What is the difference between the taste parameters of espresso and hand-brewed coffee? Is it better to make coffee by hand or American coffee in black coffee?

In the past two days, a customer and friend were discussing such a topic with Qianjie while buying beans. The American coffee made by his Italian machine would always have a stronger and more prominent flavor than that of hand-brewed coffee, so he asked if it was a Italian machine would extract coffee better, after all, the aroma would be stronger.

Indeed, coffee made by espresso machines will have a stronger aroma and taste than hand-brewed coffee. But the difference in aroma is not as big as everyone thinks, or it should be said that the difference caused by the extraction method is not so big, because the difference in the extraction method is only filtration. Since the filter accuracy of the powder bowl of the espresso machine is not as high as the filter paper of hand-brewed coffee, some extremely fine particles and coffee oil can be added to the coffee through the powder bowl, just as Qianjie often shares, the addition of these substances will bring an improvement in the aroma of the coffee. Yes, but not much.

The reason why this friend found a very large difference from it was not because of the different extraction methods, but mainly caused by these two problems. The first one is the amount of coffee powder! When we brew hand-brewed coffee, if it is for a single serving, the amount of powder used will usually be around 15g, while espresso will usually be up to 18g. Because the powder bowl of espresso coffee has a limit on the amount of powder used, the powder bowls we use nowadays are generally double powder bowls requiring a minimum of 18g of powder, so the minimum powder amount for Italian coffee starts from 18g.

Take Qianjie as an example. The amount of powder used by Qianjie when making hand-brewed coffee is 15g, while the amount of powder used for espresso coffee is 20g. At the same extraction rate, the difference in the amount of 5g powder will change the total amount of coffee substances extracted, which in turn affects the taste and concentration of the coffee. To put it simply, 20g of powder will inevitably extract much more than 15g of powder, so naturally, the taste of espresso will be stronger than hand-brewed coffee.

But if the amount of powder used is the same, 20 grams, and the extraction rates are the same, will the taste be the same? There is a high probability that it will not, because the second reason for the difference is concentration. Since the American style in espresso is the main object of comparison with hand-brewed coffee, American coffee is used on the front street here to compare it with hand-brewed coffee. Take the former street as an example! Qianjie used Esther Huakui from the bean list to make a cup of hand-brewed coffee and American coffee respectively, with a bean amount of 20 grams, and then measured their concentration and taste respectively.

In terms of concentration, the value of American coffee is 1.95%, while that of hand-brewed coffee is 1.54%. It can be seen that the gap between the two is very large. Then the taste is the same. Although both cups of coffee have the flavor characteristics of berries, citrus, floral flowers, and oolong tea, because the concentration of American coffee is higher, its taste will be stronger than that of hand-brewed coffee. Then the question arises. Why is the concentration of American coffee higher than hand-brewed coffee when the powder amount and extraction rate are the same?

Very simple! Because the amount of water used in production is different. The ratio of powder to water used when Qianjie makes coffee by hand is 1:15, which means that 300ml of hot water will be used to brew 20g of powder, and the final coffee liquor will be about 270ml; while making American coffee, Qianjie will first extract 40ml of coffee liquor according to the ratio of powder to liquid of 1:2, and then add 160ml of hot water to make American coffee at the ratio of 1:4 (the ratio of espresso liquor to water). The total liquor adds up to about 200ml.

It can be seen that if you simply compare the final coffee liquid volume, the liquid volume of hand-brewed coffee is already 70ml more than that of American coffee. The full 70ml liquid volume is the main reason for the concentration and taste of both. Because American coffee has less liquid and higher concentration, its flavor will be stronger. If we increase the liquid volume of American coffee to 270ml, if the extraction rate is equivalent, its taste will actually be equivalent to that of hand-brewed coffee because the concentration is relatively close. Although there will be a difference, the difference is just as Qianjie said earlier. It will be a little more fragrant than hand-brewed because it has more oil and fine powder, just a little. If we replace the filter paper used to make coffee with flannel or nonwoven fabrics with less filtration accuracy, the aroma will become closer.

So you can know why the taste of espresso is usually stronger than that of hand-brewed coffee. It is mainly due to the difference in powder amount and concentration ~

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