Coffee review

Basic knowledge of hand-brewed coffee: grinding degree/water temperature/method/ratio, which parameter is the most important?

Published: 2025-02-11 Author:
Last Updated: 2025/02/11, Many friends came to visit Qianjie after reading the article, and they also stopped by to discuss with us various coffee brewing problems they encountered, especially the parameters of hand-brewing. A friend once sent a question to Xiangjie: Hand flushing is affected by so many parameters, which is the most important? The reason why this friend suggested

After reading the article, many friends come to visit Qianjie and discuss with us all kinds of coffee brewing problems, especially the parameters of hand brewing. A friend once asked a question in Qianjianjie: which one is the most important because the hand flushing is affected by so many parameters?

This friend asked this question because he thought that every time he was absorbed in following the tutorial and figuring out how to make a good cup of coffee, the taste seemed to be different every time, and whether it was good or not depended on luck. So I wondered if something important might have gone wrong. Take this opportunity, Qianjie will discuss with you today which parameters determine the taste of coffee and who plays a key role in the extraction.

The charm of hand-brewed coffee is: change

I believe all of you here have heard such a saying, "Coffee is a metaphysics." for example, when you rush to the back, you must pinch the end of the coffee so that the coffee will not be bitter; wet filter paper before pouring powder; steaming with drum bags; drinking coffee in another cup is more delicious. When we do not understand the truth in these operations, almost every one seems to be "metaphysics", and once we explore the logic behind it from a scientific point of view, and thoroughly understand what is extract and what is flavor, these problems naturally cannot be "mysterious".

The same is true of the parameters. There are many details that affect hand-brewed coffee. Every time you buy a new bag of beans, every time you change a filter cup, and each change factor is adjusted, the cooking end can be a whole new experience. From experience, a cup of delicious coffee can not be made without six elements: water temperature, powder-to-water ratio, grinding degree, water injection technique, time, and water quality. Among them, the first four elements are the most concerned, and the time is affected by the first three. You can refer to the articles in the past on Qianjie. Next, please follow the front street to crack them one by one.

| | Water temperature |

If you ask whether the water temperature is important for extraction, Qianjie thinks it is important, but it is not that important. As a tool to adjust the extraction speed, the higher the temperature, the easier it is to extract soluble substances, but the coffee with too high water temperature is easy to release bitterness, so choose a conservative range. Generally speaking, most coffee beans on the market are suitable for flushing with 86-93 °C water.

Take Qianjie's experience as an example, 91 ~ 93 °C can be used for medium and shallow roasted coffee beans that are resistant to extraction, 86 ~ 89 °C is recommended for deep roasted beans that are not resistant to extraction, and 90 °C can be used directly for sour and bitter coffee.

But precisely because the parameter of water temperature is easy to grasp and the impact on taste is better understood, it makes many partners fall into a misunderstanding: the gap of 1 °C is very large. For example, a guest bought a bag of coffee beans in front of the street (91 °C) and went home to cook them. He felt that the aroma was weak and bitter, so he subconsciously thought that the water temperature was too high, but when he reduced it by 1 °C and then tried to reduce it by 2 °C, he found that the taste was still the same. After some communication, he learned that the main culprit was that the grinding was too fine.

Qianjie has done experiments, 91 °C and 93 °C brewed coffee flavor is very similar, although there is a slight difference in taste, but without direct comparison, it is almost difficult to find much difference. So as long as we don't take the temperature that deviates from the above recommendation in the front street, when there is an obvious difference in the coffee, we can be sure that it is not the water temperature of the pot, and the problem may lie in other parameters.

| | ratio of powder to water |

The powder-to-water ratio is how much powder you use and then inject the corresponding amount of hot water in a fixed proportion. With the increase of water injection, the more substances are brought out, the extraction rate increases, but the coffee concentration will be lower. So what proportion is used, in fact, the extraction rate and concentration are controlled in a range that makes us drink more comfortably.

For example, at 1:15, the most commonly used in Qianjie, a cup of coffee powder of 15g corresponds to 250g of water. some friends think that the coffee flavor under this ratio is too concentrated and the concentration is too high, so you can increase the proportion of water and adjust it to 1:16 or 1:17. That is, by increasing the amount of water injection to keep the taste balanced, while highlighting the aftertaste of coffee.

However, if the concentration of coffee is moderate, and there is no uncomfortable taste, and the deficiency is more reflected in the fact that the aroma is not rich enough, Qianjie is not recommended to adjust this parameter by changing the ratio of powder to water. Because once separated from the appropriate concentration, too much or too little water can easily lead to insufficient and over-extraction of coffee.

| Grinding degree

The degree of grinding is not only the number one problem encountered by countless beginners, but also a great knowledge of extraction. In fact, no matter what kind of coffee brewing method, the degree of grinding is the most important. In order to make the coffee taste right, we should not only ensure the moderate thickness of the grinding particles, but also make the powder particles relatively uniform, so that the coffee can release the substance evenly under the impact of hot water. In operation, the former requires us to find the right grinding scale, while the latter requires a good grinding quality of the bean grinder.

For example, some beginners will use analogy to judge the thickness and adjust their bean grinder scale according to the degree of "fine granulated sugar" given in the front street, but they find that the coffee is clogged seriously and think that the grinding scale is not found correctly. in fact, it is caused by poor grinding quality, because the final powder pit is muddy like the picture below, and the time is often more than two and a half minutes. There are two main solutions: either buy a tool to screen out the ultra-fine powder, or directly replace it with a better quality bean grinder.

There is also an issue that people pay more attention to-particle size. To put it simply, the finer the grinding, the easier the powder particles to accumulate on the filter paper, and the greater the resistance to water, so the slower the launching speed, the longer the extraction time, and the stronger the flavor of the coffee will be.

Because this parameter affects the total time change, baristas usually judge whether the grinding scale is right by combining the extraction time with the taste of the coffee. Very simple, the time is less than 1 minute 40 seconds, the taste is sharp and sour, light, indicating that the particles are too thick; if the time is more than 2 minutes and 20 seconds, bitter and astringent, heavy and low, it may be too fine.

| | Water injection method |

The technique of water injection is the combination and arrangement of details such as water distribution, flow size, water injection path and so on. When the previous parameters have been set in a reasonable range, then brewing techniques can be seen as a means to maintain a dynamic balance of coffee.

Whether you use one-size-fits-all, three-stage, four or six strokes, or more tricky tornadoes, uniform extraction is our primary goal, that is, to achieve a uniform water supply, the simplest way to judge is to look at the powder pit after flushing, specific analysis of the specific situation, you can go to Qianjie last week released the article "hand-made coffee powder pit Daquan!" "look for the answer in.

Compared with the previous visual parameters, the method of water injection is more artificially controlled, so it is the biggest uncertainty. So, if you are at a stage where you are just beginning to learn, Qianjie recommends a more robust rush, such as a three-stage style. After all, as long as you master the flow rate of the water column and circle, you can brew any kind of coffee beans, which can be called the "hand-made panacea".

Of course, the method of water injection can also be an adaptive parameter to help us achieve the purpose of more adequate extraction.

For example, Qianjie uses general parameters (15g coffee powder, 1:15 powder-to-water ratio, 91 °C, 80% screening rate of grindness) to match three-stage (30ml, 95ml, 100ml) to boil Colombia's big belly button.

But when the second section of water is injected, the coffee has all flowed into the pot in less than 1 minute. In order to avoid the lack of extraction caused by the contact time of powder water, Qianjie will temporarily change the water injection plan, dividing the remaining 100ml hot water into two parts, that is, 50ml+50ml will slowly circle and inject it with a small flow, and finally let the time fall in 1 minute and 55 seconds, and the coffee also shows a full sense of juice.

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Front Street Cafe

No. 10 Baoqian street, Yandun road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu district, Guangzhou, Guangdong province

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