Good coffee should be drunk while it's hot, so you can better appreciate the rich flavor and texture of the coffee. This is a mantra that Front Street often talks about.
Although until nowfront streetI haven’t completely gotten rid of short sleeves yet, but as autumn and winter approach, in the cool indoor space,Freshly brewed hot coffeeAfter drinking it for a while, it suddenly became cold. Not only was the aroma in the mouth greatly reduced, but the taste was not as good as when it was freshly poured out. It was tasteless and it was a pity to throw it away. Therefore, frugal friends immediately thought of reheating it.
What changes does coffee experience when it goes from hot to cold?
Generally speaking, during the extraction process of coffee, the flavor substances are washed out by hot water and exist in the form of "movement". The reason why we think coffee tastes good is, firstly, because we smell the aroma of coffee floating in the air, and secondly, we feel the sweet, sour and bitter taste brought by coffee. So what are the main changes in coffee from hot to cold?
At different temperatures, the human body's senses have different sensitivity to sourness, sweetness and bitterness, with bitterness always ranking first. When tasting coffee at a medium-to-high temperature stage, the hot sensation of liquid contacting the mouth will overwhelm the perception of taste buds, thereby reducing the sensitivity to bitterness. However, once the liquid in contact cools down completely, the effect will be exactly the opposite. The bitterness will rise in a straight line, making the coffee liquid difficult to drink.
Sweetness is another story. When the temperature of coffee is close to human body temperature, it is easier for us to perceive sweetness. When the temperature drops, the sensitivity of taste buds to sweetness gradually decreases, so the sourness and bitterness are more prominent. In addition, after the coffee is cooled, part of the oil will gradually oxidize as the temperature drops, causing the taste to no longer be smooth, and other soluble substances will also begin to condense, giving the coffee a sour taste.
In addition to the perceived change in its own temperature, coffee does not taste good when it becomes cold because the aroma substances in it have been greatly lost. Front Street mentioned in previous articles that coffee flavor is a volatile substance. Whether coffee beans are ground into powder or a cup of coffee brewed with hot water, the aroma will be lost at an accelerated rate from the moment it comes into contact with the air.
Take a cup of Sidamo Alo that I just brewed in the morning on Front Street, for example. In the range of 50-70°C, you can first smell the aroma of white magnolia and sweet orange, and the sour and sweet texture of pineapple and mango in the mouth; when the temperature drops to the range of 35-50°C, which is close to the human body, citrus The bright acidity is more prominent, accompanied by the flavor of black tea; but once the temperature drops below 30°C, not only does the aroma mentioned above disappear when you drink it, the coffee liquid becomes obviously turbid, there is an obvious sour and bitter taste in the mouth, and the body is lacking, making people shiver after swallowing.
What does it mean to reheat coffee?
Theoretically, when cold coffee is reheated, the taste buds' perception of sweetness will be "activated" and then cover up the bitterness again. At the same time, the stimulation caused by sourness and astringency will be suppressed to a certain extent, making the coffee return to a better tasting state.
Therefore, if the coffee is cold, we can indeed try to "save" it by warming it up. Although the taste is not as rich as before, it allows us to drink the remaining coffee without wasting it, so why not.
But as mentioned above, as the temperature of coffee drops, the volatile flavor substances have been greatly depleted. At this time, secondary heating will not help the lost aroma, and only a faint "coffee flavor" is still left. Moreover, during the reheating process, the unpleasant taste components that appear after the coffee becomes cold will also participate in the heating and gather together, thereby aggravating the negative taste of the coffee.
What should we pay attention to when reheating?
In order to get rid of this unfriendly taste, Front Street recommends that when reheating coffee, it is best to avoid exceeding the human body temperature too much, that is, do not let the coffee become too hot. In addition, since different coffee beans have different performance characteristics, we can adjust the temperature recovery range according to their flavor and tonality.
The flavor of medium-light roasted coffee is dominated by fruit acid and light texture. When we heat it, we can raise its temperature to 50-70°C, so that the acidity can more easily turn back to bright. For medium-dark roasted coffee that pursues a mellow body, it is better to control the temperature in the 35-50°C range close to human body temperature during secondary heating, because at this time, the tongue will have the clearest perception of sweetness, and the coffee will taste better.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
