Coffee Concentrate
Coffee concentrate is a liquid coffee extract in which roasted and ground coffee has been brewed at high strength, or brewed and then concentrated, so that the soluble coffee solids are carried at several times the level of a cup of drinking coffee.
The extract contains the same water soluble fraction as brewed coffee: chlorogenic acids and their thermal breakdown products, caffeine, trigonelline, melanoidins formed during roasting, carbohydrates and organic acids. Soluble solids are the trading unit and are expressed in Brix or as percentage coffee solids, with ready to dilute retail concentrates around 5 to 15 percent and industrial extracts commonly 25 to 45 percent, rising above 50 percent for material destined for drying. Colour is a deep opaque brown and viscosity climbs steeply above about 40 percent solids.
It is fully miscible with water and with milk, though the acidity of high strength extract can destabilise plant proteins if it is added undiluted. Aroma is the fragile part: volatiles are lost during any evaporative step and oxidation in storage causes staling, so concentrate is normally held frozen, chilled or aseptically packed with a low headspace oxygen level.
We source bulk Coffee Concentrate from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturers are in Fujian and Guangdong. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Beverage ingredient
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Opaque viscous liquid, free from grounds and sediment |
| Colour | Deep reddish brown to near black |
| Flavour and odour | Clean roasted coffee, no burnt, sour or fermented note |
| Soluble coffee solids | 30.0 to 40.0 percent, declared per lot |
| Soluble solids | 32 to 42 Brix at 20 degrees Celsius |
| pH | 4.8 to 5.4 |
| Caffeine on dry basis | 1.5 to 3.5 percent |
| Titratable acidity | Declared per grade |
| Sediment | 0.1 percent volume maximum |
| Lead | 0.05 mg/kg maximum |
| Arsenic | 0.1 mg/kg maximum |
| Total plate count | 100 cfu/mL maximum |
| Yeast and mould | 10 cfu/mL maximum |
| Salmonella | Negative in 25 mL |
Common Markets Grades
The first distinction is extraction temperature. Cold brew concentrate, extracted for 8 to 24 hours below about 20 degrees Celsius, is lower in titratable acidity and carries a rounder flavour. Hot extracted concentrate is produced in minutes in pressurised percolation columns and is cheaper per kilogram of solids but more bitter and more prone to cooked notes. Both are traded at declared solids.
Concentration method is the second distinction, since freeze concentrated and membrane concentrated extracts retain more aroma than vacuum evaporated material and command a different price. Beyond that, grades cover single origin against blend, arabica against robusta or blends of the two, decaffeinated extract, organic certification, and whether the extract is sold sweetened or unsweetened. Filtration level is specified where the customer needs a clear extract for bottling with no sediment.
Applications
- Ready to drink bottled and canned coffee, dosed to the target solids after dilution
- Retail liquid coffee concentrate sold for dilution with water or milk at home
- Coffee shop and foodservice dispensing systems, where liquid concentrate replaces on site brewing
- Coffee flavoured dairy drinks and milk teas, where the extract carries flavour without added water
- Ice cream, frozen desserts and coffee ripples, contributing colour and flavour at low addition
- Bakery and confectionery fillings, including coffee creams, mousses and tiramisu bases
- Instant coffee manufacture, as the feedstock for spray drying or freeze drying
- Energy drinks and functional beverages using coffee as the caffeine source
- Alcoholic ready to drink products and coffee liqueurs
- Nutrition bars and coated snacks, where high solids extract limits water addition
Brands Using Coffee Concentrate
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Coffee Concentrate on the ingredient label.
- Grady's Cold Brew5L New Orleans-Style Coffee Concentrate ↗A cold brew coffee concentrate whose ingredient list reads water, coffee, chicory and spices, diluted before drinking.Label verified 2026-08-31
- Grady's Cold Brew32 oz Cocoa Mocha Coffee Concentrate ↗This coffee concentrate lists water, coffee, chicory, natural chocolate flavour and spices, and is diluted about five to one.Label verified 2026-08-31
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Coffee Concentrate
Top Coffee Concentrate manufacturers in China.
Damin Foodstuff (Zhangzhou) Co., Ltd.4 ingredients in the directory
Guangzhou Taste Craftsman Bio Tech Co.2 ingredients in the directory
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Coffee extract is a food ingredient rather than an additive and carries no E number. In the United States the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act regulates it as a food, and manufacture follows the preventive controls rules at 21 CFR Part 117. Shelf stable liquid coffee products with a pH above 4.6 are processed either as thermally processed low acid canned foods or under aseptic processing rules, and caffeine content declarations follow the general labelling requirements rather than a specific coffee regulation.
In the European Union coffee extracts are the subject of Directive 1999/4/EC on coffee extracts and chicory extracts, which sets the minimum coffee based dry matter content for liquid coffee extract and controls the reserved names that may be used. The general food law and hygiene package apply alongside, and acrylamide, formed during roasting, is subject to the benchmark levels and mitigation obligations of Regulation 2017/2158. Decaffeinated products must meet the caffeine limits attached to that description, and residual solvent limits apply where the decaffeination used dichloromethane or ethyl acetate. Codex maintains a standard for instant coffee that is also referenced for extracts.
Manufacturing Process
Green beans are blended, roasted to the target profile and rested, then ground to a particle size matched to the extraction equipment. In the hot route the grounds are charged into a battery of percolation columns operated in series at temperatures from roughly 100 to 175 degrees Celsius under pressure, with fresh water entering the most spent column and the strongest extract drawn from the freshest, a countercurrent arrangement that maximises yield. In the cold route the grounds are steeped in ambient or chilled water in tanks for many hours, or passed through a slow drip column, and the slurry is then separated.
The raw extract is separated from spent grounds by centrifuge, filter press or decanter, and polished on a fine or membrane filter to the required clarity. Concentration follows by one of three routes: vacuum evaporation, which is cheapest but strips aroma; reverse osmosis and nanofiltration, which work at ambient temperature; or freeze concentration, which crystallises out pure ice and gives the best aroma retention at the highest cost. Aroma stripped ahead of evaporation may be recovered and added back. The finished concentrate is pasteurised or sterilised, cooled, and filled aseptically, chilled or frozen.
