How long is the best time to make coffee by hand? Does it have to take 2 minutes to make coffee by hand? The rhythm and time of water injection for hand-brewed coffee! How to adjust the grinding degree of hand-brewed coffee?

When making most coffee, we always press the timing function attached to the scale to calculate the time. This is a thing that the masters have emphasized since we started.

But such a move is incomprehensible to some friends, because they think that the recording of time will not affect the coffee. Even if they "blindly drink" without time, they can make the coffee very good. Undeniable! Even if we don't have time, we can still brew a pot of delicious coffee, but this does not mean that the record of time is not important. When we don't have enough experience in brewing, with a record of time, we can brew delicious coffee more easily and more frequently. At the same time, after the brewing is over, you can also conduct a review through the recorded time to find out and correct the culprits that caused the brewing problem.

So today Qianjie will come to share with you why we need to record the time during the coffee making process. At the same time, how to use time to discover or improve problems that occur during the brewing process!

Why do I need to clock when making coffee? First of all, you need to know that the time we record during the brewing process mainly refers to the contact time between water and coffee powder, that is, the extraction time. Calculation starts from when water and coffee powder come into contact, and the end node is after the target water volume completely penetrates through the coffee powder.

While other parameters remain unchanged, the longer the extraction time, the longer the contact time between water and coffee powder, and the more flavor substances will be dissolved. On the contrary, it means that the shorter the contact time between water and powder, the less the amount of flavor substances dissolved. In other words, by controlling the extraction time, we can determine the amount of substance dissolved and influence the extraction rate of coffee. But... Time is a passive parameter. We cannot directly control its length like actively controlling other parameters such as water temperature, grinding, and water volume. Instead, we need to adjust other parameters or factors to affect time. But because of this, time can also be used as a measure of whether other parameters are correct. When we find that the extraction time of coffee is too fast or too slow, it means that other parameters may be too "conservative" or too "extreme." At this time, it is necessary to combine the taste of the coffee to determine whether these parameters need to be adjusted. Okay! No prize, what factors will affect the extraction time when making coffee in hand?

1. The grinding degree and amount of coffee powder: For drip extraction, the thickness and amount of coffee powder are factors that affect the extraction time. Because when the coffee powder is thicker, the gap between the powder and the powder is larger, the same amount of water will have a faster drainage speed in the coarser grinding, and the extraction time will be shorter; conversely, when the coffee powder is thinner, the gap will be smaller, and the drainage speed will be slower, and the extraction time will be longer. Especially in the extraction of Italian coffee, we can clearly see the difference between the two. (The amount of powder is the same, so I won't elaborate on it on the front street)

At this time, time can be used as a measure of whether the grinding degree is appropriate! What does it mean? For example, we can set an extraction time for coffee. For example, when Qianjie uses 15g of coffee beans to brew coffee by hand, the extraction time is set to 2 minutes. If other parameters and water injection techniques remain unchanged, if the extraction time exceeds 2 minutes, it means that the grinding degree may be too fine, while if it is less than 2 minutes, it may be too coarse. But it doesn't matter if it is too thick or too thin, because some coffee beans may need to be ground this fine/rough for extraction, so we need to judge whether the grinding of this cup of coffee is suitable based on the actual taste of the brewed coffee. This is a great use of time!

2. Coffee brewing technique: The brewing technique is also a factor that affects the extraction time! In the article "Water Filling of Hand-brewed Coffee", Qian Jie explained in detail that the size of the water flow and the number of sections will directly affect the water discharge speed and extraction time. Small water flow and multiple sections of water injection can extend the coffee extraction time, while large water flow and few sections of water injection can reduce the coffee extraction time.

When we are familiar with the impact of water flow size and segmentation on time, we can directly adjust the coffee extraction according to the time/drainage speed during the brewing process without having to wait until after the event. For example, we use a common formula to brew an unfamiliar coffee bean. However, during the brewing process, I found that the coffee was discharged much faster than usual. If the coffee continued at this rate, the coffee was likely to be under-extracted! At times like this, we can switch to small water flows and inject water in multiple stages to slow down the drainage speed in time and extend the extraction time, so that the coffee can avoid insufficient extraction.

3. Coffee utensils: In addition to artificial control factors such as grinding, powder amount, and water injection method, the tools we choose will also affect the extraction time/drainage speed. For example, if the extraction parameters are unchanged, the V60 has many diversion ribs and the bottom hole is large, so the water discharge speed of the coffee will be faster and the extraction time will be shorter; while Kono has fewer diversion ribs and a smaller bottom hole, when making coffee, the water discharge speed will be slower and the extraction time will be longer.

There is also filter paper, which Qianjie shared in the article "The Differences between Filter Paper and Filter Paper". Different filter papers will have different launching speeds, which is affected by factors such as their thickness, material, and production process. The same situation is true in espresso. The size and density of the holes in the powder bowl will directly affect the drainage speed and extraction time. Therefore, in addition to grinding and techniques, changing the filter used for brewing is also a good way to adjust the time!

- END -