Brew your coffee with boiling water - coffee brewing temperatures explained.
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- čas přidán 6. 06. 2024
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This is probably going to cause a little bit of an argument, but once again here are the suggestions:
Roast - Kettle Temp - Slurry Temp
Light 100°C/212°F 93°C/200°F
Medium 98°C+/208°F+ 90°C+/194°F+
Dark 90°C/194°F 85°C+/185°F+
This is guidance, and your experiences may vary a little. That's ok.
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It’s like watching Attenborough for coffee
If this is true, his channel would explode when Sir David Attenborough passes away because you need a classy, British man in your life somewhere.
This comment made my day. Thank you!
"Given approproate temperature and abundance of brewing space in the filter -the coffee thRRRives!"
I was thinking, he does sound like someone familiar and yes he is the Attenborough for coffee 😂
Yes! He has Attenborough's posh hoarseness.
Thanks, you saved me 45 seconds of waiting for my boiling water to cool. That adds up over the years!
save time. see world!
@@ahmadnategh6740 are you saying See the world or Sea World?
sadly you used up your time for this comment. and me too :D
@@KingKodra Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick
Lol saved me a couple of grams of water i use to cool off a little bit. It also adds up for all those years.
You know what...? I have had to return here to say a big thank you to James Hoffman. Now, a year and bit on from switching to home brewing speciality coffee in a French press, it was the basics on water quality, water temperature, grind size and freshness presented by this man that I have ended up following. I bought a glass kettle, I filter water to go in it, I had a French press already, I bought a Hario hand grinder for 35 quid and I buy speciality beans medium roasted. For the price of 2.5 high street coffees I get to drink better coffee than high street coffee for a whole month. Life-changer you are, sir!
what is high street coffee? I'm guessing it's coffee from places like Starbucks and similar coffee franchises
I have probably the same hand grinder, what setting (clicks) do you use for your coffee? Preferably filter/chemex/v60
7:17 My friends when they see me come out of quarantine in shape.
omg lol
oh shit perfectly done hahahahahahahah kudos to you
ROFL...
Hahaha!
Waited for that moment with anticipation. Worth it
I come for coffee making advice...
and leave with ASMR-like voice of James that calms me the f%$# down.
win-win.
His voice is really very soothing!
His british accent too is a top notch
I've heard many people say he needs to do a podcast, or at the very least work for Audible voicing audio books. **please and thank you James?**
Lol yeah, when James says not to worry about something I actually stop worrying about it, not everybody's like that...
Same, I actually watch his videos before I go to bed. 🙈
Either this guy is Youngest looking Old Man I’ve seen or the Oldest looking young Man I’ve seen.
That's his charm 😆
Either way sounds someone old to me
He’s 40 (or 39, one of the two)
TheBrignad as a 40 year old, I sometimes feel old, and sometimes feel young! 40 is a weird age!
@@joeydoesthings4955 same at 47, TBH. Walk 3 days a week for an hour and manage your weight and it is fine. Add more exercise and you can feel 39 all to way to 50.
Love your videos, James!! I would like to point out one statement, however, as a chemist. While you are correct that warmer water has more energy to facilitate interactions in brewing, the overwhelming majority of what happens in a coffee extraction does not involve re-action, but inter-action. Dissolution, as you mention, is not an example of chemical change, but a physical change, as the majority of this process retains the chemical identities of the species involved (though there are probably some reactions that occur in a tiny portion). Chemical changes are characterized by the destruction/creation of chemical bonds, which obviously would be rampant during the roasting process, as is evident in the change in color of the beans, as well as the development of new flavor compounds (though not all of the changes are chemical during roasting). Thank you for your expertise and testing techniques; it is something I can greatly appreciate in my own lab!
True, but also (as a chemist) temperature plays a huge role in solubility limits _and_ the time it takes to dissolve a material (just try making simple syrup with cold water sometime...).
@@EdElliott I definitely agree with you, I do pharmaceutical formulation work and I run into issues like that all the time. I just think it is important to maintain the distinction between reactivity and interactivity 😎
super cool to learn ty '_'
Water temp changes when the boiling stops & hits the room temps! Aka " change in temperature " this is my inter thought process before watching the video!
@@telanis9 lol. Didn't you comprehend the video? "Coffee brewing temperature explained " how complex do you want it?? Unsolved mysteries did a whole episode on it back in the early 90's you should check it out, it's fascinating! Cheers!
I'd previously heard and read from numerous sources that boiling water 'burns' the coffee - thank you for explaining why that can't be true. I love your engineering-style approach.
Great video! I would love to see you brew the same coffee, same ratio at varying temps from 85-93C and explain the differences in taste.
+1
Also extraction percentages if James feels up to it. I expect the flavor might change with the total amount of extraction as well as the balance of that extraction, both of which might be changing with brew temp.
in my experience, coffee taste differently as it cools down. maybe that's how they got the recommended temp? what i would like to see is a comparison in taste of say something brewed @ boiling pt and something brewed around 90 C and compare their taste when they cool down to, say, 60 C
I did this test with a light roasted single origin coffee and i can confirm it made a noticeable difference in taste.
Also I noticed once the beans get passed 4w from roasting date, lower temperature made the taste backed to normal again. For me dialling the temperature to adjust the flavour/taste to my liking is a key and apparently it varies with different beans.
@@psychedelious our taste buds operate the best with food/drink in 50-60'C range, but as Hoffmann said for the chemical reactions we call "coffee brewing" to happen at the most optimal level we seek to use water 90-100C.
These videos that go into the “technical” side of brewing coffee are just so, so great. And two videos in two days, what’s this, Christmas? What’s next, for tomorrow an AeroPress technique video? 😄
Sadly not - but there might be one more video this week...
James Hoffmann one more video this week, we’ll gladly take it! 😄 it’s funny that after I started using both the V60 and/or a French Press as my daily drivers (following your methods on both), I kind of got scared of using the AeroPress... so simple, but at the same time, it allows so many variants, it’s truly a coffee brewing “toy”!
@@jameshoffmann its the Siphon video I hope. Save the filter one for next week
@@jameshoffmann will we get an aeropress brew guide ever? I remember you saying you might do one.
Mihir G was thinking this too! Definitely needed
recently I was brewing and tried to reach a 90-93C temp in my kettle to pour in to my French Press... this makes sense now. My focus doesn't need to be so hard on the water temp as long as it is boiling. Absolutely love all the videos. I've learned so much about coffee in the last few days than ever in my life. So nice to have the processes explained in such great detail.
I wonder if anyone makes an insulated french press.
@@markrichards6863 there’s lots of them, Bodum Colombia is one, ikea also makes one, the original Espro is insulated. Personally I like glass ones because I can see if the coffee grounds have settled into the bottom.
@@markrichards6863 yes. Bought one at a thrift years ago. It was wide at bottom with non skid rubberized bottom giving way to enameled stainless body tapering smoothly to top. It had a sturdy handle. It was a travel mug sold out of Montana. Made in China no doubt but I loved it.
I dont even drink coffee on any kind of regular basis but i still love this channel
"Aggressively pre-heating" - and I can't help but imagine roaring as I pour.
I hear it helps with degassing.
@@Anthropomorphic preventing degassing has always been more of an issue for me...
Roasting your roast
Lol
Rouring. Poaring?
"Little bit hotter...but not a lot hotter" James Hoffman ,you should sell shirts with that quote haha
I would buy it haha
Was thinking the same thing. Make it a meme!
I was about to say that has very high meme potential.
How I feel when I eat a salad once a month
Time to create a Merch offering on your channel James!
So I'm guilty of thinking that boiling water was going to be to hot and make my coffee taste bad. You just saved me 30 seconds of cooling time for every cup I make from now. Thanks!!
Thanks James, great job! That's by far the best explanation on water temps I have seen. When people say that you're "burning" the coffee with boiling water I know they don't know what they are talking about.
I have been a barista for over 10 years and absolutely love watching your videos (and reading your book). Not only are they informative, interesting and incredibly calming, they also put me in the best mood. I love learning new things and your passion for coffee and curiosity is wonderfully captivating. Thank you James! From one bean to another, thanks for being so badass!
Sounds like you need to find a grown up job.
@@user-fw8wt4qo3o while your remark tells us someone is on the lookout for something less sour
@@reuireuiop0 the only thing sour here is your breath
@@reuireuiop0 maybe they'd be happy with my burnt moka pot coffee
@@user-fw8wt4qo3owhy what’s wrong with being a Barista? Sounds like you need to grow up, period.
Thank you!! Wonderful advice. I usually take my kettle to 94 degrees but went to 100 after watching and my coffee has never been better. Wish I had not spent a small fortune on my thermostat controlled kettle when any old kettle that goes to boil works just as well. Live and learn.
This is super, James, I'm so glad you did this. Your video also helps to explain/simplify water temp for cupping coffees. If we pick up a kettle that is boiling, by the time we walk to the cupping table and start pouring, like your French press demonstration, we're at an appropriate temperature for "cupping-roast-level" coffees. Many people, when learning cupping, ask about the water temperature "standard", but practically speaking, when you have dozens of coffees to cup, using the "just off the boil" method works great and is an efficient way to make sure all sets of coffees are evaluated at the same temp (as long as you use one off-the-boil kettle per set).
Thank you so much! I am French and yes the typical French roast is way too dark. Lowering the temperature of water did improved greatly my daily coffee. Thanks again. You improved my life on a daily basis!
Apologies James: I was kinda happy to hear the use of slurry. That might be a function of being an environmental engineer focusing on water & wastewater but DETAILS!
I'm in the same field and I thought the same thing!
Same here! My major was Environmental engineering and even in Korea we use that terminology lol
I haven't an issue either. Civil engineer checking in, with concrete slurry 😂
Hi mates, it seems like environmentalists are coffee lovers. Here is one more coffee lover from environmental field
mhPhillip Wade you know what? My major was civil engineering when I was freshman haha then changed to Environmental one lol
I have always brewed coffee in a French Press, first in a glass french press( like the one James used in today's video) and now I brew in a Bodum double-walled stainless french press. I have tried brewing with water at 85 deg Celsius, and with water at 100 deg Celsius. I buy my coffee from a local roaster who roasts my preferred Ethiopian coffees to a light city roast, and I have found that the coffee brewed with water heated to 100 deg Celsius tends to taste better and fuller than coffees brewed with 85 deg Celsius water. Thanks, James.
This was amazing to watch. I am a Motorcycle Camper and I bring a silicone pour-over filter stand for my morning coffee. I could never figure out why my camping coffee tasted better than from my machine at home, maybe it was a placebo. I like a Medium-Light Roasts for a smooth black coffee. I pour with boiling water and would get the best results this way. Fascinating that I had been lucky enough to have a brewing method that was correct! I would have been miserable with dark roasts, not being able to figure out the proper extraction.
Oh wow, I was randomly recommended this video and jesus your way of talking is soothing
Don’t forget altitude. I’m at 1000 m where water boils at 96 C.
Ian Butterworth Yeah, at 2,300 m this is a non-issue for me - wish I could get the temperature higher, as it boils at ~93 C.
I'm at 93.8°. I would love to hear tips or tricks for high elevation brewing.
To me, altitude is a non-issue.
I live at -3m altitude lol
@BIGFOOOOOT that would only ensure that the water would rise to 100°C, once the cooker is opened up the water will boil (lose energy through evaporation) until it's back at this 93°C
Just an idea... but, the dual walled stainless steel French press James referenced does exist... I’ve bought a couple from Starbucks, and they are great. With pre-heating and boiled water, you should likely be brewing around 90-93°C like the rest of us.
I’m totally over the moon, now that I found your channel! You’ve shared thousands of logical and scientific informations I need to know since I’m a complete newbie. thanks ever so much for your educating videos, James! but I’ve got to admit that your voice is somehow gives me an eargasm, yet sometimes it’s also a lullaby for me 😂
YOU'RE AN INSPIRATION! I love watching your videos and refuel my excitement of pushing further in the Industry
I'm new-ish to your channel James. I cant believe how much there is to know and learn about coffee, grinders, pots, machines, filters ...! You are great to watch and learn from thanks!
Thank you! Something I've been saying for years . Max out your kettle , the Brewer and grounds rob so much heat. Also if I see a cafe using a hot water tower for pour over set at 200-205f, buy the batch brew.
Thanks for this James. I always thought that burning my coffee with hot water was laughable. I've been brewing my pour over straight from the kettle with great tasting results. One of your contemporaries brews at 207° which is a bit over 97c in his Café.
This was very well done! I use a calibrated thermocouple and meter with my own coffee-making setup, always allowing the kettle to automatically shut off (at 99 °C), and then cool to 90 °C, at which time I'll pour it over fresh grounds in a single-cup carafe and filter. I've found that for my particular water, coffee, and personal preference, this is as hot as I can go before the less-desirable flavors start coming out.
This is something that has always been so intuitive to me. Everyone tells me not to heat the water past a certain point, but I always assumed that as soon as the coffee is poured, temperature starts to drop. Even more so once it hits the coffee grounds, the filter, etc. I've always brought my kettle up to 100 C.
Yep without the heating source as soon as you mix it with another substance the overall mixture will be at a lower temperature. The only way to get the slurry to boiling was if it was being actively heated the entire time.
@@jeffumbach Finally someone with some sense!
I would have expected taste test at the end, Even at a small difference on the thermostat many say it has an effect.
I did too, but it would mostly be for effect and presentation. I'm sure he taste tested different temperatureswhile developing his v60 brewing video. Probably before that as well.
@g0phuckyourself Depends on what he means. If he means a temperature probe that is dipped in the slurry during brewing, then yes, that is a thermometer. If however he is referring to the temperature setting on his water boiler, then that is in fact a thermostat.
@g0phuckyourself The point of the video was never in question. It demonstrates that the temperature in the slurry while brewing is lower than boiling water. The statement Robert posed above, however, is in relation to taste differences depending on small variations in temperature of said brew slurry. Now in order to achieve those differences (to see if that statement is accurate), I would say the best way is to standardize the method of brewing, and then simply vary the starting temperature of the water, which would be quite easy to achieve by adjusting the thermostat on the boiler.
@g0phuckyourself he said "many say it has an effect". It would be moronic for those who say it has an effect to measure with a thermometer every day. They (like myself) use a variable temperature kettle and set the thermostat differently to test how the brew improves (or not).
Would have caused some channelling I’d imagine
The proof is in the taste. After trying a pour over using James's method straight off the boil, I get a better tasting coffee particularly with my favorite light roast.
I found that for medium roasts his as-hot-as-possible V60 rule doesn't work quite as well.
James was the 2007 World Barista Champion for a reason ~ he knows his stuff.
I even reboil mine throughout the pour over lol
Raphaël Atherill in the video description, he specifies that medium roasts is recommended to be 2 degrees cooler. Maybe try that and see if it makes a difference
I was going to comment to say something similar; I'm a new V60 user and I've been getting disappointing results with a home-roasted Yirgacheffe (lighter roast) and have found that brewing at or above 97 C (208 F) yields much better flavour--at least for this particular roast. I was using lower temps before yesterday and found it tasted bland and almost papery, despite having rinsed the filter. I can see myself giving temperature more consideration moving forward.
Lol, I'm really happy I found this video. I just started getting back into coffee again after a long stint of just settling for Keurig, and I was wondering about this today as I was making some French press coffee. I was never able to totally figure out my French press when I first got it years ago, and I thought it was because my water was too hot since I didn't have a thermometer at the time. No matter what I did, the coffee always came out sour and acidic. Fast forward to today, and I've been tracking temperature more closely, always making sure the water in the kettle is between 195F and 205F. Then I started thinking about how much heat the water may be losing in my French press, so I did a test with some water in a mug as well as taking temperatures from the French press as I poured into it. I quickly realized that the water cools down much faster than I ever thought it would, and I determined it couldn't be the temperature throwing the taste off even when I wasn't monitoring the temperature closely years ago when I first started. I've had much better luck adjusting my grind and dosage sizes, and I'm happy to say that I'm very close to where I want to be now. I'm going to try increasing the dosage by a gram or two tomorrow in order to see if that's where I need to be, because I think I have the grind size down. I'm just trying to get the coffee just slightly more viscous at this point.
One of the best channels on CZcams! Love your work, James.
I feel so much better about my years of using a simple kettle and not checking water temp. I don’t just boil and pour but it’s usually less than a minute after my kettle switches off that I’m brewing. Thanks for the insight!
Wish you could do a video exploring the relation between TDS and taste; a lot of coffee bloggers justify their lower temps on specialty medium roasts by saying they don't care about TDS and that it just "tastes better" so it would be interesting to see you dissect that topic. Thanks!
really enjoy watching your posts James, well done and long may it continue!
These videos are really superb; I wish I’d found you sooner. I spent the first third of my life at 5-6000 ft., and the last two thirds at sea level, but I didn’t start drinking coffee 'til I’d come down in the world, so I can’t report how coffee brewed where water boils at 94-95 °C would taste by comparison, but all the temperatures you measured would be reduced by 5-6 °C at those elevations, and I doubt I would have enjoyed coffee nearly as much as I do now. The taste of espresso wouldn’t be affected as much, probably, and it’s hard to see what could be done to rescue pourovers, yet vacuum pots (what you call siphons - I think infelicitously) would at least get you back to the temperature regimes of sea level pourovers.
Since I discovered your channel, I have improved my extractions and my results, my wife and I already had most of the necessary gayest but didn’t quite have the knowledge down. Thank you for demystifying sooo many misconceptions. Loving my chemex everyday more.
And with "gayest" you mean "gadgets"? ;-)
Christian Wischnewski yes!! I apologize. Autocorrect took over
Yeah I can’t do 100C with the beans I use, it did make it very bitter to the point where it tasted like chemicals and water. I do around 87C and that gets me a really nice flavor and finish. Just as a heads up to people who might be experiencing this problem as well if you just started brewing with pour-overs like me
WHAT BEANS DO YOU USE AND HAVE YOU EVER TRIED MEDIUM ROAST WITH NEAR 100 C
Wow, what a great video!!! Love the detail and it really leaves no question unanswered in regards to brew temp. Thank you for the content, absolutely love this channel, one of the best out there.
Another great video. You make this stuff so clear and accessible. Thanks!
I love how accessibly scientific you are 👌 keep up the amazing videos and info!
Hey James, chemistry student here! I always find the intersection between science and hobbies interesting as a lot of misinformation seems to get carried over. If you want to sound like an expert with your terminology, there is a difference between physical and chemical processes. Extraction (dissolution), mixing, boiling and freezing are all physical processes, not chemical reactions as molecules (for the most part) aren't being modified. Extraction does happen faster at higher temperatures because the compounds are generally more soluble in solvents as temperature increases (for somewhat complicated reasons which do have to do with energy). Roasting however does involve lots of chemical reactions which break down unflattering compounds into what ends up in your cup. Love the videos, and if you ever have chemistry questions feel free to reach out!
@@diacoder thanks for the article seems like a great read
In the case of coffee, physical processes create chemical reactions. Read the pdf posted above, or look it up anywhere. Students shouldn't try to teach in the interwebs 😘
@@sebaba001 As both julian and the Illy article state, extraction into solution (water) while brewing is essentially just the dissolution of a variety of compounds in the beans, a process by which the compounds move from the solid into the aqueous phase (at the most fundamental level, this means that each molecule of a compound is being surrounded by water molecules which allows it to move freely around the solution, and can thus be considered "dissolved"). The temperature of the water mainly just affects the rate at which this dissolution occurs, since it's a process governed by how fast the molecules are moving and interacting in the slurry. Some types of compounds will be easier to dissolve than others, depending on a number of factors (roast, grind, etc.), but since no chemical bonds are really being broken, formed, or otherwise changed within the molecules of the compounds, this means the extraction is a physical process, and not a chemical reaction.
By contrast, during the roasting process, there is no solution to which any compounds in the beans can escape, so obviously they will stay put. Roasting happens at much higher temperatures than brewing, however, since only at those high temperatures do you have enough energy to initiate desirable chemical reactions. Several compounds in the beans can then come together to break their original bonds and/or form new ones, making the new, more pleasant tasting/smelling compounds that you can then extract from the bean during brewing. So while you are correct that in general physical processes like roasting can cause chemical reactions under high enough temperatures, julian was totally valid to say that the concept of extraction during the relatively lower temperature brewing process is more appropriately termed a physical process than a chemical reaction.
tabundo001 OP clearly states that roasting is a chemical process. And the extract that you’ve so conveniently quoted without any context, is from the roasting section as well. You must love playing the fool preaching to a student of science when you’re incapable of reading at the level of a 6th grader.
I drink so much coffee ☕ and I've never thought about looking up the subject on CZcams.
Fascinating!
Well done. I will no longer worry as much as I used to about temperature. Your experiment provided some very interesting learning. Thanks again.
So I was using a pouring jug, a thermometer and a standard, non-variable temperature kettle with my aeropress. I was using 80-85 degree water based around the various methods I had seen posted. Just drinking my first cup straight from the kettle, and, if anything, it tastes slightly better. Thanks James, you didn't get your thermocouple out in vain.
15 minutes after the upload: 1408 Clicks, 47 comments, 181 likes, 0 dislikes. The James-Hoffmann-Coffee Nuts at their best! 👏🏻
I love James' content and admittedly, have fallen asleep to that gentle quiet voice
Thank you, Sir. This has been a concern of mine as my kettle has no governor, and you have sufficiently laid my mind to rest.
Thank God being telling people this for ever that you can't burn coffee with hot water
Scold.
My assumption for the burnt taste is, that some chemicals degrade differently when they are combined with water.
Some coffee brewing techniques boil the slurry (percolator, Mokka pot, Turkish Ibrik if done wrong) and in quite a few automatic machines with a heater plate, the first few drops might get boiled.
The siphon technique has similar temperatures as the french press. It also tastes somewhat similar. The water is only boiling in the non slurry part. Once the heat is off, pressure in the lower part drops severely preventing any high temperatures
I well remember my mother’s volcano coffee, temperature wise. - also my grandmother’s, the same. I was convinced they had no skin left in their mouths. I woke up mornings to the kettle whistling on the stove. Another good one, James! 😎
Mr Hoffman,
This is the first video and definitely not going to be the last video I've seen by you. You have amazing way of articulating what the facts are. I give you an A+ and appreciate you.
5th, I've been early for a video, twice in a row. Your rock Mr Hoffman. I love your videos!!
Yay, a heart from my CZcams idol. You rock Mr Hoffman!!
Thanks James. You saved me from spending money on a new kettle with a temperature display.
Good video. Always excellent content and I agree with your conclusions as I've tried different kettle temperatures and found that freshly boiled water gave me the most consistent brew. At work all we have is a "boiling" water tap to make tea & coffee, which is not really boiling just hot enough to make a cuppa, the consistency of my pour overs rubbish. So I've learn't this from both sides of the discussion.
Before watching this, I was afraid of going up to 100C (I was doing more like 96) on light roasts, but I think I'll give it a try now. Very informative! Thank you!
I've always suspected it was just not that big a deal. At least not compared to the quality of the coffee, the grind, the water etc. Also, I'll be in London next week and hope to try your Square Mile coffee.
Also, just bought a v60 kit and I’m so excited! Next step is getting a coffee grinder yay
you have entered a dark, coffee scented hole, from which I'm afraid there is no recovery... btw I have the commandante c40 i use with my v60 and it's a dream, an absolute dream.
Don't forget to check your local resale shops for a burr grinder for not much money. You might get lucky.
Stu Dunn oh I’m willing to take the risks haha and thank you for the suggestion! Imma look that one up
Haha, I'm in the same position, everytime I go into a shop now my first thought is "ooo I wonder if they have any coffee stuff..."
I’ve been using the breville grind pro for 2 years and love it. I’ve used the Baratza encore and it’s good it’s just not as intuitive and user friendly as I would like. The birds on the Baratza are incredible though
Loving your content, James. Keep it up.
Thank you! I usually V-60 with water temperature 90°C. Sometimes I experience with 85-86°C. A bit different taste but I still like it. Your video is very helpful.
From my experience of making coffee since the last 8 years, I agree that boiling water doesn't make coffee bitter.
Maybe people feel that way because they drink the coffee while it's too hot and don't let it cool down to taste the sweet notes.
If you're using light to medium roast coffee, water should be as hot as possible. I always pour it straight off the boil and I get the sweetest cup everytime.
If I lose some temperature on the water, my coffee always turns bitter.
mindblowing
What about putting the brew vessel in a microwave (if possible) or in a boiling water bath? That would easily allow you to reach 98+ degrees..
@@zio_tungst3no297 Or boiling coffee in water in a pan on the stove?
Hi James, have you explored the effect of water's pH on brewing? In my experience with chemistry, pH can have a very dramatic effect on what compounds are extracted. Some compounds go from completely soluble to completely insoluble in the difference between distilled water and tap water. Not to mention, as most folks are aware, basic solutions will tend to taste bitter and acidic solutions will tend to taste sour, so the resulting brew's pH level will almost certainly affect its taste.
It isn't just PH, but the minerals that are already dissolved in the water that can change its flavour considerably (some are PH-relevant, some remain even if you change the PH of the water). Beer brewers at large breweries (think Heineken, Warsteiner, Stella and so on) often start with distilled water and then add various salts to it so they have water that produces a beer which always tastes the same. Manufacturers of soft drinks don't just pull water from the tap either, because they need the product to taste identically, no matter where on the planet (hell, even in the country) it was made.
For example, I love the taste of the tap water where I live (lots of minerals in it, hardness scale is off the chart, even with an ion exchange filter we have to descale the kettle every month or so). When I go to stay with the grandparents, I can't stand the taste of their tap water (their water in incredibly soft, with barely any minerals in it at all).
Is there a recommended video to see what the best water profile is for say a general dark roast? I would be interested to know. 🤓
@@fetzie23 I heard James Hoffman say to always use soft water for coffee. Do you find your hard water does okay? I don't have any kind of water softener and get decent coffee. I hate the amount of mineral deposits in everything in the house though, so I should probably look into some kind of system.
@@joyfuljaj It does okay after running it through a filter to take out most of the hardness. That’s not done for flavour though, more to stop the kettle and coffee machine dying every other week due to limescale buildup 😉
@@fetzie23 thanks for the quick reply. Is your filter an add on to your sink, fridge, or a household system. The only people I know with hard water filters have the big softeners with salt and the works. Even something to keep the scale out of my kettle and coffee pot would be nice. I'm surrounded by lime quarries!
I had been meaning to measure the temp of the "slurry" in my french press suspecting a lot of energy is lost to heating up the vessel. This saves me the trouble. Brilliant!
I like how you present the information, very informative. Just bought a French press, never used before.
This is very interesting, James. I've seen that higher temperatures allow the water to pass through more quickly (reducing extraction time). I'd be curious to see how dramatically temperature affects extraction time and total extraction, because while the solubility increases with water temperature, I'm not sure how much the rate of solution changes. I'd love to know more about this. Graphs would be awesome!
“The ultimate syphon technique” video would be awesome! Great video btw
This dude has got an amazing talent of explaining things. Gets my attention. Its like having decent convversation with someone
This is really helpful. I had a lot of doubt and misconceptions about brew temperature. I just invested in an Aeropress and went to the trouble of buying some slightly expensive speciality coffee. “Rightside” Barrcelona). Aeropress recommend 80-85 C but I am pouring it straight from boiling the kettle. So far so good. Tasty brews. Also just want to say I love your detailed obsession with coffee. Such a relief from all the trouble and strife in the world.
In the future I would like to see an exploration of brews at various temps but otherwise identical conditions in a blind cupping scenario.
I've done this in the past, at work. It's sort of interesting - the coffees we tried were all pretty nice from 85C upwards, but got better and better the hotter we went.
@@jameshoffmann That is really the main point of all this, I think. Hotter generally means tastier to most people that actually like coffee. There is no such thing as too hot when the boiling point is the ceiling.
@@jameshoffmann So what you're saying is that hotter is better... what about above 100C? You'ld need a pressure vessel to do it, but I'd be interested where the curve of tastiness starts to go back down.
Am also curious about the interplay of temperature vs. smell. Would lighter molecules escape faster with the higher kinetic energy? In an open brewing system where the air is not confined, can there be an optimal point where a good amount of (good-smelling) molecules are retained, while extraction is maximized? Is there a brew device that allows us to trap the smell with good extraction? Or the best strategy is just to extract and then instantly lower the temperature of the brew?
@@JimShealy @James Hoffmann I think you have to put your lab coat back on!
I love science, and I absolutely _adore_ when food-related youtubers talk foodstuff science!
The best intro/outro music of any youtube video. Chill/trip hoppin' and head boppin.
The table of recommended temps in your video notes is really helpful. Thank you!
*Turkish coffee has entered the chat*
a well-extracted espresso is kind of a "slurry with a fringe on top" 😉
Hey James! Very helpful information here. Thank you for debunking this popular knowledge of water burning coffee. Always been told the opposite. With that said, I am super interested in an in-depth video, much like this, on the topic of brewing Cold Brew.
I thought, I saw the whole internet already. And then your channel appeared! Great! Thank you!
I would love to see a video on diagnosing brewing faults, such as over extraction, based on taste. Not really sure how this would work since taste is so subjective, but it would be helpful for trying to dial in grind settings and ratios.
yes!!
I think you need a tasting temp blind showdown!. Mark the bottom of identical cups; brew cold, really hot, and normal hot. Let all cool to room temp and taste all to see how each tastes.
Another great video. Thanks for sciencing for us.
Found your channel couple of days ago and since me and my GF have 5 coffeshops in Thailand I find it intresting, you are very knowledgable, anyhows I am from Finnish origin and lived in Sweden as well, the coffee culture between Fin/Swe is very similar, yes small differences but not much, in both countries we have something called Kokkaffe/Keittokahvi and we use grounded coffee that is coarsely grounded and the coffee is added directly to the pot that is then boiled for abt 5 minutes and just let to be afterwards, so that the coffee beans sinks to the bottom, which after the coffee is served, this was the only coffee I ever knew when I was a kid. "The old people" still prefer this style of coffee, sadly its not fashionable today.
So with that said I agree that even when boiling the coffee it doesnt get bad or burned or what ever.
The burned coffee comes if you let it be on the stove and let the water evaporate. My 5 cents
Have you ever tried this kind of coffee ?
thanks, this video confirms my personal experience. although lots of video tells you to cool down water before pouring, but my personal comparison of flavor confirms that just use boiled water gives a much better and consistant flavor. unless you are much more preferred to an acid flavor, in this case lower temp water will do the job.
"But you'll burn the grounds!!!!", I love the controversy this will cause haha. I even have a kettle with an "ideal temp" for coffee that is below boiling, I am so glad you are clearing this up.
those kettles are bizarre imo considering the temperature drop on the grounds. i suppose they'd be quite good for green tea
I also like a cup of dirty bean water in the morning.
Before I watched this video, I experimented with boiling water. Had a Brazilian Mantiqueira de Mina roasted to around "medium dark". I had been brewing this in my Chemex with 191 F water, but decide to try 212 F. Took 2 good breaths for courage, bloomed it for about 30 seconds then did a gradual continuous pour over. Cound not believe the flavor change. It was so good. Thank you.
I use the pour over method of brewing coffee. I have a ROK hand crank burr grinder. I normally set my electric kettle
for 190 f. After watching this I tired setting at 212f and the coffee seems more bitter to me at 212f vs the 190 F I normally use.
So everything being the same except temps. I have to say I prefer the 190F over the 212F when brewing using pour over method of brewing.
To me the coffee is a bit smoother less harsh if that is a proper way to try to describe the taste difference.
Your videos are very well done.
I have found that the roast of the bean and area where grown need to be tried at different temps to see what brings out the best of each.
Happy Brewing.
Wow that was really quite cool. I started bringing up my water temp once I started hearing this idea, but I’ll be honest up to now I’ve been too chicken poop to go full boil. Thank you for this!
-Joe.
I didn’t dislike the word “slurry” before this video. However, way James said it with such contempt and disgust has left me perturbed.
Lol, who is James? We are watching Steve Coogan talk about coffee, not this "James" person.
Hoffman doesn’t like mucilage either, but it’s my favorite word.
moist slurry
If you you were brought up in the country and know what pig slurry is, then you might have a similar reaction 😂
@@sMASHsound Thank you. I came here for the moist slurry.
I always put thermometer in my stove kettle and being anxious about temp a lot, after seeing this I guess I could just boil my water and have a better more constant temp each brew, thanks james :D I swear this helps me fights my anxiety to temperature
Edit: Also I don't know if it's true but whenever I'm brewing with lower temperature water (which I always did before watching this video I always aim for 85-90° c water) I can taste a lot more acidity in my coffee, But I don't know if it's scientifically true, but again nice video can't wait to see your experiment brewing with colder water
Great topic and video! With the sage barista pro to enhance your americano, boil your water and leave it for 5 mins so it drops to the right temperature and then let your espresso from the machine fall nicely into your water 👌
James made much more sense than most other "coffee experts" who merely repeat what they heard without giving it a thought.
I myself brew finely ground coffee with water boiled on a stove-top and poured right into the grounds in a carafe. Then I sit the carafe on top of the turned off but still hot stove-top heating element and keep stirring for a couple of minutes to prevent the grounds from settling down on the bottom and get burnt by the element. I use finely ground coffee to make sure that I can extract as much as possible from it. After about 5-7 minutes, I'll let the coffee grounds settle down and carefully pour off the coffee. The coffee tastes better and has more body to it than filtered coffee.
Coffee gets burnt and bitter after sitting on the keep warm plate of a drip coffee maker because the stationary bottom molecular layer in contact with the glass bottom gets a lot hotter than 100ᴼC and get burnt, stirring it would prevent this from happening.
When you talk about brewing darker roasted coffee in the mid to late 80 degree temp, do you mean temp in the kettle before it's poured, or temp in the slurry?
Haha! YES! I started doing this a while back since I felt I didn't get the full aroma from my beans. Glad to see that I'm not insane.
I concur. By coincidence, just a week ago, I decided to stop waiting for 1 minute after my electric kettle boils to do my pourovers using a medium roast. I immediately noticed I was getting more flavorful coffee and, per your advice in this video, now pour right after the water boils.
I have noticed with instant coffee it tastes better if you add milk or cold water to the granules, stir it into a sort of paste and then add your boiling water. Give a try, the worst thing that can happen is you waste a spoon or two of instant coffee :)
I've had a number of people comment on how nice it tastes when I make it this way at work. Then again people do if I make cafetiere or filter coffee so I suspect I might have a knack for it.
takes lot of time and energy
Living in Colorado: Water boils here at ~96-98 C, and that's in Denver. Plenty of people make coffee at much higher altitudes. I'd love to see a recommendation episode for brewing coffee at high altitude (we have to modify baking, so I would think we should have to modify brewing as well).
the temp is more important than the bubbles. i’m pretty sure.
@@threestans9096 That's exactly my point: the temperature of water won't get to 100 C unless you put it in some sort of pressure device. Instead of saying "one can only have good coffee at sea level" I'd like to see the best coffee results at different altitudes. Coffee is a mountain berry after all.
@@brettsuydam James didn´t say that you get bad coffee with lower temperatures. He just say´s that your water temperature should be as high as possible. If it´s 96°C it is fine. His Water kettle itself couldn´t get to 100°C....
How about using a percolator? It needs to reach boiling temperature to work and is considered to be outdated as 100 degree celsius is not the ideal temperature to brew coffee. But in higher altitude, it could one of the best tool.
Use pressure cooker for boiling the water as inside the pressure cooker pressure is much higher and water can get beyond 100°c without getting converted to steam and after that just use that water to brew ur coffee (* a little catch here, now matter what u do, 98°c is the highest temperature u gonna get at this altitude so i would say just brew it for a couple of more minutes, that way it will be able to extract most out of ur coffee
Have a good day :))
another great video! i knew some cooling of the boiling water would happen, but this was more than i expected.
Great video James. I generally just pour water from my boiling kettle onto my Aeropress with medium roasted coffee. It tastes good most of the time. But might try dialing it down a bit in the future. Maybe 85 degrees?
It would have have been nice to have a quick review of how the coffee tasted at max temperature versus what you generally brew it at.