What does the taste period of coffee beans mean? Can hand-brewed single-piece beans be brewed after the taste appreciation period?

Because most of the flavor substances of coffee are volatile, so different from most conventional foods, coffee also has a special time node in addition to the shelf life, that is, "taste period". Coffee during the appreciation period has a very good flavor performance, because the flavor substances are the most abundant, and the content of carbon dioxide is not as rich as it was when it was roasted (also a lot, but has less effect on the extraction). So we can easily dissolve the flavor substances in the coffee. When the storage time of the coffee beans exceeds the taste period, the performance of the brewed coffee will be greatly reduced because the flavor substances have been roughly lost.

These volatile substances are the main source of coffee flavor formation, when the loss of flavor substances, we can only get a small amount of flavor experience when we brew coffee, and the soluble taste of coffee beans. So in general, Qianjie will advise you to consume the coffee beans before the end of the tasting period. But many friends may be because the beans do not taste right or hoard too many beans, resulting in coffee beans stored longer than the taste period.

Just because coffee beans are out of taste doesn't mean they don't taste good, it's just that they are relatively less expressive. And because it is not so easy to rush, it leads to a worse taste. But as long as we change to a more suitable cooking plan, then even beans that are not in the appreciation period can actually have a very good performance. Before that, we need to learn how to see if the coffee beans are past the taste period.

How long is the taste period of coffee beans? Generally speaking, the taste period of coffee beans is from the fourth day to the 45th day after baking. The reason is not from the beginning of baking, friends who read the street article two days ago know that coffee needs a bean cultivation period to discharge carbon dioxide that hinders extraction. The appreciation period comes after the bean growing period. if we do not consume the coffee beans in nearly a month and a half, then the taste period of coffee beans will come to an end and will not be so easy at first.

It is important to note that the exhaust time and taste period of coffee beans will vary according to the "physique" of the beans. The "physique" mentioned here in Qianjie includes the degree of baking, density and storage of beans. Because it has been shared many times, there is not too much introduction here.

How to judge the taste period of coffee beans? There are two elements that can be judged, but these two elements need to be used together. The first is the taste mentioned in front of the street, and the other is through observation, and the object of observation is the powder bed in the steaming stage of brewing coffee. As mentioned earlier, coffee beans will have richer gases, including carbon dioxide, during the taste period. In the process of steaming, because of the existence of these carbon dioxide, the powder bed will have two performances, one is to bulge, and the other is to have a strong water storage capacity.

Drum Bao believes that everyone is already familiar with it, and the water storage capacity means that from the beginning to the end of steaming, the powder bed is very wet. This is because the tiny bubbles formed by carbon dioxide cannot be released at first and will be imprisoned in the powder bed, so the powder bed will be bulged! At the same time, these bubbles also hinder the launching speed of hot water. Therefore, when the coffee beans are relatively fresh, the existence of rich gas not only leads to the production of drum bags in the powder bed during steaming, but also causes the powder bed to remain moist for a long time. When the coffee beans are not fresh enough, carbon dioxide and other gases have been lost almost, so at this time we carry out flushing and steaming, not only can not afford large bags, but also can see that the wettability of the powder bed decreases at a speed visible to the naked eye. Not long after the water fell, the powder bed dried up. Therefore, this is an observable element, the powder bed when steaming. More accurately, it should be the water storage capacity of the powder bed.

However, some coffee beans still have excellent flavor performance even after the decline of the water storage capacity of the powder bed, so we need to match the taste to determine whether the coffee beans are fresh enough.

How to cook stale coffee beans?

Coffee beans are relatively less durable when they are not fresh enough, and if we use the same brew at this time, it will be easy to brew out the extracted coffee. The main reason is that the extraction efficiency is too high, and without the support of gas, the fine powder is more likely to sink to the bottom and cause blockage.

Therefore, Qianjie will recommend a thicker grinding of coffee powder, such as the original use of Ek43 10 scale grinding, then when the coffee beans after the taste period, we can use 10.5 scale grinding. On the one hand, the water contact surface area of coffee powder is reduced, which is relatively more durable. Secondly, the thickening of grinding can appropriately reduce the number of fine powder, will not be so easy to cause blockage! Qianjie to 15g powder as an example, the ratio of powder to water is still 1:15, water temperature 92 °C, the specific operation is as follows! (only suitable for beans within two months from the baking date not long after the taste period)

First of all, we used 25ml hot water for steaming for 20 seconds. (the main purpose of steaming is to exhaust, and at this time the coffee powder is not so rich in gas, so the time and water can be slightly less, just wet the coffee powder.)

Then, the second stage of hot water is injected in a circle from the center to the outside, and a large current is used to raise the powder bed, with a total amount of water injection of 125ml. The purpose of raising the powder bed is to allow the fine powder to be absorbed on the wall of the filter cup so that it is not so easy to fall to the bottom to block the filter paper. At the same time, it can also pave a better extraction road for the subsequent injection of hot water! )

When the hot water in the filter cup is about to seep, we use a small flow of water to inject the remaining 75ml hot water around the center of the filter cup. (you can stir a little less.)

When the hot water in the filter cup is permeated, we can remove the filter cup and complete the extraction!

Although this extraction method can not make coffee as delicious as coffee during the appreciation period, it can avoid coffee over-extraction to the maximum extent and avoid releasing a large number of miscellaneous, bitter and other defective flavors. If you already have beans that are not fresh, you might as well try cooking them in this way.

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