How to control the flow of hand-brewed coffee? What are the common mistakes?

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Many friends come to the front street and watch the baristas brewing coffee in front of the street, they can't help but sigh: "Why can you control the flow of water so well?" Why does the water flow as big as a faucet when you flush it, and you can't flush out the flavor of the coffee you drink here? In this article, in front of the street, we will talk about how to practice how to control the flow control of hand cooking.

Effect of Water flow Control on Coffee extraction

When injecting water, if the water column is too thick, the impulse is large, it is easy to destroy the powder layer structure in the cup, and it means that your brewing time is correspondingly reduced, which will lead to insufficient coffee extraction. Part of the water will flow away with the cracks in pressed powder or the edge of the funnel, both of which will lead to the lighter taste of coffee and the imbalance of sour and bitterness. on the contrary, when the water column is too fine, the penetration of coffee powder is not enough, the overall extraction time will be lengthened, and the Radian of water temperature drop will change greatly, and the extraction rate will decrease. If the penetration of the water column is not good, the water will be fed repeatedly in the same layer, which will only speed up the extraction of the first layer of particles, thus making the coffee liquid full of bitterness and miscellaneous feeling.

So how should we practice boiling flow control?

1. Choose the pot that suits you.

There are a wide variety of hand pots on the market, and novices are recommended to use crane-billed pots in Qianjie.

two。 Gesture to hold the kettle

As we all know, it often takes more than two minutes to make a cup of coffee, and the incorrect way to hold the pot can strain your wrist and cause your hands to shake after a while. Qianjie suggests holding the pot with your thumb on the handle and holding the handle with the other four fingers. Hold the pot firmly and gently "poke" the pot with the other hand without moving it. Remember, don't hold on to the handle of the kettle and embarrass yourself.

3. Fixed-point water injection exercise

Do not think this is stupid and boring, three minutes on and off the stage for ten years of work, only lay a good foundation, so that the wrist has a muscle memory, so that the flow of cooking can be controlled stably. Start with a small flow of water at a uniform speed to finish the water in the hand flushing pot, keep the flow at right angles to the horizontal line, and practice repeatedly. After getting started, fill all the water in the hand flushing pot with medium current at a uniform speed, and practice repeatedly. Finally, go to the big current and practice over and over again.

4. Practice of circular water injection after fixed-point water injection is stable

After the central water injection is stable, we will put a powder bowl / bottle cap / practice coffee beans in the middle of the filter cup as a barrier, and then slowly inject it in a circle to practice consistent water flow during the circle. You can then practice layers of progressive loops (like the rotation of mosquito incense) to practice.

When the flow is under control, the coffee still doesn't taste good. Why?

1. Freshness of coffee beans

The freshness of coffee is critical to the quality of hand-brewed coffee, and if the beans are placed for too long after roasting, it will lead to the loss of coffee taste and aroma. The best taste period for Qianjie coffee beans is 30 days. After 30 days, the aroma molecules of caffeine decrease with the release of carbon dioxide, so the coffee beans after the taste period may feel boring and insipid.

two。 Grindability of hand brewed coffee

The finer the coffee beans are ground, the coffee powder is easy to accumulate at the bottom of the filter paper, and the extraction resistance is greater, so the flow rate is slower and the extraction time is longer. The extraction rate of the substances contained in coffee is high, and the coffee brewed is also stronger or has woody flavor; the thicker the coffee bean is ground, the larger the gap in the powder layer, the less coffee powder in contact with hot water, the weaker extraction resistance, the faster the coffee dripping speed and the lower extraction rate, so the coffee flavor is lighter. Qianjie Coffee recommends medium and fine grinding of light roasted coffee beans (80% of Chinese standard No. 20 sieve pass rate) and medium and coarse grinding of medium and deep roasted coffee beans (Chinese standard No. 20 sieve pass rate of 70-75%).

3. Temperature of boiling water

Qianjie Coffee recommends a water temperature of 90-91 degrees for lightly roasted beans in hand-brewed coffee and 88-89 degrees for medium-and deep-roasted beans. At the same degree of grinding, if the coffee is bitter, scorched, astringent, etc., the temperature of the extraction water can be reduced; on the other hand, if it is washed out and feels light, it means that there are still many flavors left in the coffee grounds, so you can consider raising the temperature.

4. Filter cup

Beginners are advised to use V60 filter cup in Qianjie. V60 cup mouth is relatively large, coupled with its unique spiral curve ribs, so that the air can be discharged more easily to improve the extraction quality. The taste may not be thick enough, but its high concentration of sweet and sour and obvious aroma is a major feature of it.

5. Powder-water ratio

Qianjie coffee according to sca extraction theory summary: handmade coffee powder water ratio at 1:15 is the easiest to reach the gold cup extraction rate of 18% 22% and the concentration of 1.15% 1.35% of the golden range.

6. Total duration of cooking and extraction

In the extraction of hand-brewed coffee, the aroma and flavor in the early stage are strong, and the concentration is also very high. The later the extract, the taste and aroma will fade. At the same time, the amount of water poured will also affect the extraction time of coffee. If the amount of water is large, then the water will flow down directly, and the extraction time will naturally be shortened. Qianjie coffee generally 15 grams of powder, depending on beans, gouache ratio at 1:15 in the case of brewing time will be less than 2 minutes-2 minutes 15, not easy to lead to over-extraction or insufficient extraction.

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