What's with the lid of the smart cup? Would the coffee taste better?

In the lazy brewing utensils, the Smart Cup is one of the most popular utensils, which can make a cup of coffee with clean flavor by directly injecting water and soaking it with the appropriate time and water temperature. If you take a closer look at the Smart Cup, you can find that there is a matching lid in addition to the filter cup body of the Smart Cup, but the editor usually uses the lid less, so the problem is:

When using a smart cup, will the lid or no lid affect the flavor of the coffee?

Before the experiment, without exception, I would like to introduce the bean information that the editor is going to use today. the first is the Black Soul from Costa Rica, and the second is the mellow Kona from Hawaii.

Experiment one

Finca Las Lajas Alma Negra

Costa Rican Black Soul

Country: Costa Rica

Producing area: central Valley

Altitude: 1300-1500m

Treatment: sun treatment

Grade: SHB

Variety: Kaddura, Kaduai

Baking degree: shallow and medium baking

[la Lajas Manor]

Among the exquisite sun and honey treatments currently popular in Costa Rica, La Lajas Manor is one of the first estates to begin systematic research and processing, and has been a favorite coffee plantation for global buyers for many years.

The estate, currently run by third-generation owner Francisca Cubillo and his wife Oscar, is located in the Central Valley region (Central Valley), not far from the capital, quite close to the Poas Volcano volcano, with an annual output of about 55200 kilograms at an altitude of 1,250 Mustok, 1,500 meters.

In the coffee processed by La Lajas, the owner of the manor divides the honey-treated and sunburned coffee into many different items according to the expression of flavor. Costa Rican farmers mostly use the peeling machine at the water washing station to control the amount of residual flesh, but the La Lajas estate decided to use a different way. In other words, the highest percentage of the pulp is retained but the exposure and turning time on the African scaffolding is controlled to show different coffee flavors. in the honey treatment, the manor divides the coffee into yellow honey, red honey and black honey.

Treatment method

The bean of Black Soul is treated in the sun. The harvested red coffee fruits are placed on the African scaffolding in the early morning, and the whole process takes about three weeks to turn and expose regularly for one day and rest with plastic cloth until the moisture content is 11.5%.

Experimental parameters: 90 ℃ / 1 15swap 15g coffee powder / 231g water / soak 4 minutes / grindability: BG 5R (Chinese standard No. 20 sieve pass rate 58%) / total extraction time 4: 50 "(because the lid can not see the water, so the editor referred to the extraction time without lid. )

[no lid] Flavor: citrus, cream, fermented fruit, honey, lemon, blackcurrant, orange, with lively acidity and rich layers.

[lid] Flavor: honey, citrus, fermented wine, pineapple, spices and berries, with high sweetness, smooth and mellow taste and soft sour taste.

The editor measured the temperature in the sharing pot respectively. The temperature of the [uncovered] pot is relatively low, 70 ℃, and the [lid] temperature is 72.5 ℃.

Experiment two

Hawaii KONA

Kona, Hawaii

Producing area: Kona, Hawaii

Altitude: 1100m

Treatment: washing treatment

Variety: iron pickup

Baking degree: medium and shallow baking

Production area introduction

Hawaii has an island climate, where the temperature does not change much throughout the year, but there is a large temperature difference between day and night, and there are enough clouds to block the sun. Although the average elevation of coffee producing areas is not very high, the quality of coffee produced here is not low because of Hawaii's special island climate and fertile volcanic soil.

Hawaiian coffee is known mainly from the kona producing area, which is different from other Hawaiian producing areas, where coffee cultivation is more diversified. There are more than 630 coffee plantations producing coffee, mostly covering an area of less than 2 hectares, usually run by different families.

The unique natural environment of KONA region has given birth to Arabica coffee, which promotes it to become the plantation with the highest coffee production in the world. Not only the quality is guaranteed, but also the coffee cultivated under the unique growth environment and climate is more fragrant.

Treatment method

Hawaii is mainly water washing. The biggest difference from the sun method is the use of fermentation to remove the pectin layer. After completing the fermentation and removing the pectin, the coffee beans will be cleaned again because the fermentation bacteria and impurities will remain on the coffee beans. In order to clean, this step will consume a lot of water, and then the fruit will be dried and shelled.

Experimental parameters: 90 ℃ / 1 15gram coffee powder / 231g water / soaking for 4 minutes / grindability: BG 5R (pass rate of Chinese standard No. 20 sieve 58%) / total extraction time 436 "

Flavor: spices, black berries, brown sugar, cream, sucrose, plums, flowers, mung beans, nuts; the overall feeling layer is rich, the fruit acid is obvious.

[lid] Flavor: cocoa, cream, black tea, sandalwood, almonds, oranges, honey, nuts, hazelnuts, fermented aromas; soft acidity, high mellow thickness, smooth taste and obvious sweetness.

The temperature of the sharing pot is 72 ℃, and the temperature of the pot is 73.7 ℃.

Total knot

After comparing the two groups of experiments of flavor bean [Black Soul] and taste type [Kona], the editor found that the flavor level of [no lid] is relatively rich, the taste is relatively thin, the flavor is clear, and the fruit acid will be more active. This may be due to the fact that without a lid, the temperature of the coffee liquid in the filter cup will drop for a long time, and the flow of the air will make the temperature of the coffee liquid on the surface drop faster. there will be a temperature difference between the coffee liquid surface and the soaking in the pot, and the extraction rate of the coffee liquid on the surface with low temperature may be slightly lower; it is precisely because the aroma will be lost a little with the flow of the air. So the coffee without lid has a more layered flavor.

The coffee taste of [lid] is smoother and mellow, which may be because the lid stops the flow of air, and the whole pot of [smart cup] coffee liquid is in a constant temperature state, and its heat preservation is better. Heat loss is not so fast, so there is almost no temperature difference between the coffee liquid and the coffee liquid in the pot, and the extraction rate is the same. So the flavor of the coffee will be more balanced and complete, and because of the lid, the aroma will not drift away so easily, and the aroma of the coffee in the sharing pot will be more obvious and lasting than that without the lid.

The editor feels that [lid] and [no lid] have their own advantages, so that the coffee flavor can be richer and more layered in flavor beans, and the soaking methods used in extracting mellow and thick beans can better show the flavor characteristics of beans in different styles.