What is a coffee powder bed? Can the size of the powder pit tell whether the coffee tastes good or not? How to rush out of the deep hole with your hands?

As we all know, when we finish brewing hand-brewed coffee, the powder bed will be exposed due to the drop of water level. If the pink bed shows a deep and uniform pit at this time, then it will be an object worth showing off.

But I believe everyone knows very well that the shape of the powder bed at the end of brewing does not have much to do with whether the coffee tastes good or not. it mainly conveys to us the way the water is injected and the message of the coffee powder. At present, there are mainly six common powder bed states, and we can interpret different messages from these six different powder bed states. Therefore, Qianjie will come to share what these different forms of powder beds are expressing!

A pink bed with deep and uniform pits

Contestant No. 1 is the deep pit pink bed that is often used to show off. The appearance of this kind of powder bed means that when we inject water, we use a large current to raise the powder bed. And the injection position of the water flow is mainly concentrated in the central part, so it is possible to construct such a uniform pothole located in the center of the powder bed.

In addition to the injected water, there are other factors that affect the formation of the deep pit of the powder bed: the amount of powder will determine the depth of the pit. The more the amount of powder, the higher the powder wall can accumulate, and the deeper the hole can sink; the density of coffee powder determines the size of the pit, the smaller the density, the easier it is to form, so generally speaking, the deep-roasted coffee powder is the main object to build a deep pit. The number of stages of cooking determines the prominence of the powder bed, the less the number of segments, the more obvious the potholes. So according to the size of the potholes in the powder bed, we can interpret so many messages.

Second, a pink bed with deep potholes but a deviation

Of course, many times the potholes in the powder bed will be very deep, but the potholes will be somewhat uneven. As the picture shows, it is not a uniform shape vertically down, but a sign of offset to the left or right.

Well, this kind of powder pit is because when we inject water, the water column is not formed vertically and then injected. The brewing pot of hand-brewed coffee will have different spout design due to different manufacturers, and the difference of these spouts will change the water column injected from the same angle. For example, at the same capacity and amount of water, the olecranon with a downward hook in the spout will pour out the vertical flow more easily than the straight flat nozzle.

When we use a spout that is difficult to inject vertical flow, then we need to change the mode of water injection accordingly, otherwise the hot water will be injected in an oblique way, and then the coffee powder in a certain direction will be extracted more. Resulting in uneven extraction. In addition, the hot water may break through the powder wall because of the excessive impact, and then slip directly through the cracks, forming bypass water, affecting the overall concentration of coffee.

Therefore, when we see a similar powder pit during a certain cooking, we must pay attention to the adjustment of water injection mode to avoid the frequent occurrence of uneven extraction.

Flat powder bed with pink wall

Sometimes, the powder bed we rush out may not form potholes that rise and fall one after another, but will be flatter as a whole, like a flat ground on one side.

There are three main reasons for the formation of a flat powder bed with a small powder wall in the picture: the first is that it does not raise the powder bed, and then the water injection is mainly around a large circle, so that the coffee powder does not have the opportunity to disperse, so it is impossible to form potholes; the second is that there are too many segments! When there are too many times of water injection, the adhesion of coffee powder will be weakened because of saturation. With the increase of water injection times, coffee powder will gradually leave the wall of the filter cup and fall to the bottom because of the increase of weight. When all the coffee powder attached to the wall of the filter cup falls off, it will look like this in the picture. Only a small amount of coffee powder sticks to the wall of the cup, and the rest lies flat.

Secondly, the density of coffee powder is too high! When the density of coffee powder is too high, they are not so easily driven by water, and even if they raise the powder bed, they will quickly sink down, so they form such a flat powder bed.

Flat powder bed without powder wall

This kind of powder pit is diametrically opposed to the one above! While the powder bed is flat-bottomed, there is almost no coffee powder adsorption on the wall of the filter cup.

This kind of powder bed is because when we pour water, hot water is injected into the wall of the filter cup, so that all the coffee powder attached to the wall of the cup is washed down. If a filter cup with more diversion bones (such as V60) is used, then this method of water injection will lead to the birth of bypass water, and the hot water will slip directly through the gap created by the diversion bone because of its penetrating power. Then the coffee will be diluted due to the production of bypass water, and because there is not enough hot water extraction, the coffee will be prone to insufficient extraction.

Therefore, when this kind of powder bed appears, we also need to pay attention to the way of water injection to reduce the phenomenon of uneven extraction and bypass water.

Fault powder bed

Whether it is a deep pit or a flat bottom, we have a chance to see a powder pit like this, with an estrangement around the cup wall that separates the powder wall from the powder bed.

Then this situation is the same as the second kind of powder pit, because we inject water improperly, resulting in hot water concentrated extraction at these edges. By the same token, the emergence of this situation will also make coffee prone to uneven extraction. We should pay more attention when brewing, do not boil hot water on the edge.

VI. Mud puddles

The so-called mud puddle refers to the powder bed which looks very muddy and has a deep pit, such as the picture below.

There is only one main reason for the emergence of this kind of powder bed, that is, too much fine powder. When there is too much fine powder, it will not only make the powder bed appear in this way, but also make your coffee too extractive because it takes too long to brew.

Then in a situation like this, we need to find out the reason for the breeding of a large amount of fine powder and solve it. Too fine grinding and poor quality of the bean grinder are the main causes of a large number of fine powder. If the grinding is too fine, we can solve it by thickening, but if it is the quality problem of the bean grinder, then we need to use a powder sieve to screen the fine powder, or replace the bean grinder to solve it.

Finally, Qianjie would like to emphasize that the shape of the powder bed has nothing to do with the taste of coffee. Don't miss a good cup of coffee by judging coffee by its appearance.

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