Lecture Description

Coffee extracts contain thousands of different compounds, many of which contribute to the quality of the flavor profile. Minor fluctuations in the ratios of these compounds gives rise to major differences in perceived flavor. However, to date the industry is only able to the measure the average total solvated mass (%TDS), or use cost prohibitive and slow chromatography methods. Electrochemistry offers one route to measuring coffee components in real time, and provides insights into both the quantity of compounds as well as their identity. Together, our approach provides unparalleled insight into what is solvated in the cup, while also being very cheap to operate. This talk will cover the fundamentals of electrochemistry, a demonstration of its utility, and discuss opportunities beyond quality assessment. This work is supported by the Cottrell Scholars award, the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar award, and the Coffee Science Foundation in partnership with Nuova Simonelli.

Date: Saturday, June 24, 2023
Time: 13:00pm - 14:00pm EET

Location: Lecture Room 2

Presented by

Christopher Hendon
Professor of Chemistry, University of Oregon

Prof. Christopher H. Hendon is a computational chemist with interests in energy materials and coffee extraction. He obtained his BSc. Adv. HONS from Monash University (2011) and PhD from the University of Bath (2015). After a two-year postdoc at Massachusetts Institute of Technology he joined the University of Oregon in 2017 as a Professor of chemistry where his research group focuses on the emergence of defects in metal-organic molecules and solids. He has published over 100 papers, was named a Cottrell Scholar in 2021, a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, and the Samuel R. Scholes Jnr. Lecture for excellence in Scientific Communication.