The Chemistry of Coffee

Mention coffee, and caffeine is the chemical compound name that immediately springs to mind. However, whilst caffeine’s effects on the brain are well documented –it binds to adenosine receptors in the brain – it has relatively little impact when it comes to the taste of coffee. Coffee, as it ...

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The Chemistry of Tomatoes

You may have previously come across the advice that tomatoes shouldn’t be refrigerated, but should be stored at room temperature, in order to maximise their flavour.To understand the reasoning behind this, we need to take a look at the chemical compounds that give tomatoes their flavour, and the ...

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It’s often stated that cooking is much like chemistry, or vice versa. I thought it’d be fun to take that a little further, and look at the major organic compounds present in various different herbs and spices that are frequently used in cooking, so that’s what this poster tries to do. Obviously, ...

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Components, Structure, & Flavour

Ice cream is a mainstay of summer – for many, a trip to the beach would be incomplete without one. Despite its seeming simplicity, ice cream is a prime example of some fairly complex chemistry. This graphic takes a look at some of the ingredients that go into ice cream, and the important role ...

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Food Chemistry

There’s one chemical reaction that, whether you have an interest in chemistry or not, we all carry out on a regular, maybe even daily, basis. That reaction? The Maillard Reaction. This is a process that takes place whenever you cook a range of foods – it’s responsible for the flavours in cooked ...

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For the fifthin the ‘Alcohol Chemistry’ series, we turn to gin. As with other types of alcohol, there are a huge number of different chemical compounds present, but it’s possible to identify a range of significant chemical contributors to its aroma & flavour. Here, we take a look at those ...

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Having looked at the chemistry behind beer previously, it seemed only fair to also take a look at cider for all the cider drinkers out there. On a hot summer’s day, the cool, refreshing taste of cider is hard to beat. But what are the chemicals behind this flavour? Before we look at the ...

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The Aroma of Bacon

When it comes to breakfasts, there are few aromas better than that of bacon, sizzling and crisping in a pan. As part of a brief new series looking at the chemicals behind aromas, this graphic considers the chemicals that lend bacon it’s characteristically mouth-watering scent. Considering that ...

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