How does water injection style affect coffee flavor? How does the size and height trajectory of the water flow used to brew coffee affect extraction?

Even if the same coffee beans, the same grinding, the same water temperature, and ratio are used, the coffee that can be brewed will still change due to different brewing objects.

The change here can be the expression of flavor, taste, or taste. Although it won't be much different, it is still a degree that can make a difference. The reason for this difference is the different water injection styles. What is the water injection style? It actually refers to a person's preference when injecting water. For example, the size of the injected water, the height of the water injection, the trajectory of the water injection, etc. are all factors that contribute to the formation of personal style and the difference between others.

The reason why they can directly affect the taste of coffee is that these different options will change the distribution of coffee powder, the extent of extraction, and the dissolved substances, just like the difference between soaking and dripping. Only then can the final coffee taste different. What Qianjie wants to share today is how these different water injection styles affect the taste of a cup of coffee. When everyone deepens their understanding of water injection, they should be able to better brew a cup of coffee they like.

The size of the water flow is a key point that Qianjie often shares because it has a greater impact on brewing. The size of the water flow refers to the rate at which we inject water. To put it simply, it means how much water is injected at a time.

When we brew, the size of the water flow affects two aspects. The first one is the distribution of coffee powder in the filter cup! Because many coffee powders are not as dense, they can easily be carried by water. When the water injection rate is greater than the drainage rate, more and more water in the filter cup will accumulate, and the water level will be increased as a result. The coffee powder will naturally rise as the water level rises. This is what is often mentioned in the front street."Raise the powder bed." When our water injection rate is relatively low, the water injection rate will be equal to or less than the water injection rate, so the hot water at this time will not accumulate in the filter cup, and the structure of the powder bed will not be affected too much. If we keep a small water flow injected throughout the entire process, the final coffee powder bed will most likely be in a relatively flat state.

In the previous article on filter cups, Qian Jie mentioned that different powder bed structures will change the uniformity of coffee powder extraction. When the powder bed is relatively flat, the extraction of coffee powder will be similar; when the distribution of coffee powder in the filter cup is relatively scattered and less concentrated, the degree of extraction they will be different. And this will change the final coffee you get! For example, the coffee washed out by a large water flow raising the powder bed will be richer, and the coffee washed out by a small water flow will have a more balanced taste.

On the other hand is extraction time! Generally, if the greater the water flow when we inject, the shorter the coffee extraction time will be, and vice versa. Because as Qianjie mentioned earlier, when we inject water at a higher rate than the drainage rate, water will accumulate in the filter bowl, and this will increase the water pressure. At the same time, because the water level rises, hot water has more permeable space. When the two are combined, the speed of launching will naturally increase, and the extraction time will be shorter. Vice versa. The shorter the extraction time, the less will be dissolved from the coffee, and the longer the extraction time, the more will be dissolved from the coffee. There is no good or bad between the two. How to use it must be decided based on your needs and your actual situation.

The height of water injection is much simpler, which is the height at which we inject the water flow. The main effect of water injection height is the high and low extraction efficiency. When the water injection height is relatively high, the injected water will stir the coffee powder more strongly, which can allow the coffee powder to dissolve more soluble substances;

On the contrary, when the water injection height is low, the disturbance of the water flow to the coffee powder will be relatively small, and the speed at which the coffee powder dissolves substances will be relatively slow. But what everyone needs to note is that the higher the water injection height, the better. When the water injection position reaches a certain level, the injected hot water will not be able to maintain a continuous water column and will split into water droplets, and the water droplets will have very, very little disturbance to the coffee powder, which will in turn reduce the extraction efficiency of hot water.

Not only that, because hot water will come into contact with more air during its fall, its temperature will be lost more, which will also reduce the extraction efficiency. Therefore, Qianjie does not recommend that you excessively increase the water injection height in order to improve extraction efficiency, which may easily backfire. It's almost a fist away from the filter cup ~

The trajectory of water injection is ultimately the trajectory of water injection! Qianjie often mentions the two water injection lines of "circling around a big circle" and "circling around a small circle" in his sharing of brewing. The difference between the two lies in the different objects that the hot book washes.

Water injection around a large circle means that the range of water injection around a circle will be relatively large, which can allow more coffee powder to be washed by hot water; while water injection around a small circle focuses the water injection range at the center of the filter cup, focusing on washing the coffee powder in the center of the powder bed, while coffee powder outside the center range will be less affected by washing. Coffee powder washed by hot water will release flavor substances at an accelerated rate. The purpose of our control of the water injection line is to control the dissolution of these flavor substances. Similarly, this is also freely switched according to our purpose and the filter cups used.

So, the above is all the content shared on Qianjie this time. In addition, there are many factors that can affect the taste of coffee, but they are relatively small, so I won't mention it too much here on the front street ~

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