Welcome to Srid's public journal of coffee making!
Does the brew-time temperature of the water affect coffee taste?
Water Temperature
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2021-10-06
Achieved Excellent with Yirgacheffe: same as before; 185f Water Temperature, and 2:25 brew time. A much more sweeter Dark Chocolate taste this time! A little too overpowering, towards the end of the cup, in fact. This is how it should be. Improv
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2021-10-04
Yirgacheffe on Inverted Method: increased grind size to 19, Water Temperature at 192f, Brew Time 2:00. Slight Improv compared to yesterday, I think - but as I finish drinking the cup I’d say it is Excellent (more of Dark Chocolate coming through) and is teetering on the edge of being perfect.
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2021-10-03
Trying Inverted Method for Yirgacheffe and increased Comandante grind dial to 18 (from 15*), which lead to a more pronounced Aroma during grind incidentally – as well as increased the Brew Time from the usual 1:25 to 2:25 minutes (as well as used a Thermometer to measure Water Temperature at 185f) – and the taste is much more full flavoured than previous cups. This is an Improv, and I’ll try the inverted only going forward. Very Good taste, and and very close to Excellent cup … definitely in comparison to the last few days.
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2021-09-13
Another good cup of coffee by following lowish Water Temperature. Instead of relying on a thermometer, I’m following the whistle sound commencement, and then turn off the stove, letting the water in my stovetop Kettle stabilize while I grind the coffee. Once this becomes a habit, I would not strictly need to buy a (bulky) variable-temperature measuring kettle (like the Fellow Stagg), though it would be nice to have for experimentation.
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2021-09-11
Improv: Same coffee, but this time (~8PM now) by accident I ended up using colder than usual water for Aeropress (I could feel the lack of heat on first sip). Surprisingly there was a more pronounced coffee-y taste (chocolate-y/ nutty) (ie. little to none of that sour/bitter crap that makes drinking coffee resemble humdrum). Maybe Water Temperature matters more than I had thought, and that it may be worth investing in a variable-temperature Kettle? Evidently, the best tasting Espresso Italien so far.
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Thermometer
A digital meat thermometer with probe, like this, can be used to measure the Water Temperature in real-time while it heats up on a stove-top Kettle with a steam hole*.
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Kettle
I use this 0.5L gooseneck kettle for stove-top heating. It has a small hole on to which I insert the Thermometer probe. Once the desired Water Temperature is achieved, I either turn off the stove or turn down the heat to the minimal intensity required to keep the water at that temperature, all the while I measure and grind the beans in the Comandante.
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Espresso Italien
First batch ended before 2021-09-15: mostly Good, and a couple times Excellent even (probably to do with Water Temperature, and others). Verdict: will try again.Water Temperature: lowish