The Art of Home Brewing: It’s About Time! Is It Time for Coffee or Coffee Time?

I have been enjoying both the feedback and the dialogue about The Art of Home Brewing: The Daily Grind. Lots of good thoughts and input as well as some great questions have been coming in via email and through the Facebook. I did update the visual grind guide photo in the blog from last week. I added some wording to give some idea of what grind size to use for the various brewing methods compared to various kinds of salt. Click here to view that photo. I am concluding this Art of Home Brewing series with some information and Coffee Maven tips about brewing time, or extraction. Remember, I am working on being able to brew consistent and enjoyable coffee.

You have control of over brewing and extraction time by changing the grind size. The finer the grind, the slower water will drip through ground coffee. This is true in both manual and automatic brewing methods. Time measures how long hot water is in contact with the ground coffee thereby extracting coffee flavors from the grounds. Initially, there is a bloom time. When hot water is first applied to ground coffee, there is a bloom. For example, when I brew coffee in the Clever Coffee dripper, I add 50 grams of hot water to the 24 grams of ground coffee and wait 25 seconds. In this 24 seconds, there is a chemical reaction called the bloom. The grounds swell and expand. After 25 seconds, I take 20-25 seconds to pour in the remaining 310 grams of hot water in a figure 8 pattern staying away from the filter edge as much as possible. Then I let the coffee steep. Some people will agitate or stir the grounds after the water is poured in. Again, this gives the hot water more surface contact time with ground coffee. Next time you make coffee, watch for the bloom! Coffee Maven tip: The fresher the roast of the coffee, the greater the bloom. Also, decaf coffee will not have as large of bloom as regular coffee.

Here are some basic time guidelines for steeping or brewing coffee. Remember, these are starting places. Experiment and see what you like best! Coffee Maven tip: I use a countdown timer. For all manual brewing methods, I do allow for a 20-30 second bloom.

- Clever Coffee Dripper (Yield: 12 oz) - Add 360 grams of hot water (200-204 degrees F)

to 24 grams – allow for a 4:00 minutes steeping time. Coffee Maven tip: I like a 4:30 second steeping time after a 30 second bloom.

- French Press – all sizes – allow a 4:00-6:00 minute steeping time. Coffee Maven tip: Roastermaster Jeff uses an approximate 5 minute total brewing time. He usually makes an initial pour and allows about a 15-30 second bloom, and then he stirs it prior to completing the pour. He uses a timer app on his smartie phone.

- Chemex – all sizes – start with a 2:30 minute steeping time. Coffee Maven tip: I prefer a longer steeping time. I usually have a 4:00 steep after a 30 second bloom.

- I have and brew, every morning, with a Technivorm Moccamaster drip brewer. It is made to automagically have a 6 minute brewing time. Most automatic drip brewers have a preprogrammed brewing time. Again, you can extend or shorten the brewing time by changing the fine-ness or coarseness of the grind. This is something you can experiment with to find what you enjoy.

If you are looking for a little more information about time and other brewing methods, our friends at The Shrub and Sweet Maria’s have a great article here. Pick up a simple timer the next time you go to the store or order from Amazon or find a timer app for your smartie phone too!

Thanks for reading and joining us on our coffee adventure! Now it’s your turn to venture into coffee…I’d love to hear about your experiences!

#brewing #grind #FAQ