Can You Brew Green Coffee Beans? (3 Simple Ways)

As the demand for everything ‘green’ continues to rise, green coffee is gradually becoming popular given the numerous health benefits associated with it. Green coffee is coffee that is extracted from unroasted coffee beans.

And therein lies the question; can you brew green coffee beans?

Yes, you can brew green coffee beans to make a rich green coffee extract using one of these three methods:

1. steeping unroasted beans in cold water up to overnight and then boiling the mixture for 15 minutes to obtain a strong and dark coffee extract
2. boiling whole green coffee beans without steeping to yield a weaker extract that is green in color or
3. using green coffee powder. Add 2 teaspoons of green coffee powder to a cup of warm water to make instant green coffee extract

What is Green Coffee?

Green coffee is a beverage made from unroasted coffee beans. It has a strong herbal and grassy smell and taste that can put you off when drinking it for the first time. Consider sweetening it with honey and add spices such as cinnamon, ginger, and lemon to counter the grassy flavor.

Green coffee is linked to numerous health benefits.

3 Ways To Make Green Coffee with Unroasted Coffee Beans

1. Steeping Whole Green Coffee Beans

Materials and Equipment: a small bowl with a cover, green coffee beans, filtered water, a stove, a strainer, spoon, a saucepan

Instructions:

1. Scoop some green beans into the strainer and wash under a sink. Rub the beans gently to cleanse them
2. Add the beans into the bowl and add water at a ratio of 1:8
3. Cover the bowl and leave to soak for 4-8 hours
4. After soaking, pour the steeped mixture into a saucepan and a cinnamon stick, ginger, or your preferred spice
5. Turn the stove on to medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil
6. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes
7. Strain into a cup or storage container to remove the beans
8. Add some fresh lemon slices and honey when drinking your green coffee.

Steeped green coffee beans yield a strong extract that you can dilute to drink. The extract is dark almost like regular coffee but very grassy.

Unroasted coffee beans have almost equal amounts of caffeine to regular coffee as caffeine breaks down marginally during roasting.

2. Boiling Green Coffee Beans

Materials and Equipment: a stove, saucepan, a spoon or scoop, filtered water, strainer, green coffee beans

Instructions:

1. Turn the stove on to a medium heat
2. Scoop some green coffee beans into the saucepan and add water at a ratio of 1:4
3. Add an optional cinnamon stick or ginger
4. Bring the mixture to a boil
5. Turn down the heat and let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes
6. Strain the extract into a cup or a storage container
7. Add optional lemon slices to drink

The coffee beans are reusable so put them in a zipper bag after they have cooled down and store them in a refrigerator. The coffee extract can last up to 4 days in the fridge.

3. Use Green Coffee Powder

Materials and Equipment: green coffee powder, 2 empty glasses, filtered water, electric kettle, a teaspoon, a fine sieve

Instructions:

1. Heat about 300 ml of water in the kettle
2. Add two teaspoons of unroasted coffee powder into a glass
3. Add 300 ml hot water to the powder and stir
4. Leave the mixture to sit for five minutes
5. Sieve the mixture into the empty glass
6. Add optional honey and lemon slices to drink

How to Grind Green Coffee Beans at Home

Green coffee beans are dense and hard to crack. It is not advisable to grind green coffee beans at home because they can easily damage your expensive grinder. You are better off buying pre-ground green coffee than risking damage to your equipment.

If you already have a batch of green coffee beans that you wish to grind for green powder, we recommend using an inexpensive piece of equipment such as the small grinder that comes with your blender.

Alternatively, you can roast the green coffee beans at home to make your own freshly roasted coffee beans and buy a new batch of preground green coffee.

How To Make a Cold Brew With Green Coffee Beans

Materials and Equipment: green coffee beans, a scoop, filtered water, a bowl with a cover, a strainer, a small cup

Instructions:

1. Add half a cup of green coffee beans into the strainer and wash them under running water.
2. Shift the beans into the bowl
3. Add two parts of filtered water. One full cup in this case
4. Cover the bowl and keep it overnight in a cool and dry place or in the refrigerator
5. Strain the coffee into a cup to make cold-brewed green coffee

The green coffee cold brew is darkish in color with some tones of green.

You can reuse the coffee beans for a hot-brewed green coffee extract. Vary the ratio of beans to water depending on the strength that you desire.

Green Coffee Benefits

Green coffee is linked to several health benefits such as:

• it is rich in disease-fighting antioxidants such as chlorogenic acids that are also present in regular coffee that remove free radicals from the body
• the chlorogenic acids in green coffee are higher than in roasted coffee and may reduce blood pressure and aid in weight loss. The caffeine in green coffee may also boost weight loss
• chlorogenic acids are also linked to a reduction in the risk of type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease
• the caffeine in green coffee improves energy levels and enhances alertness just like in roasted coffee

Green coffee contains between 5 to 12 grams of chlorogenic acids per 100 grams of coffee.

Key Differences Between Roasted and Unroasted Coffee Beans

1. Color. Roasted coffee beans range from brownish to black whereas unroasted beans are green in color
2. Density. Unroasted coffee beans are compact and hard to crack whereas roasted beans are lighter and softer. You can crash dark roasted coffee beans with your fingers
3. Taste: Roasted beans have a broad flavor profile that depends on the level of roast whereas unroasted coffee beans taste like grass or wood
4. Aroma. Roasted coffee exudes a delightful aroma whereas green coffee beans are dull and grassy
5. Acidity. Unroasted coffee beans have higher acidity than roasted coffee which can cause problems such as acid reflux and coffee diarrhea.

Wrap Up

You can brew green coffee beans at home to make green coffee that tastes nothing like regular coffee. Unroasted coffee lacks the signature aroma and flavors of regular coffee that are developed during roasting.

Like regular coffee, unroasted coffee beans have antioxidants, caffeine, and chlorogenic acids that provide numerous health benefits.

FAQs about How to Make Green Coffee