S1: Episode 1: The Impact of Brewing Water Temperature on Coffee
How brewing water temperature affects the flavours in the cup, the ideal temperature range for brewing a good coffee and how to use brewing water temperature to control some aspects of coffee tastes. This week’s FACQ is about how to use other brewing variables to reduce the bitterness of your coffee.
Get in touch!
Email: thecoffeedrinkersguide@gmail.com
Instagram: @thecoffeedrinkersguide
Lusona Publishing and Media Limited website: https://www.lusonapub.co.uk
-
88 to 92°Celsius or 190 to 198°Fahrenheit
Keep it simple!
Brew with water at 90°Celsius or 194°Fahrenheit
To modulate unpleasant tastes:
Too tart?
Brew with water in the temperature range of 90 to 92°Celsius or 194 to 198°Fahrenheit.
Too dark and bitter?
Brew with water in the temperature range of 88 to 90°Celsius or 190 to 194°Fahrenheit.
-
Hello and welcome to the very first episode of The Coffee Drinker’s Guide, a podcast for the coffee curious where I explore and explain the world of specialty coffee to make your daily coffee better and more satisfying.
I’m Angela Holder a coffee roaster and writer on a mission to fight back against bad coffee by giving you the knowledge you need to help you get good coffee and a happier (coffee) life in coffee-break sized episodes. So grab your coffee, pull up a chair and take a break…
This episode is about something that many people don’t give a second thought to when they are making coffee at home. If you struggle to brew a good coffee it’s tempting to blame the coffee itself when it could be that the temperature of the water is at fault… and later I’ll be answering a question about how to reduce the bitterness of your coffee…
Here in the UK we use kettles to brew our hot beverages. The habit just about every Brit has is to turn the kettle on, let it boil and then use that boiling water to brew their drink with - whether its tea, cocoa, or coffee. And until the relatively recent introduction of temperature controlled kettles, all kettles just automatically boiled water. Before working in the coffee industry I assumed that you had to boil water to brew coffee. It must be so because the kettle boils the water right? When I finally grasped that actually that isn’t the case and that you can get way better tasting coffee without doing anything other than changing the temperature of your brewing water my mind was officially blown…
So how does water temperature affect coffee brewing?
Well, as I just mentioned it’s a commonly held belief that coffee must be brewed with boiling water. But actually a ‘coffee boiled is coffee spoiled’. The best tasting coffee will be achieved by using water heated to between 88 to 92°Celsius, that’s around 190 to 198°Fahrenheit. Just this single piece of coffee advice has transformed the home brewing experience for everyone I’ve mentioned it to. It’s why I made this first episode all about water temperature. If you are wondering why I’m giving you a range in temperature, I’ll explain this wiggle room later. However, if you want to keep things simple aim to heat your water to 90°Celsius or 194°Fahrenheit and you will be in the right zone for a good brew. If you don’t have a cooking thermometer to check the water temperature with or a temperature controlled kettle, boil the water then leave it to cool for around 10 minutes, at a room temperature of 22°Celsius or 72°Fahrenheit, before you begin brewing. But to brew consistently good coffee it really is worth investing in an inexpensive kitchen probe thermometer or, if you’re feeling flush, a temperature controlled kettle.
Next how water temperature affects the taste
The most frequent complaint about coffee is that it is ‘too bitter’. There is no getting away from the fact that all coffee is intrinsically bitter and I will go into the reason why in a later episode. However the level of bitterness in your coffee is heavily influenced by brewing variables and one of the most important is the temperature of the water. Water heated to boiling point is a very effective solvent which will quickly dissolve the bitter compounds in coffee. This produces coffee with a sharp and lingering bitterness. In contrast coffee brewed with water between 88 to 90°Celsius, or 190 to 194°Fahrenheit, is sweeter, fruitier and less bitter. It will of course still have a little bitterness but this will be well balanced and so more pleasing.
Finally water temperature and the bean
It is extremely useful to understand the effect of water temperature on the flavours to be found in brewed coffee. Aside from enabling you to simply brew a great tasting coffee this knowledge can also be used to modulate aspects of a coffee’s flavour that you may not like. Coffee flavours vary widely according to factors like where it’s grown, the coffee variety, green coffee processing and roast level. These things influence how sweet and fruity a coffee is. Roast level additionally influences the level of bitterness to be found in the coffee, as darker roasts develop more bitter tasting compounds. If you find a particular coffee to be too tart or too bitter you can use your brewing water temperature to take the edge off those tastes. For coffees that are too tart brew with water at the higher end of the temperature range: 90 to 92°Celsius, or 194 to 198°Fahrenheit. This dulls the tartness and balances it with more bitterness. If the coffee is too dark and bitter, brew with water at the lower end of the temperature range: 88 to 90°Celsius, or 190 to 194°Fahrenheit. This emphasises the sweetness and fruit while reducing the level of bitterness extracted from the coffee. I’ll put all the temperature information in the show notes so you don’t have to keep it in your head.
In each episode I will be answering a Frequently Asked Coffee Question…This episode’s question is:
What else can I do to reduce the bitterness in my coffee?
Over-extraction of the coffee during brewing increases its bitterness. So if you are finding your coffee to be too bitter and you grind it yourself try using a slightly coarser grind. If the coffee is already ground, shorten the brewing time or use less water. Also check the coffee's roast level. Dark roasts are more bitter than light or medium roasts so you should avoid dark roasts if you dislike bitterness.
Thank you for listening to this episode of The Coffee Drinker’s Guide and that was all about water temperature. I hope you found this useful. Let me know if you tried changing your brewing water temperature and if that simple action blew your mind too. I have lots more to tell you about coffee so hit subscribe to make sure that you don’t miss an episode. If you know someone else who is also into coffee please tell them about the show and rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts to help other coffee curious people find the show too. If you have a question about coffee or a topic that you would like me to cover please get in touch. I’m on Instagram @thecoffeedrinkersguide or email me at thecoffeedrinkersguide@gmail.com. Thanks to my executive producer Viel Richardson at Lusona Publishing and Media Limited. You can find him at lusonapub.co.uk. Until next time I’m Angela Holder thanks for sharing your coffee break with me - the best way to tackle life is one coffee at a time and here’s to better coffee!
The Coffee Drinker’s Guide is a Blue Sky Coffee Project