A Tucson roasting company has been saying its acid-free coffee is easy on sensitive tummies, and now a professor's study confirms it.
Tyler's Coffee is one of the few companies to offer coffee that is completely acid-free in both regular and decaf.
Drinking regular coffee with acidic qualities can be an uncomfortable experience for people with overactive bladders, irritable bowel syndrome, and gastroesophageal reflux disease, otherwise known as acid reflux disease.
Tyler's Coffee goes about roasting in a different manner than most coffee manufacturers to attain a higher pH level. The company calls it the "Z-Roasting" process.
"We use an innovative technique to roast the coffee beans to the perfect temperature, so acids don't form when the coffee is roasted," said Rebecca Willingham, vice president of Tyler's.
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Arabica beans from South America are roasted in the company's Phoenix roaster, then shipped to the packaging and distribution facility in Tucson.
Willingham said the company's Z-Roasting details are a trade secret. The firm doesn't want to patent it for fear of other companies using the process. Tyler's hopes to become a household name, she added.
Dr. Joseph V. DiTrolio is a clinical professor of surgery in the Division of Urology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. DiTrolio was curious as to why coffee can have a negative effect on a person's bladder, especially in women. He stumbled across Tyler's Acid Free Coffee on the Internet and asked the company for a sample so he could conduct a study.
He compared Tyler's Acid Free Coffee with coffee samples from Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts. The study started in February and took three months.
"The longer amount of time you roast, the more chemicals you create. Those chemicals can bother a person," DiTrolio said.
He said that mass producers of coffee, such as Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, don't precisely regulate the roasting time on each batch of coffee beans.
That's why Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts' coffee is more acidic and has a lower pH level compared with Tyler's Coffee, he said.
"If you're a person who is extremely sensitive to coffee but enjoys coffee, the product is a good alternative," DiTrolio said about Tyler's Coffee.
DiTrolio said Tyler's Coffee definitely has a different taste than regular coffee. "You notice an immediate difference if your taste buds are adapted to regular coffee," he said. "(But) at least this gives them the option to enjoy the drink without the devastating side effects."
There are other options available on the market, too.
Canadian-based Good Food Inc. offers Euromild, an acid-reduced coffee that comes from Europe.
"The goal is to produce coffee that is gentler on the stomach but still good-tasting," said Good Food owner Dan Simile.
Euromild uses a different acid-reducing method than Tyler's Coffee. Euromild's beans undergo an "intense wash" by steaming the coffee beans before roasting, Simile said.
Other brands, such as Puroast, HealthWise and Helva, offer forms of low-acid coffee as well.
DID YOU KNOW?
Tucson's Tyler's Coffee was founded when owner Tyler Ornstein received help from his dad, Ian Ornstein, to create a coffee that is easy on the stomach. Tyler Ornstein's company took off in 2005, when he was only 16 years old.
TO BUY IT
Tyler's Coffee can be found at any AJ's Fine Foods market in Arizona, on www.amazon.com or at www.tylerscoffees.com
It costs between $13.99 and $30 for a 10-ounce bag, an estimated week's supply. You can reach Tyler's Coffee at 1-800-293-0530.
Ashley Grove is a NASA Space Grant intern at the University of Arizona. Contact her at agrove@azstarnet.com or 573-4674.