Is the alcohol thickness and concentration of coffee the same? What does alcohol thickness mean?

Many friends directly equate the thickness of alcohol with the concentration, and most of the partners who know the difference between the two are not clear about the specific difference. So today we are going to discuss in depth the relationship between alcohol thickness and concentration.

Alcohol thickness ≠ concentration

First of all, the two are definitely not the same. The thickness of alcohol shows the tactile feeling of the mouth and tongue when tasting coffee. To take an appropriate example, when drinking boiled water, milk and solidified yogurt, the taste is different. Plain boiled water does not have any alcohol thickness to speak of. It can also be called thin and watery.

While drinking milk obviously feel the fullness of the mouth, so sometimes when tasting coffee feel like milk-like touch, can also be expressed as milk-like smooth taste.

Solid yogurt can be seen to be quite sticky when observed, and the feeling of "wrapping" in the mouth, if it also occurs when drinking coffee, can be called mellow thickness (Body strong) and creamy taste.

Concentration is the proportion of very simple soluble matter in the liquid. For example:

When 5 grams of sugar are added to a cup of 100ml water, the concentration of this glass of water is 4.76%, which will taste slightly sweet and light.

When 10 grams of sugar are added to a cup of 100ml water, the concentration of the water is 9.09%, which tastes moderate.

Add 20 grams of sugar to a cup of 100ml water, and the concentration of the water is 16.67%, which tastes sweet.

Of course, a cup of coffee contains not only sugar, but also many flavor substances. Take a cup of hand-brewed coffee as an example, the hand-brewed coffee with a concentration of more than 1.45% belongs to high concentration, which is often characterized by concentrated taste, extreme bitterness or extreme acidity, while the hand-brewed coffee with a concentration of less than 1.15% belongs to low concentration and is often light and tasteless.

Therefore, to sum up, the thickness of alcohol belongs to the expression of taste, and the concentration has a great effect on the flavor. Alcohol thickness and concentration is not irrelevant, often in practice, low concentration of coffee almost alcohol thickness is not very good, alcohol thickness of good coffee concentration is generally not low. This is because at the same ratio of powder to water, a high concentration of coffee means that the coffee liquid contains more substances, and some of the substances that affect the taste are also relatively high.

What are the aspects that affect the alcohol thickness and concentration of coffee?

Let's talk about concentration first, because the concentration is relatively simple. The most direct impact is the cooking process, the ratio of powder to water, grinding degree, water temperature, techniques are related. Under the premise that other parameters remain unchanged, the more water is injected, the lower the coffee concentration is; the thicker the grinding degree is, the lower the coffee concentration is; the lower the water temperature is, the lower the coffee concentration is; vice versa.

There are many aspects that affect the thickness of caffeine, such as the way of treatment, the degree of baking, the way of brewing and so on.

In terms of treatment, sun treatment and honey treatment because the pulp pectin was retained during treatment, so the alcohol thickness of coffee beans was thicker than that of washed coffee beans.

Roasting is the most important link affecting the thickness of coffee bean alcohol. The deeper the roasting, the better the alcohol thickness of the coffee. This is because the prolongation of the Mena reaction can release more melanin-like pigment, which can create a higher alcohol thickness. This is why the thickness of caffeine roasted in medium and deep baking is better than that in shallow roasting.

The most obvious influence on alcohol thickness in brewing is the filter material. The non-water-soluble oil floating on the surface of coffee liquid is the source of increasing alcohol thickness. Filter paper can filter 95% of coffee oil. All common hand-brewed coffee filtered with filter paper will be clean and clear.

The Japanese prefer flannel filter cloth, because its fiber structure is thinner than filter paper, allowing part of the oil to pass through. Therefore, the coffee filtered with blue velvet will taste more mellow.