- Posted by Wakeknot
- Mon, 11/14/2011 - 11:09
A Lush experiment with coffee and water temperatures.
A lush experiment with coffee and water temperatures.
One of the fascinating blog entries on Roaste is by Scott Lush and can be found here
http://www.roaste.com/CoffeeBlogs/scott/2-Surprising-Finds-about-Coffee-...
he does something, which is always worth doing and he challenges conventions of brewing and tries brewing coffee “the wrong way.”
In the post he finds that his favorite temperature for brewed chemex and for Aeropress coffee is around 175 degrees.
I decided to see the impact on a clever dripper kind of brewed coffee. I made consecutive pots. First I made one at a conventional temperature just off the boil. I do not have a digital kettle or any method for precise temperature control so I just used an instant read thermometer and boiled and then waited for the temperature to drop to the target temperature.
The first was just under 210 degrees. The dose was right in the middle of the recommended range as was the grind.
The second cup was just under 180 degrees with the same dose and grind.
For both cups I used a friend’s home roast that he had made for me for espresso, but he said it would work fine for brewed coffee, too. I had used it for espresso and quite enjoyed it.
By the time the second one was done they were not too different in temperature in the cup. They were surprisingly similar to me. If you tried anything like this with espresso a swing of 10 degrees would take you from good to undrinkable, not to mention 30 degrees.
They were similar, but not identical. Scott Lush took the honors today as the one brewed closer to his advice was ever so slightly better. It was a little smoother and softer, while the hotter one had a slightly harsher edge to it. I did not love either cup, but in the end I kept reaching for the cooler brew so I am glad I tried his recommendation and I will certainly try it again with coffee intended for brew!
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REVIEWS & COMMENTS
@SONTON
Wakeknot | Sat, 02/25/2012 - 10:42great question. I did think about that and you are quite right that it could be an issue. The coffee I had today got much better as it cooled.
INTERESTING!
Son Ton | Sun, 12/18/2011 - 02:10this is indeed a very interesting expriment. I might try to repeat this for myself. Have you thought about whether the hot cup of coffee was a little too hot for drinking right away while the cooler brew cup was already cool so it was better tasting?
A QUICK TEMP FOLLOW UP
Wakeknot | Thu, 11/17/2011 - 11:27jbviau wins the prize for analysis of the hotter cup. Today I poured water at 210 from the kettle into the dripper and then instantly measured it to see what the actual extraction temperature was and it was already down to 195 just from air/dripper contact so those of us, including me, whose instincts that the first pot was a little too high for recommended brewing temps were wrong and jbviau was right that just off the boil extracts well within recommended range.
On the other hand I am still enjoying the lower temp extractions more a week or so into the experiment.
@SCOTT LUSH
Wakeknot | Tue, 11/15/2011 - 11:43Thanks for the original post. It is not often enough that we challenge convention and even less often that we do it and find it changes the way we drink coffee, but your post did both of those things for me. My cup this morning was at 175 and was fantastic so this is an experiment I will continue to look into.
@ERICBNC
Wakeknot | Tue, 11/15/2011 - 11:41that is my instinct with espresso, so it makes sense that it would carry over to brewed coffee.
@INTREPID510
Wakeknot | Tue, 11/15/2011 - 11:41I assume you mean the hotter cup, right? I agree and will try it with say 200 vs 175 next time.
@BROSEPH
Wakeknot | Tue, 11/15/2011 - 11:40some people have all the luck with names, huh? I couldn't resist the pun (sorry Scott).
@JBVIAU
Wakeknot | Tue, 11/15/2011 - 11:38You are correct. I made that assumption, too. I'll measure it before and after next time.
@YEAHYEAH
Wakeknot | Tue, 11/15/2011 - 11:37I wouldn't have thought it was worth a try, but based on Scott's post I did try it and I do think it is well worth trying.
@SAMUELLAW178
Wakeknot | Tue, 11/15/2011 - 11:37I agree that it makes sense to take it a little lower and would have done so ideally.
I'M GLAD YOU TRIED THAT EXPERIMENT
Scott Lush | Tue, 11/15/2011 - 11:35Wakeknot thanks for trying brewing at different temperatures! One of the fun things about coffee is experimenting to see what you get. I think that even the cupping standards of the SCAA (i.e. 8 grams of coffee in 5 ounces of water steeped for 4 minutes) are more meant to create a consistent testing protocol than they are a guideline for getting a great cup of coffee. The great cup of coffee takes experimentation like we're doing :-)
210
jbviau | Mon, 11/14/2011 - 22:06You measured temp. before the pour, right? Just through contact with the air you probably got decent cooling right afterward before the water actually touched any coffee. At least that's the conventional wisdom IIRC.
DARKER THE ROAST, COOLER THE WATER
EricBNC | Mon, 11/14/2011 - 16:03Darker the roast, cooler the water can be and still extract fine has been my rule of thumb.
INTERESTING RESULTS, I
intrepid510 | Mon, 11/14/2011 - 15:21Interesting results, I would've brewed it a little lower.
LUSH INDEED
broseph | Mon, 11/14/2011 - 14:13lush indeed
TEMP
yeahyeah | Mon, 11/14/2011 - 12:47I've never gone that low with temp but anything is worth a try.
TRY MORE TEMP
samuellaw178 | Mon, 11/14/2011 - 11:58Try 195F-200F if possible. 210 F is kinda too hot for a proper extraction, too hot(ouch!). I am gonna try this experiment and share my results.