How to Eat Coffee Beans and What Happens to Caffeine

Coffee beans can be eaten dry, and people have chewed them since they were first discovered. In Ethiopia, the Kaffa people mashed coffee fruit with animal fat and rolled it into energy balls for long journeys. Chewing roasted beans delivers a crunchy texture and concentrated flavor, but the caffeine dose runs higher than a brewed cup.

Raw beans taste grassy and astringent; roasted beans range from bright and acidic in light roasts to bitter and smoky in dark roasts. Front Street notes that chewing bypasses the brewing step entirely, so more caffeine reaches the body per bean, and irritation to the throat and stomach is possible. What does a raw coffee bean taste like? Dry, green, and harsh.

Since the scene of Gao Qiqiang chewing coffee beans in "The Knockout" went viral, many friends have been curious: can coffee beans actually be eaten directly? What do they taste like when chewed? Will you consume more caffeine? This article starts with the history of eating coffee beans, revisits the Kaffa "energy balls" and the legend of the coffee shepherd, then analyzes the differences in taste between raw and roasted beans, and between light and dark roasts, and uses Golden Cup extraction to explain why chewing beans raw can lead to higher caffeine intake. It also discusses the aroma, stress relief, and auditory pleasure that chewing brings, as well as the drawbacks such as bitterness, throat irritation, and health risks. Front Street suggests: a small try is fine, but long-term addiction is not advisable—coffee beans are still best brewed into coffee.

Since last year, noticeably more people have been entertaining this idea. The reason is that hit TV drama with an extremely distinctive villain who, whenever he gets nervous, grabs a handful of coffee beans and stuffs them into his mouth. Yes, I'm talking about Gao Qiqiang, the guy who wants to eat fish in "The Knockout."

But coffee beans have always been the raw material for making coffee—used and then thrown away, much like tea leaves. Something that looks like it would crack your teeth—can you really put it in your mouth? Actually, coffee beans can indeed be eaten, and when they were first discovered, people chewed them directly. Front Street previously read in Mr. Han Huaizong's "The New Coffeeology" a passage recording that the Kaffa people, one of Ethiopia's main ethnic groups, relied on chewing coffee leaves and fruit for energy in early times. Specifically, they picked the coffee fruit, mashed it, wrapped it in animal fat, and rolled it into small balls, which served as "energy balls" for courage during long journeys, military expeditions, or raids. To this day, the Kaffa people still keep the habit of eating energy balls or brewing alcohol from coffee fruit. The widely circulated "Legend of the Coffee Shepherd" is a similar case. When Kaldi was searching for herbs in Ethiopia, he accidentally saw goats jumping around energetically after eating coffee beans, so he picked the red fruit and tried it himself. Not only did it refresh his mind, but the pulp was also sweet and juicy. Thus, for a long period, coffee was consumed as a food with stimulating effects.

So the question arises: since so many records show that coffee beans can be eaten, why didn't this custom spread? Why did it take a hit TV drama for everyone to learn that coffee beans can be put in the mouth? The answer is straightforward—because coffee beans are NOT tasty!

As everyone knows, coffee beans contain 30% soluble substances, and the rest is all woody fiber. It's not that woody fiber is inedible, but it's really hard to swallow. Chewing coffee beans feels basically like chewing wood.

As for taste, here we're mainly talking about roasted beans. Raw coffee beans are extremely dense, very tough, and their aroma hasn't been generated through high-temperature roasting, so they're very unsuitable for eating. When raw beans are subjected to intense heat, due to various chemical reactions, the structure of the coffee beans becomes porous and their crispness increases. Not only that, but the substances originally stored in the bean body are transformed through roasting into hundreds of aromatic components. So at this point, they're more suitable for chewing raw (only compared to raw beans).

But you should know that the ease of chewing also varies with the roast level. Light-roasted coffee beans have low expansion, low crispness, and high density, so people with bad teeth won't find it easy to chew; dark-roasted coffee beans are the opposite—because they expand fully and have high crispness, they're easy to crush. So generally, desserts or drinks garnished with coffee beans choose dark-roasted beans, to avoid breaking customers' teeth when they eat them.

Can chewing coffee beans raw bring out flavor? Will you consume more caffeine? First, caffeine—whether chewing coffee beans raw can get you more caffeine is what many friends care about most. Logically speaking, indeed it can!

Because when we make coffee from coffee beans, to reduce the release of bitterness and off-flavors, we limit the degree of extraction. Of the 30% soluble substances, we usually extract only about 20%, which is the so-called Golden Cup extraction. But by chewing and swallowing raw, all 30% of the substances can be absorbed, so overall, caffeine intake is indeed more complete.

In terms of flavor, I believe everyone has experienced the aroma rushing at you when grinding beans, and chewing coffee beans raw gives you the same experience. The moment you bite into a coffee bean, the bean bursts and the aroma erupts. But it's only aroma—the specific flavors you can actually feel when drinking coffee won't send the same signals to your taste buds when chewing raw. After the aroma comes a mouthful of bitterness, plus the discomfort of coffee grounds stuck in your throat. So what's the point of chewing coffee beans? Studies have shown that chewing coffee beans raw can bring a certain sense of stress relief, because coffee beans become crispy after roasting. And when people eat crispy foods, the brain produces a certain pleasure, thereby creating a pleasant feeling. Besides the chewing experience, chewing crispy things also produces "sound effects"—that crunch-crunch noise. This stimulates the auditory sense and enriches the overall experience. According to a study by Oxford University, the louder the echo a person hears when eating, the more they psychologically believe the food is tasty.

In summary, chewing coffee beans raw can indeed provide a certain degree of aroma and more caffeine, while also producing pleasure. But the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, and the disadvantages are more obvious. Chewing raw is not only intensely bitter, but you also have to endure the torment of coffee grounds stuck in your throat. Even if you roast the beans very dark to reduce the negative sensations from woody fiber, the health problems caused by excessive consumption are still worrisome. So Front Street does not recommend chewing coffee beans raw—a small try is okay, but addiction is not. Coffee beans still need to be brewed into coffee—drinking it is the most suitable way! Because for both your taste buds and your health, that's the optimal choice.

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.