.
Although today on the shelves you can find a huge variety of this product. For example, there is an opinion that instant coffee is made almost from the waste of “normal” production. Experts from the Roskontrol consumer union conducted a large study to determine what kind of coffee is really natural, which means healthy and tasty.
Mostly for manufacturing instant coffee using a process called sublimation. In this case, coffee beans are roasted, and then ground into flour and evaporated for several hours. Naturally, essential oils leave the coffee beans, which give the coffee a unique aroma!
The boiled mass is subjected to "shock" (instantaneous) freezing in a vacuum, and then crushed into granules. After that, they are artificially "impregnated" essential oils coffee or flavorings.
Naturally, sublimation technology opens up wide opportunities for falsification: for example, to increase the weight yield of the finished product, coffee "flour" can be mixed with real (from barley, rye or wheat). Fortunately, as established by Roskontrol, large manufacturers do not sin with this.
Another type of falsification is a mixture of two main varieties of coffee, Robusta and Arabica (the latter is more expensive, but less strong and invigorating due to a lower concentration of caffeine). Often, by the way, manufacturers “forget” to indicate on the label whether their coffee was produced according to state standards or technical specifications.
In addition to instant coffee, you can easily find ground coffee in stores - although true connoisseurs Of course, he will never be given preference. According to the Roskontrol study, a strange aftertaste may appear in ground coffee ... vegetables, rancid seeds, tobacco ... As a rule, this is due to the fact that coffee was incorrectly stored during processing or after processing in bags.
That is why coffee experts (barista) still recommend buying coffee beans and grinding it before brewing. As experts from the Roskontrol agency advise, it is better to buy coffee directly from roasters - in coffee shops or coffee houses. It is optimal if the coffee was roasted in the city where you buy it. It will be fresher and prepared for local water, which will affect the correctness of its brewing. Moreover, coffee after roasting is considered fresh for only a month.
The second most popular drink in Russia is tea. For its lovers, civilization has created truly limitless possibilities in the form of tea bags. It is made from powder - the smallest fraction of tea leaves. And such tea is brewed stronger than leaf tea, but tea bags are less fragrant than leaf tea.
True, there is an opinion that the entire periodic table is certainly present in the bags. Roskontrol's experts did not confirm this sad conclusion: in the studied samples of tea bags, they did not find either the deadly mold aflatoxin or foreign impurities (in particular, metal magnetic particles). Heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury) are contained in each serving of tea, but in doses much less than the maximum allowable.
But the popular manufacturers Maitre and Greenfield, which are produced in bags green tea, found very high content mold fungi. By the way, there will always be fungi in any tea - after all, it is subjected to fermentation processes, during which the twisted and crushed tea leaf is inevitably populated by various microorganisms.
It is sad that even respected experts from Roskontrol did not check the quality of the bags themselves. It was at the dawn of the industrial revolution in 1903 that the first bags were made from natural silk. Now, as a rule, the lowest-grade filter paper made of chlorine-bleached pulp is used. Chlorine residues pass into brewed tea, as does low-grade glue. And this not only spoils the taste of the drink, but can also be harmful to health.
Professor Edelev: fakes have reached the industrial level
How to choose the right coffee and tea so as not to fear for your own health? Free Press talked about this with our permanent expert, Professor Dmitry Edelev, one of the leaders of the Center for Applied Medicine and Food Safety of Moscow State University.
Dmitry Arkadyevich, you have extensive experience in combating food counterfeit. According to your observations, how often do they counterfeit coffee in Russia, which is now so popular?
It is known that coffee in moderation prolongs life, but only if it good coffee and good coffee is an expensive exotic product. Therefore, unscrupulous suppliers of coffee and tea have always falsified!
Fake grain and ground coffee often. It is more difficult to counterfeit coffee beans, but counterfeiters most often add cheap ones to expensive varieties of coffee and sell them at prices of an expensive elite variety.
Recently, I was amused by the counterfeiting of Kopi Luwak coffee by a Moscow coffee shop. Few in our country have tried this rare and expensive coffee, but many have heard of it. I’ll tell you a secret: if you add cheap palm oil cybeton to a banal robusta, then the coffee will acquire a musk aroma, vaguely reminiscent of the aroma of Kopi Luwak coffee (but much harder and more perfumey). And then this "product" can be sold in a cheap coffee shop, like a rare coffee.
- Aren't falsifiers afraid of exposure?
I studied the special literature and I can tell you that absolutely egregious cases have been documented: when even olive pits, balls of dough or clay covered with a caramelized sugar solution were mixed into coffee ...
To counterfeit ground coffee, natural coffee substitutes are used, which are mixed with it or completely replace it. This is, say, burnt sugar with chicory, rye, barley, acorns, chestnuts, carrots, dandelions, common peas and coffee peas, Chinese beans, nuts.
They are ground and "created" coffee, or added to ground coffee to increase the weight. As a rule, these coffee substitutes are designed for people suffering from cardiovascular diseases. But they are much cheaper than coffee, which is what counterfeiters use to replace an expensive drink with them.
— How often is tea counterfeited?
With tea, everything is much more complicated. There are four types of fakes, which differ significantly in price. The first and most frequent falsification is the substitution of one variety for another.
The second is the addition of tea imitators to tea: leaves of fireweed, bergenia, camellia, laurel cherry, etc. Often such tea is flavored. With artificial aromatization, even dry tea acquires a pronounced aroma, the intensity of which increases during brewing. Often, an unscrupulous manufacturer distorts information about tea, falsifies geographical origin, replaces large leaf tea small, uses opaque packaging materials, imitates the corporate style of popular packaging trademarks tea.
I won’t even talk about underweight and hydration.
- How to distinguish a fake?
Outwardly, it can be difficult to distinguish a fake from the original. Packages and jars of tea and coffee often have signs of original products. Let me remind you that during the liquidation in the Moscow region of two large underground factories engaged in the production of counterfeit coffee and tea, five robotic production lines for the manufacture and packaging of coffee and tea were found.
The factories had almost a million elite packages of world brands filled with fake cheap Polish coffee and a mixture of low-grade Georgian tea with non-tea raw materials. And all this went to a small retail chain and markets!
That is, the scale of falsifications is huge! Therefore, the main advice is to refrain, if possible, from buying tea and coffee from dubious sellers and obscure outlets, and then these products are unlikely to disappoint you.
Forgery and falsification of goods can be detected in any group of products. Coffee is no exception to these rules. For the manufacture of adulterated coffee cheap coffee raw materials, components that are not related to coffee production can be used.
How to distinguish fake coffee from real?
Distinguishing real coffee from counterfeit is quite simple, but only after you have bought coffee and prepared a drink. Fake product differs in specific smells and shades, it is difficult to cook it correctly, it can have a bitter, sharp and unpleasant aftertaste.
How are instant and ground coffee counterfeited?
If we consider the number of fake products, then counterfeit coffee is very common in the segment. It is easy to explain the popularity of instant coffee in our country. Poor quality raw materials or foreign components may be used to simulate the appearance of instant coffee. To obtain a large volume of ground powder, cereals and legumes are added to the raw material. Such a product does not completely dissolve in the cup, a dense sediment forms at the bottom, and ready drink It has bad taste, which manufacturers of low-quality products enhance with the help of flavors and food additives.
Adulterated coffee does not contain the normal amount. It is introduced into the resulting powder artificially with the help of chemicals. The volume of the injected substance is never standardized. Sometimes counterfeiters inject caffeine through recycled pharmaceutical pills. Such foreign particles are easy to spot in instant coffee. In a similar situation, the use of a ready-made drink from such a product is dangerous for human health, since the amount of caffeine contained in the product is several times higher than the established norm in the standard. The coffee adulteration methods described above apply to both ground and grain products.
In the manufacture of fake, cheap varieties of the product, cereals and chicory, as well as rejected coffee beans are used. In order to make counterfeit coffee beans, counterfeit craftsmen will have to make some effort. Specialists replace original coffee beans with beans or clay fakes. Naturally, such a product only looks like coffee beans, but even an experienced craftsman is unlikely to be able to make a finished drink from it.
How to distinguish counterfeit coffee on the counter?
Before making a purchase, it can be very difficult to distinguish counterfeit coffee from the original, but if you pay attention to some selection criteria, the risk of acquiring counterfeit is significantly reduced.
- Coffee cost- the first thing you should pay attention to when buying. High-quality coffee is not a cheap product, so if the price tag is too nice, then in the package instead of natural product may contain malt or chicory.
- The second criterion is package. Fake products are not packaged in expensive packaging. Fake manufacturers use plastic containers for such purposes, and manufacturers of original products use glass or tin containers, thanks to which the aroma of coffee is preserved for a long time. If your choice fell on a product in tin can then pay attention to the packaging design. Manufacturers of the original product mark the product with a sazu on the packaging. There are no labels or stickers on the tin container. On coffee packaging without fail the country of manufacture, the expiration date and the barcode are indicated. The first three digits of the code are the manufacturer's country code. Pay attention to the quality of the product packaging. Blurred, unclear or too bright colors indicate that the product that is inside the container is not of the appropriate quality.
- An important criterion is coffee name And product packaging design. Very often counterfeiters use coffee names that sound like common brands. The packaging of the product can also match the style of the registered brand. Such plagiarism is not an indicator of the quality of the finished product, and can also spoil the image of the manufacturer.
A lot of coffee manufacturers package the product in foil bags. In such packaging, a special valve is used, which makes it possible to evaluate the aroma of the packaged product. Ground coffee packaging must be airtight. Manufacturers use a vacuum to pump air out of it specially, as a result, the packaged product resembles dense “briquettes”. If there is air in such a package, then this is evidence of a packaging violation, the coffee will lose its specific aroma, and there may also be counterfeit inside the container.
On the Russian market a considerable amount of falsified instant coffee comes in. It is made either from low-grade, moist grains, or malt, figs, chicory, burnt sugar, caramelizates, coffee bean shells are added to the raw materials. Such a product usually has an empty taste, with bitterness and acidity uncharacteristic of coffee. Coffee with "illegal" additives cannot be considered 100%.
The quality of coffee is also determined by the caffeine content. But this indicator is not the main one, since unscrupulous manufacturers have learned to add artificial caffeine to their products. That is why for most fakes this indicator is usually normal.
True, some counterfeiters do not bother with complex chemical processes for introducing caffeine into powder and simply pour crushed tablets of chemically pure caffeine into finished product. In such cases, caffeine in the form of white grains is visible to the naked eye. If you bought just such a “coffee”, then it is better to throw it away immediately: not only is it tasteless, it is also dangerous to health - pure caffeine has a strong stimulating effect, while in natural coffee it is associated with other substances and does not represent threats to the human condition.
There are also quite outright fakes, when a strange-smelling powder does not contain caffeine at all or its amount is much less than normal. But it happens differently: the examination shows that the 100% instant coffee declared on the label really is such, but the aroma and taste do not meet the requirements. The reason for this is a violation of manufacturing technology.
Good coffee experts define and the content of sugars. IN quality drink there are few of them, in fakes - a lot. These indicators are not yet included in the Russian standard, however, they are widely used to determine the authenticity of natural coffee abroad.
How to distinguish a fake?
Fake is cheap. Real coffee is expensive. Firstly, manufacturing technology is costly, and secondly, good coffee is made from high-quality beans, and they cost more than malt or chicory.
Fakes, as a rule, are packaged in plastic, more often transparent jars. Self-respecting firms use glass or tin cans.
If coffee is sold in a tin, then pay attention to its design: firms with a good reputation mark directly on the tin.
If on a tin or plastic jar paper label, there is no barcode, the country of origin, expiration date are not indicated, that is, a reason to think.
The mismatch of the first three digits with the indicated country of origin indicates that this is a fake.
Many counterfeiters distort the names of well-known manufacturing companies, but in such a way that they are consonant with them (For example, Ness-Coffee). They also steal the design of cans, the color scheme.
Blurred and obscure colors on the packaging also speak of falsification.
Varieties of coffee
There are only two main varieties: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora (Robusta).
Arabica beans - elongated, evenly roasted. Robusta grains are almost round, they rarely acquire a uniform color after roasting. The taste of these varieties differ quite strongly - a drink made from Arabica is softer in taste, slightly sour. Robusta does not have such a strong infusion, but it is bitter, not so fragrant.
This happens because on taste qualities coffee pretty big influence provide carbohydrates contained in grains. So, in Arabica there are much more carbohydrates than in Robusta. But Robusta has more caffeine. By the way, due to the increased extractivity of Robusta (that is, the ability to most fully preserve the taste and quality of a natural product during processing), this variety is most often used for the production of instant coffee. So most instant coffee is from Robusta. True, the best (and expensive) instant varieties are made either from a mixture of Arabica with Robusta, or entirely from Arabica.
The taste of coffee is strongly influenced by the place where it was grown. Indian Arabica tastes sharp, bitter (we are all used to it, since the main supplies of natural coffee in Soviet times came from India), with a strong aroma. Colombian has a soft, slightly vinous taste, delicate aroma. Coffee grown in Kenya, among the shades of its mild taste, also has bread, which is attractive to gourmets. Coffee from Costa Rica is sour and spicy at the same time.
Central and North American varieties typically have light to medium grains, with clean, vigorous promats. They form the basis of many famous coffee blends such as Colombia, Costa Rica Tres Rios, Guatemala Antigua and Mexico. Kona, although originating from the Pacific Islands, falls into the category of Latin American varieties in taste and smell.
The East African varieties are one of a kind and have not yet been sufficiently evaluated. They often combine the bright astringency of Central America's finest varieties with unique floral or vinous notes, and are usually medium to high-bodied. They can be found in the morning cup of almost any professional coffee taster. This category includes Kenia, Ethiopia Sidamo and Yergacheffe and Ethiopia Harra.
Indonesian varieties are on the other end of the spectrum from Latin American varieties. Usually dense and soft, not very tart, some with elements of "earthly" and exotic taste. Their density and depth make them an important base ingredient in blends such as Gold Coast and Yukon Blend. This group includes Estate Yava, Sumatra Boengie, Papua New Guinea and Sulawesi.
Dark roasts use varieties from different origins to provide a specific array of flavors, from the caramel spiciness of Espresso to the smoky flavor of Italian Roast and the roasted feel of French Roast.
Mixes combine different tastes to create a special complexity of sensations. Usually mixed Central American astringency with Indonesian mildness. Mixing is the high art of combining and combining.
Decaffeinated strains are rapidly growing in popularity, as are quality and availability.
And now directly the descriptions of the varieties:
COLOMBIA NARINO SUPREMA
Colombia is the world's second largest coffee producer (after Brazil) and is known for its strict standards. Colombian varieties have a pleasant bitterness with a strong aroma. The taste is refreshing, ripe and balanced.
GUATEMALA ANTIGUA
This coffee grows in large fields under special agrotechnical supervision. Coffee of such richness and density is rarely found today even on the best plantations of Central America.
MEXICO ALTURA
From the green slopes of the Sierra to southern Mexico comes the world famous Arabica variety. It is evenly fried and brewed into a light liquid with a bright, pleasant aftertaste and medium astringency. Great for breakfast.
COSTA RICO TRES RIOS
Among discerning coffee shoppers, Costa Rica enjoys an excellent reputation for the quality of its beans. After processing, a liquid of medium density is obtained, with a characteristic odor and a delicate taste.
KONA
Native to the southwest coast of the Hawaiian island of Kona, this coffee is the only variety commercially produced in the United States. The beans are large, standard size and roast great. Soft and ripe drink, with a slight smell.
ARABIAN MOCHA SANANI
Real coffee of this variety is one of the greatest and rarest in the world. From Yemen, where this variety was first grown, the name comes from the port city of Al-Mukah. Small, irregularly shaped beans give the most exquisite coffee in the world - savory and tonic, but at the same time soft - a very special feeling.
ARABIAN MOCHA JAVA
A world-famous coffee blend that combines the sharpness and piquancy of Arabian Mocha with a seasoning from dense Estate Java. Unscrupulous traders sometimes sell a mixture with a very low content of Arabian Mocha - this expensive and rare variety.
ETHIOPIA SIDAMO
Arabica coffee originated from Ethiopia and today there are many variations of this variety. Sudamo is a developing area on a high plateau in south-central Ethiopia. Here, a lot of coffee is harvested according to an old tradition from wild trees. The dense blue-green beans give an even roast and a coffee with a penetrating, almost flowery flavor and aroma and moderate body and astringency.
ETHIOPIA YERGACHEFFE
Another mysterious variety from the Ethiopian mountains, with an exotic taste, has small oval beans that are nice to roast. The brew is viscous, medium density with unusual promatic characteristics. Slight contrast with Ethiopia Sudamo.
ETHIOPIA HARRAR
The most exotic sensation is the berry taste that fills the mouth, the wine flavor is clearly felt, which is complemented by the density of the drink.
KENYA
A large number of coffee produced in Africa is robusto, a dwarf variety used as a filler in commercial blends and instant coffees. However, this tall Kenyan Arabica is among the best in the world. The variety has an intense taste, penetrating astringency and a refreshing effect. A medium-bodied brewed drink, tart and rich, with a special combination of softness and vinous astringency.
TANZANIA
East African Arabica is known for its lively taste and strong aroma. Tanzania is another example. The taste is straight and clean, with a sharpness that your palate will surely feel.
ZIMBABWE
This tall Arabica has many of the outstanding flavor characteristics that distinguish its East African neighbors. The drink has piquant qualities, well balanced taste and delicate aftertaste.
NEW GUINEA PEABERRY
Excellent coffee has been growing on this island north of Australia since Arabica trees were introduced from Jamaica in 1937. The equatorial climate and volcanic soils created extremely favorable conditions for the growth of coffee. A medium-bodied, rich drink with a pleasant aroma.
ESTATE JAVA
A magnificent variety was brought to the island by the Dutch in 1696. It has spread so much that the word "Java" has become synonymous with coffee of any origin. Typically for this variety - high density, moderate astringency and complex aromatic characteristics.
SULAWESI (CELEBES)
A former Dutch colony called Celebes, now the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, is famous for its pearls and coffee. Like other Indonesian varieties, Celebes coffee is full bodied with a round flavor and a deep rich aroma. It is in demand for low astringency, soft ripe flavor and sweet aftertaste.
SUMATRA BOENGIE
An Indonesian classic, Arabica from Sumatra has an unusually concentrated taste, heaviness, high density and herbal aroma. This rare and subtle vibrating flavor can satisfy the most sophisticated coffee palate.
AGED SUMATRA
unusual coffee aged green for several years. Proper storage in Indonesia's native climate refines and deepens the flavor characteristics of Sumatra, resulting in a very concentrated, almost oily drink with a full bouquet of spicy aromas. For lovers of Indonesian varieties, this will be a special event.
ESPRESSO ROAST (DARK)
The lightest of the dark roasts, this is a mixture of Central American and Indonesian varieties, passed through an espresso machine. Complex caramel flavor, high body and moderate astringency make this blend great for espresso, cappuccino and all afternoon coffee drinks.
ITALIAN ROAST (DARK)
It is roasted slightly darker than espresso until the surface of the beans is covered with fragrant oil. It has a strong promat, low astringency and a roasted sweetness typical of deep brown roasted coffees.
FRENCH ROAST (DARK)
You rather feel not the taste of a particular variety, but the taste of fried. A mixture of hard Arabica beans is usually taken, so that the aroma of the coffee itself prevails over the smell. fried butter. It is used as an after-dinner drink, and also as an addition to other coffees to give a sharp taste.
Decaffeinated varieties
DECAFFEINATED HOUSE BLEND
Get green beans. Decaffeination takes place in West Germany and roasting takes place in Seattle. Light to medium bodied, this is the most flavorful and rounded of decaffeinated drinks. Give it to guests and they'll never know it's 97% caffeine free.
DECAFFEINATED VIENNESE BLEND
A popular blend made up of 75% Decaffeinated House Blend and 25% Dark Roast Decaffeinated. Satisfy your need for a soft and balanced drink, with a pleasant aroma, without caffeine.
DECAFFEINATED DARK ROAST
For those who prefer a deep after-dinner taste, this variety makes a nice addition to other blends. Add it to your favorite coffee for a refreshing and smoky flavor.
DECAFFEINATED GUATEMALA
best variety Central America retains its taste and aroma for a long time.
DECAFFEINATED SUMATRA
Decaffeinated Sumatra, produced in Hamburg, West Germany, is remarkably full-bodied. Virtually devoid of caffeine, the variety has an herbal, earthy aroma.
DECAFFEINATED COLOMBIA (SWISS WATER PROCESS)
Water-treated decaffeinated coffee using the purest water and the finest Colombian beans. Low density and fresh, soft aftertaste.
DECAFFEINATED MOCCA JAVA (SWISS WATER PROCESS)
Made from carefully selected varieties of Indonesian and Ethiopian coffees. Although not as aromatic and dense as the original coffee of the same name, the blend produces a mild, pleasant flavor.
Classic coffee
Coffee ALLEGRO
100% Colombian coffee (Colombia Excelso) is a coffee variety that has a delicate, pleasant aroma and a mild, slightly vinous taste. Pairs well with all types of coffee.
Coffee FORTE
Indian coffee (India Plantation A) is a coffee variety that has a delicate, pleasant aroma and a mild, slightly winey taste. Pairs well with all types of coffee.
flavored coffee
Coffee BLUES AMARETTO
The name speaks for itself. A cup of fine coffee to which a few drops of amaretto liqueur have been added. There is a smell and taste, but no alcohol. You can safely drive.
HAZELNUT
The taste and aroma of the famous Italian liqueur "Frangelica".
Mixes different varieties coffee
HOUSE BLEND
Delicate blend of Latin American coffees with a light taste and rich aroma.
YUKON BLEND
A popular blend of Indonesian and Central American varieties, it has a persistent strong flavor with ripe, round characteristics.
CAFE VERONA (80/20 BLEND)
A premium blend of Central American and Indonesian coffees with 20% Italian Roast for depth of flavor, very popular in many Pacific Northwest restaurants.
VIENNESE BLEND
A special blend of Latin American coffees with 25% French Roast. Great with dessert.
GOLD COAST BLEND
An extravagant blend of the finest Central American and Indonesian varieties, laced with dark roast for sweetness and depth.
Coffee is a favorite drink of many people, which allows you to wake up in the morning and relax after a hard day's work. Therefore, more and more unscrupulous manufacturers are counterfeiting popular brands. Next, we will take a closer look at how to distinguish a fake Jacobs from the original.
The most characteristic information falsifications of coffee. So fake Jacobs coffee, for example, came in a large tin, similar to the Nescafe can, which was pasted over with a paper label with the name Jacobs. There is no barcode on the fake tin, but it is indicated that this coffee is made in the USA (in fact, Jacobs is produced in Germany).
Also, the jar is equipped with a plastic lid, which is used after opening the tin. At the same time, real Jacobs instant coffee is sold only in glass jars, while ground coffee and beans are sold in vacuum packaging.
What else is worth paying attention to?
- You need to bypass ordinary outlets and markets, where you can often find fakes and low-quality goods. Coffee must be bought in specialized stores that can provide quality certificates for the entire range of their products.
- Also, experts recommend buying coffee for the first time directly in a specialized store of the manufacturer and be sure to save the packaging. All other times you need to take the packaging with you and compare it in all other stores. Feel free to compare packages. This will avoid fake and low-quality products.
- Also, original products must have a control identification mark. If the products are intended for the domestic market, then such a sign will be on a light green background. Otherwise, the background has a purple tint. In addition, scammers quite often confuse colors and forget to put an identification mark. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to this in the first place.
- Be sure to use the factory method to stamp the expiration date and date of manufacture of coffee on the packaging. On fakes, such information can be applied with ordinary paints and printed on a printer. In addition, such inscriptions can be easily erased, which cannot be said about original products.
- We also pay attention to the price. Quite often fake coffee is cheaper. In addition, they also offer promotions and discounts so that buyers quickly buy out goods.
- Next, let's take a look at the packaging. It must be of high quality without damage and deformation. In most cases, in order to save money, scammers pack coffee in low-quality soft packaging. Therefore, it is better to choose tin or glass jars which are harder and more expensive to fake.
- Instant coffee is also quite often counterfeited. Therefore, it is better to choose custard.
- Checking appearance coffee, which should have a beautiful uniform shade without impurities.
- You can also check coffee with cold water. You need to pour a spoonful of coffee into a glass of cold water. All foreign matter should settle to the bottom. In addition, high-quality coffee should not stain the water.
How to distinguish a fake by a barcode?
We know that a barcode is a product marking and a very indicative characteristic that indicates the country of manufacture and thus helps to determine the authenticity of the product. How to decode a barcode? Barcode sections: country code, manufacturer code, product name, consumer properties, size, weight, ingredients, color, check digit.
00-09 - USA, Canada
30-37 - France
40-44 - Germany
460-461 – Russia, CIS
471 Taiwan
49 – Japan
50 - England
52 – Greece
54 – Belgium
56 – Portugal
590 Poland
599.64 - Finland
690 China
70 - Norway
72 – Israel
73 – Sweden
789 Brazil
80-83 – Italy
84 – Spain
86 – Yugoslavia
869 Turkey
90-91 - Austria
It is important that the barcode is genuine. You can check it yourself. To do this, do the following:
- add up all the numbers in even places;
- Multiply the resulting amount by 3; result - let's call it X - remember;
- add up all the numbers in odd places, without the first (control) digit;
- add the number X to this sum;
- the sum turned out - let's call it YZ;
- we leave only Z from it;
- perform a simple arithmetic operation: 10-Z;
- if the result matches the check digit in the barcode, then this is not a fake.
Let's check the Jacobs coffee barcode: 4000508082504 (check digit - 4) 0+0+0+0+2+0=2 2×3=6 4+0+5+8+8+5=30 30+6 =36 We leave 6 from 36. 10-6=4 - the result corresponds to the check digit.
t-coffee
There may not be external signs that will help to distinguish. fakes can be if the suppliers are not verified. and it’s even quite possible that the manufacturer started to hack)) but it already depends only on them) You can safely switch to another coffee, especially now the assortment is large, different degrees of roasting, different varieties, everything can be found for every taste) if you are interested - write, I will help you in choosing coffee 🙂
Anonymous
I have been buying ground Jacobs Monarch for many years, and so, I also noticed more than once that if the package with the action is cocoa coffee, it’s better not to buy it.
I have not taken ground for a long time. Since a couple of times I also got on acorns. Only in grains. If anything, you can grind yourself.
Alexey
And I think what kind of crap was Jacobs Monarch. It dissolves poorly, and among the light brown sublimated grains, 1/3 of the dark grains of unknown origin (such as in granulated coffee). Of course, when buying soft packaging, you will not see its composition. It's a shame. After buying the last pack (brought, by the way, from Russia), I began to rummage on the Internet and came across this article. And now what to drink?
Nikolai Anatolievich
I work in the trade for bullshit-quality Jacobs - a bunch, but it differs in color, bullshit has a dull color. About 3-4 months ago in the Boguslavsky district in the hut the machine was seized by the production of Jacobs. In the bazaars, you can see a lot of it at a price. It cannot be cheaper than the official Kraft Foods distributor.
Papatut
Yes, unfortunately, now very often it is Jacobs (as one of the most expensive and most popular coffees) that is actively counterfeited. There are also many fakes on the market. Often, chasing super-profits, it is precisely such “wholesale bases” and bazaars that distribute counterfeit. You won't find this in a normal store. Kraft has already sent more than one paper for use as a counterfeit.
conclusions
A considerable amount of falsified instant coffee enters the Russian market. It is made either from low-grade, moist grains, or malt, figs, chicory, burnt sugar, caramelizates, coffee bean shells are added to the raw materials. Such a product usually has an empty taste, with bitterness and acidity uncharacteristic of coffee. Coffee with "illegal" additives cannot be considered 100%, since its quality is determined precisely by the content.
On the one hand, we, the buyers, are the main victims of falsification, and on the other hand, the major coffee concerns. They are losing the reputation gained by decades of hard work. Many connoisseurs of coffee brands such as Jacobs (Germany), Nescafe (Switzerland), Elite Classic (Israel), Cafe Pele (Brazil), Tchibo (Germany), Mossopa (Holland) , Folgers (USA), Maxwell House (USA) and others have probably already noticed that it is better to buy your favorite coffee
in specialized stores or departments of large trading enterprises, and not in small wholesale markets.
