Coffee review

What does the color of Crema tell us?

Published: 2024-09-19 Author: World Gafei
Last Updated: 2024/09/19, The color of crema should be light reddish brown, but what does yellow-white or very black almost charred brown mean? The answer comes from drinks, because crema is actually carbon dioxide bubbles wrapped in brewed coffee, so the darker the foam means the stronger the coffee becomes a natural assumption. But in fact, it is very difficult to distinguish the color of coffee.

The color of crema should be light reddish brown, but what does yellow-white or very black almost charred brown mean? The answer comes from drinks, because crema is actually carbon dioxide bubbles wrapped in brewed coffee, so the darker the foam means the stronger the coffee becomes a natural assumption. But it's actually very difficult to tell the color of coffee unless you dilute two cups of coffee or look at it under a microscope.

Another factor also plays an important role: the reflection of light from the foam means that the color of the coffee is much lighter than it actually is through the foam. And the smaller the foam, the greater the effect, so even if the espresso itself is very black, it may look very light (which explains why black beer has very white foam at the top).

A 15-second espresso usually has a whiter crema because it is lighter. Coffee powder is quenched by water for a relatively short time, and the viscosity of coffee is lower than that washed out in 25 seconds. For the same reason, coffee made from a lower water temperature will be lighter because it does not have enough energy to dissolve the substance in the coffee (it should be low solubility at low water temperature, not so-called energy). This also explains why excessive quenching can lead to the formation of crema that is as dark as charred.

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