The correct way to brew coffee by hand! What is the core concept of three-stage? How to brew coffee with coffee powder? Do you pay attention to skills in making coffee?

In order to reproduce the delicious coffee drunk in the coffee shop at home, in addition to buying the same coffee beans, some friends will also use the same parameters and methods to brew. Never thought, the coffee is always unsatisfactory, always close to the taste. Why? Obviously are the same beans, the same proportion, the same grinding, the same water temperature, but can not rush out the ideal taste!

In fact, the reason is not difficult to understand. Qianjie often compares the roasting and cooking of coffee beans to the cooking process, as a matter of fact. We can imagine that when we want to reproduce a chef's specialty dishes, it is not enough to rely solely on the detailed data recorded in the recipe! Because the recipe will only introduce you to the performance of this dish under normal circumstances, and in the actual cooking process, there will always be a lot of unexpected events, such as insufficient heat, insufficient pickling, and so on. It is the same to apply this principle to cooking! Even if the parameters and materials you use are exactly the same as those of the coffee shop, if you don't have a thorough understanding of brewing, then making a good cup of coffee will still be a probability event.

Therefore, in addition to the cooking parameters, our understanding of the cooking process is also very important. It is not difficult to understand, you just need to split the process! At this time, it's time for a friend to ask: how to split it?

Very simple: split according to the purpose of contact between water and powder! At present, the vast majority of hand cooking is mainly divided into three stages, namely: steaming, main extraction, adjustment. Then let's share what these stages represent by Qianjie.

Stage 1: steaming two days ago, Qianjie mentioned the importance of steaming for hand extraction. Coffee powder will accumulate a large amount of gas in the body because of baking, and the presence of gas (carbon dioxide) will hinder the extraction of flavor substances by hot water. Therefore, we need to use a small amount of hot water to "guide" these gases to reduce the impact of carbon dioxide on subsequent extraction. And the link to carry out this action is called "steaming".

Generally speaking, the steaming process will use twice as much water as the powder, and then wait 30 seconds for the coffee powder to exhaust. Because twice the amount of hot water is about the amount of water that can be absorbed by dried coffee powder, while waiting for 30 seconds is to give the coffee powder plenty of exhaust time, this formula is very appropriate for beginners or friends who don't understand the principle. But if we want to know more about steaming and ensure its effectiveness, then we need to judge the steaming time from the water storage capacity of the powder bed after wetting, in order to achieve "perfect steaming". For more information, you can go to this article, "how to achieve perfect steaming" ~

Stage 2: after the main extract is steamed, we enter the main stage of coffee extraction. Usually, 90% of the substance in a cup of coffee is released at this stage. Therefore, we need to use more water to carry out extraction. Generally speaking, we will use about 60% of the total water at this stage. Therefore, this is also the most difficult stage to control.

Because the amount of water injected is relatively large, in order to ensure that hot water can play the maximum role, Qianjie suggests to make a sectional selection according to the proficiency of water control. Under normal circumstances, we will finish this part of the hot water at one time, but if you are a novice who has just touched the hand, it is best to divide the water of this stage into two stages. For example, the amount of water injected in four or six brewing is reduced by reducing the amount of water injected into each stage to ensure that the hot water can be fully exposed to coffee powder and will not form too much bypass water to affect the taste and concentration of coffee.

Stage 3: adjustment because we have extracted nearly 90% of the coffee substance in the second stage, so the last stage of extraction is used to adjust! Adjust what? It is the concentration and taste of the coffee!

Although most of the substances have been extracted in the second stage, they are not suitable for direct drinking because the concentration is too high. So we need to dilute the concentration through the third stage of extraction to make the coffee more suitable for the entrance. However, the third stage of extraction is the easiest to bring out the bitter miscellaneous substances of coffee, because the sour and sweet substances have been released in the second stage, only a small amount of sour and sweet substances are left in the coffee powder, and the rest are bitter miscellaneous substances. Bitter substances are necessary for a cup of coffee because they can reduce the impact of sour substances and increase the alcohol thickness of the coffee. Just, just the right amount! Bitter substances exist but do not stand out, and this is the direction we need to control. Therefore, we need to observe the state of the filter cup at all times in the process of extraction, so as to be ready to adjust at any time to prevent the release of too much bitter substances and affect the taste of the whole cup of coffee. The specific object of observation can be time, or launching speed.

For example, when the second stage is used too much time and the launching speed is too slow, then it means that there will be a risk of extraction if the water is injected in the original way. It is best to reduce the extraction efficiency and avoid the occurrence of over-extraction by increasing the injected water flow or reducing the penetration force and stirring amplitude of the injected water flow; and if the time used in the second stage is too short, or the launching speed is too fast, then it is necessary to extend the extraction time (reduce the flow of water), strengthen stirring and other ways to improve the extraction, so as to avoid the phenomenon of insufficient extraction.

And when we understand the three stages of the extraction process, it will be easier to make a delicious cup of coffee!

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