BCAA Infused Cold-Brew Coffee

NUTR 405 Project Proposal

Jennifer Behimino: jennifer.behimino@yahoo.com

Kristine Giltvedt: kristinegiltvedt@gmail.com
Pedro Guzman: p_guzman530@yahoo.com
Jayden Montejano: jaydengarcia95@hotmail.com
Courtney Neizer: courtneyneizer@gmail.com

General Product Description

The proposed product of cold brew will be infused with the
branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, isoleucine, and
valine. The purpose of this product is to encourage daily muscle
protein synthesis through consumption of BCAAs and delay
onset muscle soreness in individuals that avidly participate in
exercise or activity. The BCAAs do not require the liver in order
to be processed or metabolized as they can directly be
synthesized in the muscle tissues (Tajiri & Shimizu, 2018).
According to the IBIS World website, there has been a 1.1%
increase in Americans consuming coffee every day since 2014.
The cold brew infused BCAAs will not only provide the average
American with their daily dose of caffeine but also provide other
health benefits such as tissue regeneration, increased
metabolism, immune function, and detoxification of nitrogenous
wastes to name a few (Industry Market Research, Reports, and
Statistics, n.d.).
Originality
While coffee is a prevalent product in the market and has
many forms of purchase, coffee infused with BCAAs has yet to
be established in the market. Coffee with protein and fat, known
as bullet coffee, is popular for individuals influenced by diet
trends or individuals with strong exercising habits. BCAA
supplements in the supplement industry are also prevalent
containing endless flavors as well as being sold as multiple
products. BCAAs are sold in the supplement industry in energy
drinks, powdered forms meant for mixing with water, or as a
carbonated drink. Currently, there is also a gap in originality for
BCAAs being infused with other popular food/beverage
products which allows room for growth for a product such as
coffee infused with BCAAs. The purpose of this product is to
provide increased health benefits in a widely and commonly
consumed beverage (coffee); convenience will be a main
influencer in selection of our original product as Americans will
not have to perform surmountable steps to achieve healthier
goals.
Market Potential
​The United States is the world’s largest consumer of coffee.
64% of Americans drink at least one cup of coffee per day, and
the average American spends $1100 on coffee per year.
(Prentice, 2018). For many people, drinking coffee is a daily
habit that they would be unwilling to give up. The IBIS World
website for marketing trends states that the growth of the coffee
market in the United States has continued at a steady increase of
2.5% from 2015-2020, and also predicts a continued increase
from 2020-2025 (Industry Market Research, Reports, and
Statistics, n.d.). Cold brew coffee is a popular new trend in the
American coffee market. Between 2015 and 2017, sales of cold
brew in the US skyrocketed from around $8 million to $38
million (Prentice, 2018). With daily consumption of coffee and
cold brew increasing, the number of businesses in coffee
continues to grow at 497,752 in the past year alone.
With there being an over growing desire for consumption
of coffee, the market potential for coffee infused with BCAAs
will facilitate a high demand for coffee due to it being a current
staple in people’s lives. Since consumers tend to gravitate
towards “new concepts,” promoting coffee infused with BCAAs
seems probable as well as profitable in the near future. Based on
our Qualtrics survey, consumers between the ages of 18-25 were
prevalent amongst the 75 responses that we yielded from
participants. 37 out of the 75 participants stated they consumed
coffee on a daily basis, with 46% adding a flavored creamer to
coffee. Although the majority of the participants said they hardly
utilize BCAAs, most stated that they were moderately familiar
with the concept. The global demand for BCAA is extrapolated
to grow with a CAGR of 13% during the 2015-2023 period
(MarketWatch, 2018). In terms of liquid beverage equivalents,
coffee is among the most consumed beverages worldwide with
roughly 42.6 liters per person and year (12.6 liters of roast
coffee and 30 liters of instant coffee) (Statistica, n.d.). With the
increased need for coffee and BCAAs, it’s evident that there is
an immense growth potential for this product. This will not only
propel a brand new product that consumers will enjoy, but also
provide a significant net profit since there is currently a high
demand for both products alone.
Product Formulation
From a feasibility standpoint, enhancing cold brew with
BCAAs seems favorable, as the heat from hot coffee may
denature the proteins. In addition, as cold brew is commonly
sold in cans, this would make product packaging and storage
simpler, reducing the need for the consumer to heat up their own
coffee and allowing for a much longer shelf life of the product.
A study conducted in 2019 measured the effect of grinding,
extraction time, and type of coffee on the physicochemical and
flavor characteristics of cold-brew coffee and concluded that
factors like particle size, contact time, and coffee type provide
different flavors within the realm of cold-brewed coffee making
(Cordoba et al., 2019). During this study, cold-brews were
assessed on specific general characteristics and strengths
pertaining to explicit qualities universally assessed in the coffee
industry. After examining the results of the flavor profiles from
the study previously mentioned, our cold-brew product will be
produced from a medium roast Nariño coffee bean, ground to a
coarse particle size, and have an extraction time of 22 hours
(Cordoba et al., 2019).
Coffee contains nonvolatile compounds like caffeine,
trigonelline, and chlorogenic acid that elicit a bitter flavor and
an astringent mouthfeel, while volatile compounds impact its
well-known aroma (Heo et al., 2019). Branched chain amino
acids are comprised of L-leucine, L-isoleucine, and L-valine and
due to their hydrophobic nature, each of these are also known
for having a bitter taste and a strong, unpleasant odor. These
features ultimately cause low palatability among consumers and
are factors that will need to be assessed and fixed as
experimentation progresses (Mukai et al., 2007).
BCAAs are sold in various ratios that contain differing
amounts of each amino acid. Leucine is always higher in the
ratio proportion due to its increased activity in muscle protein
synthesis, but it accounts for the most bitter flavor profile of the
three amino acids (Garlick, 2005). In order to combat this
inherent bitterness, we decided to purchase a brand of BCAA’s
that advertises itself on a milder taste profile and a higher
solubility rate. The Instantized Optimum Nutrition BCAA 5000
has a BCAA ratio of 2:1:1 (leucine, valine, and isoleucine,
respectively).
A study published by the Pharmaceutical Society of Japan
examined how to improve the naturally bitter taste of nutritional
products containing BCAAs for patients with liver failure. Their
study tested the palatability of the specific amino acids when
mixed with green-tea, coffee, vanilla, apple, and strawberries
and found that the addition of a sweet aroma can significantly
overpower the bitterness of BCAAs (Mukai et al., 2007).
Natural sweeteners that enhance the bitter taste include
sugars such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, sorbitol, mannitol,
glycerol, and honey while natural flavors that have been proven
to mask bitter taste consist of vanilla, wild cherry, walnut,
chocolate, mint, and anise (Chauhan, 2017). Oat milk has been
chosen as an ingredient in the product because it is plant-based,
naturally sweet, and possesses a good amino acid balance which
ultimately serves as a good protein source (Sethi, Tyagi, &
Anurag, 2016). Combining the oat milk with tastants, like
natural sugars and citric acid, and aromas, like vanillin and
cinnamon, could have a significant impact on decreasing the
bitterness of both the cold-brewed coffee beverage and the
branched chain amino acids.
General Process Description
 In order to keep the integrity of the natural robust cold-
brew flavor that the average marketed consumer values, the base
of our cold-brew product will be made in house using an
immersion method from Fuller and Rao. These researchers fully
assessed methods of preparing cold-brew coffee, specifically
accounting for time of extraction and particle size of coffee
grounds (Fuller & Rao, 2017).
The production of the cold-brew beverage will start at room
temperature (21°-25° C) by placing 70.0 g of ground coffee
beans in 700.0 mL of filtered water. The mixture will be
contained in a 32 oz. Mason jar secured with a screw-top lid for
an extraction period of 22 hours. To contain the coffee grinds
and to guarantee that the coffee remains immersed during the
steeping process, the sample of grounds will be secured in a size
4 T-Sac™ tea filter bag. The coffee product will be filtered
through filter paper twice to remove any fine particles that may
have leaked out of the bag during extraction.
After the brewing is completed, two teaspoons of the
BCAA powder will be mixed into the 700.0 g of cold brew and
stirred continuously until the powder dissolves. This baseline
sample will only contain the cold-brew coffee and the BCAAs in
order to establish the viscosity of the product, as well as the
level of bitterness and the flavor profiles. This will then help to
determine what modifications need to be made to enhance the
overall palatability of the product.
After assessing the cold-brew BCAA-infused product, the
team will assess if and what sweeteners, aromas, and additives
or emulsifiers must be used moving forward to enhance the
product. For example, we can try to add non-caloric sweeteners
such as stevia or allulose and aromas like vanillin and cinnamon.
We hope to have several variations, such as a “black coffee”
version, one with just sweetener, and one with sweetener and oat
milk. After testing the shelf life, we will determine if we need to
add any additional preservatives.
Potential Technical Challenges
​Potential technical problems to BCAAs infused cold brew
include solubility, mouthfeel, taste, and shelf life. All of the
BCAAs are only sparingly soluble in water, which may pose a
solubility problem. The hydrophobic component may form solid
particles of the BCAAs floating around which will also
contribute to the poor mouth feel of the beverage.
​Besides solubility, another potential technical challenge
will be optimizing the mouthfeel of the product. Mouthfeel is
defined as “the sensations arising from the interactions of
ingested food, mixed with saliva, with the receptors in the mouth
that respond to tactile stimuli during mastication”
(ScienceDirect, n.d.). Although our product will not require
chewing, we want to be sure that the product is smooth, creamy,
and does not contain any gritty texture. We must also ensure that
it retains a great mouthfeel at a cold temperature.
Another potential technical problem of the BCAA infused
cold brew is retaining shelf life. Many current cold brews on the
market are sold in cans that don’t need to be refrigerated, or in
refrigerated glass bottles. We need to ensure that the addition of
BCAAs would not reduce the shelf life too much. In addition, if
we are adding milks or creamers, we will need to consider
refrigeration. Since we plan to use a low-calorie sweetener as
opposed to sugar, we will not gain any appreciable preservative
effect from sugar.
Finally, it will be important to ensure that adding the
BCAAs won’t negatively impact the taste of the product.
Typically, BCAAs have a bitter taste profile, especially when
used in large amounts. Leucine is the most bitter of the three
branched chain amino acids. Because coffee is also bitter, we
hope that its natural bitterness and acidity may mask some of the
bitterness from the BCAAs. The addition of a sweetener should
also help reduce the overall bitterness of the drink.
Technical Problem Solutions
​Though BCAAs are partially soluble in water, solubility
improvements can be made by incorporating food proteins. Food
proteins have shown to increase the stability of the solubilized
BCAAs, which may be due to the interactions between the
functional groups of the stabilizer and the BCAAs (Hong et. al,
2018). We are doing this by using some sort of either oat milk or
dairy in our product. Together with the use of food proteins, we
can also include text on the packaging to shake before opening.
Next, we can test the viscosity in order to improve the
mouthfeel of the product. Studies have shown that there are
strong correlations between emulsion viscosity and perceived
creaminess (ScienceDirect, n.d.). When we mix the oat milk into
our product, we can test the viscosity to ensure that we have
created a creamy product. We can also conduct blind tastings
and ask participants to rate the mouthfeel of the product, and
make sure that they do not perceive any grittiness. If the product
is too gritty, we can look at adding gums or emulsifiers to help
prevent this.
 Altering the ratios of the BCAAs, such as reducing the
amount of leucine, may be a potential method to reduce the
extreme bitterness from this amino acid. In addition, using
BCAAs with increased particle size can reduce bitterness
(Miyanaga et al., 2004). Assuring that we use quality coffee and
the proper extraction method will also help with the taste. Cold
brew taste can be impacted by grind size, extraction time, and
also the roast of the coffee. Testing different methods will also
help ensure that we obtain the best method for our product.
Lastly, since we are using cream in our product, we need to
assess the shelf life of that with coffee. Additives such as
antioxidants can help extend the shelf life of milk containing
beverages, the addition of cacao nibs extract to a milk
containing beverage extended the shelf life 1.58 times (Kim et
al., 2019). Companies such as Starbucks add ascorbic acid
(Vitamin C) to their bottled frappuccino beverages to help with
shelf life. Testing different options can help limit microbial
activity while maintaining palatability.
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