How to choose the degree of grinding of hand-brewed coffee the effect of grinding degree on coffee the benefits of preserving freshly ground coffee powder

Many coffee aficionados have no way of brewing a cup of coffee at home, and they neglect the most valuable and easily overlooked factor, grinding. Only a small adjustment is needed to avoid this problem. Have you ever thought about how you should grind your coffee? What kind of equipment is needed? What kind of grinding grade?

The goal in choosing the grind size is to extract the perfect flavor from your coffee. Too little, too little, too much, too much, and he'll become strong and unpleasant.

When you need to adjust the brewing time, water temperature or grinding degree according to taste, you need to look at this table:

taste

brewing time

water temperature

grinding

acid

increase

reduce

finer

bitter

reduce

hotter

coarser

Ultra-coarse grinding is often used to make cold extract or iced coffee

Coarse grinding similar to sea salt particle size suitable for press pot or cup test use

Medium coarse grind suitable for chemex, smart cup

Medium grind similar to regular sand fits siphoning pot

Medium and fine grinding such as Hario v60, Kalita wave, etc.

Espresso coffee grinding

Finely ground texture somewhat like flour or powder

Whatever brewing method you use, coffee making involves extracting flavor (and caffeine) from coffee grounds. The finer the coffee beans are ground, the greater the exposed surface area of the coffee grounds and the faster the extraction rate. This is why the coffee used in espresso machines is finely ground, because the water in espresso machines passes through the coffee grounds very quickly under high pressure. Cold brewing, on the other hand, is made with coarse ground coffee because this cold extraction method allows coffee to stay with water for a longer time (a few hours, compared to 30 seconds for espresso). Preground coffee is easy to buy, so why grind beans at home? The main reason is that whole beans have a longer shelf life than ground coffee. Roasted whole beans contain carbon dioxide, which prevents oxidation and spoilage, and they can be stored at room temperature for about two weeks. After grinding, more of the surface area of the coffee beans is exposed to oxygen, causing the coffee powder to lose flavor. Ground coffee only lasts for a few days, so it's best to buy it in small quantities.