What is White Coffee? Learn All About These Coffee Beans
One of the latest trends we’ve heard lately is called white coffee, but it actually isn’t new at all. It’s an old-style brew currently enjoying a fresh start in modern coffee shops.
What is white coffee? Perhaps you’ve seen it marketed as the latest health fad or the best way to reach peak caffeine. Read on to find out what this cup of coffee is about and whether you should consider trading in your regular dark joe.
Where Does White Coffee Come From?
White coffee beans might be the latest trend, but it has a long history originating in the Middle East (1). Its origins are in Yemen, though you can also find this style in Indonesia, where it is called kopi putih.
It has nothing to do with the addition of whiteners like milk or cream in many cafe drinks and should not be confused with the flat white. Instead, white coffee refers to an extremely light roast, so light that the beans don’t adopt the characteristic dark brown of traditional coffee.
White Coffee Roast
White coffee is roasted to around 325 F instead of 375 to 480 F for standard coffee roast types. As a result, these specialty coffee beans are extremely hard and dense and must be ground using specialized commercial coffee grinders. Once brewed, the resultant cup of java won’t actually be white; it’s more of a pale beige color.
White Coffee Flavor
Coffee drinkers describe the flavor of white coffee as nutty, with a pronounced acidity and very low bitterness – characteristics derived from the minimal roasting time. Since white coffee is roasted only gently, the natural sugars in the beans are not caramelized and the organic acids are not destroyed.
The choice of bean has a significant impact on the taste of coffee. The lighter the roast, the more you taste the subtle nuances of the coffee itself rather than the roasting process. White coffee is a great way to experience the subtleties of single origin coffee from different regions.
In Yemen, where the beverage originated, a perfect cup of white coffee is typically served flavored with a spice mix known as hawaij, a practice still common in many coffee shops today (2).
“Ginger and cardamom are always front and center in this warming, heady mix which, more often than not, features cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.”
Hawaij is most often made up of cumin, black pepper, turmeric, and cardamom, but numerous variations exist. This mixture paired with the nuttiness of the brew makes white coffee taste so delicious.
What are the benefits of white coffee?
White roast coffee is regularly marketed as a health elixir thanks to its low roasting temperature. Because of the shorter roasting process, white coffee retains more chlorogenic acid, an antioxidant molecule that protects against cardiovascular disease and decreases inflammation (3). However, the difference in antioxidant content between light and dark roasts isn’t significant enough to warrant switching from dark coffee if you don’t actually enjoy the drink.
White Coffee vs Black Coffee
The main difference between white coffee and regular black coffee is the roast level. Both start with the same green coffee beans from the same coffee plant, but the roasting process for white coffee is only about half as long. This results in a different flavor, nutrition profile, caffeine content, and appearance.
White coffee is a pale beige or orange color, compared to the dark brown of regular brewed coffee. It is smoother and milder, with less bitterness. If you want to switch to white coffee, you can start by mixing white and black coffee. It’s quite tasty!
Does white coffee have more caffeine than regular coffee?
Many shops offering this pale coffee market it as having much more caffeine than darker roasts. While caffeine content does decrease slightly with roasting time, the effect is minor.
Often, coffee shops claim that white coffee has a higher caffeine content by 50-70% percent. The true figure is likely closer to 5%.
If you’re looking for a highly caffeinated strong coffee, you’re better off seeking a particular bean than an especially light roast.
How To Prepare It
Despite growing popularity among coffee lovers, white coffee is not widely available in coffee shops, particularly outside of major urban centers. Luckily, it is possible to drink white coffee at home.
The first thing to do is purchase some white beans. In this case, you’ll have to put aside your staleness concerns and buy them pre-ground because your home grinder won’t stand a chance against these ultra-dense beans.
Most experts recommend brewing the beans in an espresso style to get the most from their mild flavor. Any device that yields a very concentrated brew, like an espresso machine, AeroPress, or Moka pot is ideal. But you can also try a drip coffee machine using a higher coffee-to-water ratio.
After brewing, you can add the hawaij spice mix for an authentic cup or a touch of almond milk for a modern take.
Where to buy white coffee
It is getting easier to buy white coffee on the internet as this trend takes off. Here are a few of the best white coffee brands we tasted and enjoyed.
1. White Tornado
Whole beans or ground: Ground coffee
- Origin: Mexico
- Notes: n/a
Poverty Bay Coffee Company is a small-batch roaster based in the coffee hotspot of Seattle, Washington. The founder was among the first to recognize the modern potential of traditional white coffee. They source shade-grown beans and pay Direct Trade prices to ensure you get the best coffee experience.
Their infamous White Tornado coffee beans are roasted to 325 F and available in 1 lb, 2lb, and 5 lb bags. The ground coffee was just right for our espresso machine, and the white espresso had a lovely mellow flavor, gently nutty and earthy with a hint of herbal sweetness.
White Coffee
2. White Coffee
Whole beans or ground: Ground coffee
- Origin: Brazil
- Notes: Smooth and Nutty
Wired Willey’s White Coffee comes from Lowery’s Coffee, a family-run roaster with a long history of roasting premium Arabica coffee. The coffee is available in 1lb, 2lb, and 4lb bags.
Like Poverty Bay, Wired Willey’s White Coffee comes pre-ground for an espresso machine, though we enjoyed it brewed in a Moka pot as well. It is super smooth, with a bit more sweetness and less depth than other white coffees we tried. It would be a perfect introduction to the style. And we aren’t the only ones who think so; it has received many rave reviews on Amazon.
3. Special White
Whole beans or ground: Both
- Origin: Brazil
- Notes: Nuts
Abbey Roast is a unique roaster in southwest New Mexico located out of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery. They offer an enticing white coffee made from Brazilian Arabica beans, available in 12oz and 5lb bags.
They are the only option that offers your choice of grind size (coarse, medium, or fine) or whole bean coffee. But remember that you’ll need a commercial-level grinder to make ground white coffee. We tried the coarse option to brew these beans with a French press, and the result was a wonderfully full-bodied brew with notes of hazelnuts and a subtle earthiness.
Final Thoughts
Now you know that white coffee is not actually a type of coffee drink. It’s a style of very light roast coffee that originated in the Middle East, known for mild nutty flavors and gentle sweetness. It’s a wonderful option for anyone who doesn’t like the taste of coffee but still enjoys a warm morning caffeine hit.
Have you tried white coffee? Is it available in your local coffee shop, or have you brewed your own at home? Were you buzzing from the caffeine or feeling a health boost from antioxidants? Did the hawaij blend transport you to 18th century Yemen? Let us know in the comments below!
FAQs
No, white coffee isn’t just coffee mixed with milk – at least not in most parts of the world. In the U.K., ordering a “white coffee” in some cafes might get you coffee and milk. So if you want to be specific, order a “Yemeni white coffee.”
The difference between blonde coffee and white coffee is the roast level. A blonde roast is also a light coffee roast but not as light as white coffee. Blonde roasts are roasted until just after the first crack, between 350 and 400 F, whereas white coffee is stopped before the first crack at 325 F.
White coffee can stain your teeth, but not as much as dark roast coffee. Interestingly, this has nothing to do with its color; the tannin content causes teeth stains. Green coffee contains about one-third the tannins of roasted coffee. Tea is the worst, with over double the tannin content of dark roast coffee (4).
Ipoh white coffee is a coffee drink from Ipoh, Malaysia. Many people believe it uses special Malaysian white coffee beans, but this is untrue. Instead, normal coffee beans are roasted in margarine before being ground, brewed, and sweetened with condensed milk to make the famous drink.
White coffee is generally considered to be healthier for you because the short roast time retains more nutrients, like antioxidants. However, light-roast coffee is higher in acrylamide, a chemical that has been linked to cancer (but only in extremely high doses) (5). In general, the health difference between white and medium or dark roast coffee is too small to be significant, especially compared to the impacts of additives like sugar or creamer.
References
- Eschner, K. (2017, September 29). Your Mocha is Named After the Birthplace of the Coffee Trade. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/your-mocha-named-after-birthplace-coffee-trade-180965016/
- Myerson, R. (2018, November 26). The Warming Spice Blend I’ll Take Over Pumpkin Spice Any Day. Retrieved from https://www.bonappetit.com/story/hawaij-spice
- Tajik N, Tajik M, Mack I, Enck P. The potential effects of chlorogenic acid, the main phenolic components in coffee, on health: a comprehensive review of the literature. Eur J Nutr. 2017 Oct;56(7):2215-2244. doi: 10.1007/s00394-017-1379-1. Epub 2017 Apr 8. PMID: 28391515.
- Savolainen H. Tannin content of tea and coffee. J Appl Toxicol. 1992 Jun;12(3):191-2. doi: 10.1002/jat.2550120307. PMID: 1629514.
- Tareke E, Rydberg P, Karlsson P, Eriksson S, Törnqvist M. Analysis of acrylamide, a carcinogen formed in heated foodstuffs. J Agric Food Chem. 2002 Aug 14;50(17):4998-5006. doi: 10.1021/jf020302f. PMID: 12166997.
