What is the best degree C for making coffee by hand? Why does coffee powder clump? Do I need to preheat the filter cup to make coffee?

To talk about the most annoying thing in winter, as Laoguang, Qian Jie, in addition to not knowing which clothes to wear when going out, he will occasionally encounter situations of "making the coffee stale." Therefore, the culprit must be found and solved in a timely manner.

Today, Qianjie took stock of several common brewing problems in winter based on the actual situation of the store and the cases reported by everyone.

1. The water temperature drops rapidly

We also know that even if it is winter, the topic of water temperature cannot be avoided. Due to the cold indoor environment, whether it is the water in the kettle or the water in the hand-washed kettle, the temperature will drop much faster than in other seasons.

Qianjie once tested that in summer, 92°C hot water was used to brew a pot of coffee in 2 minutes. After the brew, the temperature in the pot was 88 - 89°C. In winter, the coffee was extracted in 2 minutes, and the remaining hot water dropped from 92°C to 84°C. In addition to the accelerated loss of heat from the water in the pot, the filter cup that is continuously exposed to the air also drops by 1 to 3°C during the entire extraction, which leads to a lower actual extraction temperature in winter than in summer, and the coffee that is washed out is easy to be acidic or thin in flavor.

In order to deal with this kind of situation, Qianjie suggested directly raising the brewing temperature by 2°C. For example, 92°C is usually used when washing Kenyan tomatoes, which can turn to 94°C in winter to fight against the cold room temperature environment. For friends who do not use temperature-controlled pots, pay attention to first remove the cold water in the pot, then preheat it with a small amount of boiling water, then add boiling water and start measuring the temperature. It is best to pour in more water than usual., this can slow down the water temperature.

2. Small insulation measures

In fact, the indoor environment in winter not only causes the boiling water temperature to accelerate, but almost all kinds of extraction equipment are in a cold state because they are placed in a cold space. So the extraction will be different from other seasons. Qianjie here is for everyone. Take a few heat preservation tips for your reference.

Compared with resin materials, ceramic, glass, metal and other filter cups have stronger heat absorption capacity, and they will get more temperature from hot water to heat themselves up. If you also use this type of filter cup, Qianjie recommends that you wet the filter paper with no less than 50g of high-temperature hot water. On the one hand, it can reduce its absorption of coffee calories, and on the other hand, it can preheat the entire sharing pot.

Different from other kettles, the hand-flushed kettle has a "slender neck", which keeps it at room temperature. When steaming, the hot water flows through, and the heat will be absorbed. At this time, the real extraction water temperature is likely to be lower than the preset water temperature. In order to avoid such situations, we can first pour some water from the hand-flushing pot out to preheat the spout, and then start to officially fill the water.

Although the water injection method is a parameter with the most variables, one thing is certain. The higher the water column is raised, the larger the contact area with the air, and the lower the water temperature falling into the powder layer, resulting in insufficient extraction of coffee. Therefore, in winter, we can lower the height of water injection when flushing with our hands according to the situation. For example, the height of water injection when Qianjie is usually produced is 4 - 5cm, and the water injection height is used to circle it with a slow and gentle technique. In winter, it will become 2 - 3cm. Height, and then inject water around the circle at a slightly faster speed.

3. Coffee powder has too much static electricity

I believe everyone learned when reading that friction between objects generates static electricity. In dry environments, static electricity will become frequent, and the same is true for coffee powder. Every winter, Qianjie always makes a crackling sound. This is the "signal" brought by winter. It also tells us that we need to pay attention to two coffee powder problems: agglomeration and "powder eating" by the bean grinder.

When grinding coffee beans, we can observe that heavier particles will fall directly into the powder receiving groove, while lighter coffee powder will easily adhere to the edge of the bean grinder. In warm seasons, due to the humid air, the fine particles will follow the large particles. Falling, and in dry winter, static electricity causes a large amount of fine powder to be "swallowed" by the bean grinder, resulting in less coffee powder in your hand. To this end, we can buy an air blower that specifically removes coffee powder, or prepare a clean brush to remove the coffee powder stuck on the inner wall.

Also under the influence of static electricity, the finer the coffee powder is ground, the easier it will be for the particles to be adsorbed and firmly held together, and then form large or small blocks. Such blocks will obviously occur during brewing. Coffee will have the consequences of uneven extraction.

In fact, in the face of such situations, we don't need to worry too much. We just need to use tools such as toothpicks and needle powder dispensers to break up the lumps.