Hot coffee has more antioxidants than cold brew

On a warm summer day, when a piping hot cup of coffee seems unthinkable, there’s nothing better than popping by your local coffee shop for a glass of cold-brew coffee.

But according to new research, hot brew coffee contains higher levels of antioxidants than cold brew coffee.

Cold brew, a method of soaking ground coffee in cold water overnight, has all the taste and caffeine of your average cup of joe, but can be served over ice and makes for a refreshing change.

Cold brew has become hugely popular in the United States, and the market for cold brew jumped 580 percent from 2011 to 2016.

Some people prefer cold brew all year round no matter the weather. It’s claimed that cold brew is less acidic and so coffee drinkers are more inclined to choose cold brew in the hopes of avoiding heartburn or stomach problems.

With all the measurable success of cold brew, there exist few studies on its health benefits or its supposedly lower acidity.

Researchers from Philadelphia University and Thomas Jefferson University set out to explore the chemical makeup of cold-brew coffee and conducted a study to see if cold brew had the same beneficial qualities of hot coffee.

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The researchers, who were coffee drinkers themselves, found that cold brew and hot coffee have similar pH levels ranging from 4.85 to 5.13.  However, hot coffee has higher levels of titratable acids.

Titratable acids may be what increases the antioxidant levels of hot coffee.

“Coffee has a lot of antioxidants, if you drink it in moderation, research shows it can be pretty good for you,” said  Megan Fuller, a co-author of the study. “We found the hot brew has more antioxidant capacity.”

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By Kay Vandette, Earth.com Staff Writer