When brewing most coffee, we always press the timing function that comes with the coffee maker to calculate the time. This is something that the master chefs will emphasize since they started.However, such a move is incomprehensible to some friends, because they believe that the recording of time will not affect the coffee. Even if there is no time for "blind brewing", the coffee can still be brewed well.Undeniable! Even if we don’t have time, we can still brew a delicious pot of coffee, but this does not mean that recording time is not important. Even if we don’t have enough brewing experience, with time records, we can brew delicious coffee more easily and more frequently. At the same time, after brewing, you can also review the recorded time to find and correct the culprit that caused the brewing problem.So today Front Street will share with you why we need to record the time during the process of brewing coffee. At the same time, how can we use time to discover or improve problems that occur during the brewing process!Why do you need to time your coffee brewing?First of all, everyone needs to know that the time we record during the brewing process mainly refers to the contact time between water and coffee powder, that is,Extraction time. The calculation starts when the water and coffee powder come into contact, and the end node is after the target amount of water has completely penetrated the coffee powder.When other parameters remain unchanged, the longer the extraction time, the longer the contact time between water and coffee powder, the more flavor substances are dissolved. On the contrary, it means that the shorter the contact time between water and powder, the smaller the amount of flavor substances dissolved. In other words, by controlling the extraction time, we can determine the amount of dissolved substances and influence the extraction rate of coffee.But... time is a passive parameter. We cannot directly control its length like actively controlling other parameters such as water temperature, grinding, and water volume. Instead, we need to adjust other parameters or factors to affect time.But because of this, time can also be used as an indicator to measure whether other parameters are correct. When we find that the coffee extraction time is too fast or too slow, it means that other parameters may be too "conservative" or too "extreme." At this time, you need to combine the taste of the coffee to determine whether these parameters need to be adjusted.alright! No prizes for guessing, in Pour over(V60) coffee, what factors affect the extraction time during brewing?1. Grinding degree and amount of coffee powder: For drip extraction, the thickness and amount of coffee powder are factors that affect the extraction time. Because when the coffee powder is coarser, the gap between the coffee powder is larger, and the same amount of water will be poured into the water faster in a coarser grinding, and the extraction time will be shorter;On the contrary, when the coffee powder is finer, the gap is smaller, the water is discharged relatively slowly, and the extraction time is longer. Especially in the extraction of espresso, we can see the difference between the two very clearly.(The same principle applies to the amount of powder, so I won’t go into details on the front street)At this time, time can be used as a measure of whether the grinding degree is appropriate! What does it mean? For example, we can set an extraction time for coffee. For example, when Front Street uses 15g of coffee beans to brew Pour over(V60) coffee, the time is set at 2 minutes.When other parameters and water injection methods remain unchanged, if the extraction time exceeds 2 minutes, it means that the grinding degree may be too fine, and if it is less than 2 minutes, it may be too coarse. But it doesn’t matter whether it’s too coarse or too fine, because some coffee beans may require such a fine/coarse grinding for extraction, so we need to judge whether the grinding of this cup of coffee is suitable based on the actual taste. This is a great use of time!2. Coffee brewing techniques: Brewing technique is also a factor that affects extraction time! in"Injecting Water into Hand-brewed Coffee"In this article, Front Street explained in detail that the size of the water flow and the number of segments will directly affect the water discharge speed and extraction time. Small water flow and multiple stages of water injection can prolong the coffee extraction time, while large water flow and few stages of water injection will shorten the coffee extraction time.Once we are familiar with the impact of water flow size and segmentation on time, we can directly adjust the coffee extraction according to time/water speed during the brewing process without waiting until afterwards.For example, we use a commonly used formula to brew an unfamiliar coffee bean. However, during the brewing process, I found that the coffee was poured into the water much faster than usual. If the coffee was brewed at this pace, the coffee would most likely be under-extracted!At times like this, we can switch to using a small flow of water, inject water in multiple stages, slow down the water flow in time and extend the extraction time, so that the coffee can avoid insufficient extraction.3. Coffee equipment: In addition to human-controlled factors such as grinding, powder volume, and water injection methods, the tools we choose will also affect the extraction time/water injection speed.For example, it is also a conical filter cup. When the extraction parameters remain unchanged,V60Because there are a lot of guiding ribs and the bottom hole is larger, when brewing with it, the coffee will drain faster and the extraction time will be shorter; while Kono has fewer guiding ribs and the bottom hole is smaller, so when brewing coffee with it, the pouring speed will be slower and the extraction time will be longer.There is also filter paper, in"The Difference Between Filter Paper and Filter Paper"Front Street has shared in this article that different filter papers will have different drainage speeds, which are affected by their thickness, material, production process and other factors. The same situation exists in espresso coffee. The size and density of the holes in the powder bowl will directly affect the water pouring speed and extraction time. Therefore, in addition to grinding and techniques, changing the filter used for brewing is also a good way to adjust the time!
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
