Red Maple

I have tried several of the low acid coffees from mail order companies, and have found for me, that they taste awful! I have been sucessful with a "cold brew" method of preparing coffees. The high temperatures of regular hot brewing increases the acidity in coffee as the hot water "cooks" the beans/grounds in the brewing process releasing the acids. With a cold brew method you get a very strong concentrate of lower acid coffee. Do a web search for the "Toddy" coffee brewing system, it explains the whole process and why it produces a lower acid coffee. You ''cold brew" your favorite grounds over a 12 hour time period, then drain the concentrate through a filter into a carafe. After the concentrate is brewed, the filter system also takes a long time (a couple of hours) for the coffee to drain through the filter so this in not a quick morning method, but when you are done you have about 2 weeks worth of concentrate. When the cold brew is finished it's like having a lower acid "instant" coffee from your favorite brands. You then just put some concentrate in your cup (amount varies depending on how strong you like your coffee), add hot water, cream, sugar or whatever you like and you have your favorite brew in a lower acid form of coffee. Since the concertrate itself is low acid, the hot water you add to make a hot cup of coffee does not increase acidity because the heat does not come in direct contact with the grounds/beans where it acid is. You may want to devise your own cold brew method to see if it works for you, before you invest in a cold brew system. Just put 1 cup of cold water in a bowl, add about 2-3 ounces of your favorite ground coffee, allow to sit in the fridge overnight or about 12 hours, then "filter" through double layer of cheesecloth in a strainer into a cup. Add hot water and voi-la "instant lower acid brew", it'll make enough to try and give you an idea if this method may work for you.

I also use a product called "Coffee Tamer". I get my coffee tamers from a locally owned kitchen store, similar to the Williams Sonoma stores, so look around you may be able to find them locally too. It is a small packet of tasteless powder that neutralizes the acids in coffees and other acidic drinks. I keep coffee tamers with me in my wallet so if I want to stop off for coffee I have them handy. You can use either of these methods with your favorite regular or decaf. coffees without switching to the low acid kinds. Decalf and regular coffee both have the same amount of acids, but with regular coffee, the caffine is an added irritant to the stomach. These solutions aren't perfect for reflux suffers, but defintely better than regular acidic coffee, and I think much more tasty than the low acid coffees. Hope this helps some coffee lovers out there who also suffer from acid reflux.