The metaphysics of coffee: Should we cultivate coffee beans?

Haha, I’m talking about the issue of “growing beans” of coffee beans. If you like drinking coffee, do you know how to grow beans correctly?

Defining time is a difficult thing in itself. Many things are like this, and we often have to make assumptions first, if, if, if... Although Einstein said that time is just an illusion in human memory and time does not exist at all. But don't you still have to punch in on time when you go to work? Can you be late for school? It seems that time is just a tool of rule created by humans.

Any result has a premise, just like the roasting team has to study how to roast this new bean. Variety, moisture, density, size, processing method, time, temperature, heating rate, air pressure, humidity, air volume, wind speed, air-heat ratio, speed, roasting amount, which pot, yellow spot cat face, first and second crack points, bean discharge time, etc.

The verification of parameters can only get the correct conclusion when all other parameters remain unchanged and only one parameter is changed. In fact, this is very difficult. At least you cannot stop time. Many parameters will change over time. Philosophically speaking, you are not the same person as you were yesterday. You are two different people. Baking is not an easy thing.

What are you talking about? Today’s question is whether coffee beans need to be grown? How long do they need to be grown?

I think it’s better to omit some of the premises, such as a thousand different aromas, two hundred thousand independent cells, and the relationship between cell walls and carbon dioxide emissions, because most people just want to drink a good cup of coffee, so we summarize those premises into five words: " generally speaking ."

Generally speaking, coffee beans will change in two main ways over time.

One is that the carbon dioxide gradually decreases. The reduction of carbon dioxide makes it easier for hot water to extract the effective substances in the coffee powder. The appropriate level of carbon dioxide content is more conducive to the stability of extraction. Too much or too little is not suitable. On the other hand, the flavor intensity of coffee beans will become weaker day by day as time goes by, which is due to the combined effect of time and oxygen.

In fact, there is no need to care for coffee beans. The so-called care of beans is to let the freshly roasted coffee beans naturally exhaust for a period of time in an isolated oxygen environment, thereby reducing the carbon dioxide content .

If there is too much carbon dioxide, it will obviously hinder the contact between hot water and coffee powder during the brewing process. This is mainly for Italian high-pressure extraction . Because the extraction time of tens of seconds is very short, any slight change in any factor will have a significant impact on the result, so the conditions for making Italian espresso are more stringent , including the correction of the coarseness of the powder, the distribution of pressure, the temperature and contact time of the hot water, and the content of carbon dioxide in the coffee powder (adjusted by raising the beans). However, if the roasted coffee beans are left for too long, the flavor will gradually decay, but Italian extraction is still relatively tolerant of the storage time of coffee beans.

However, for normal pressure extraction, such as hand brewing, there is no need to deliberately cultivate the beans, otherwise the gains will outweigh the losses.

In general, if the density of the beans is still relatively high after roasting (such as washed Yirgacheffe, which is the kind of beans that are very difficult to grind with your hand-cranked grinder, or the beans that cannot be crushed with your fingernails, or the same 227g bag of beans seems to be a little less, and you suspect that the merchant is shortchanging them, they generally have a relatively high density), most of these beans are lightly roasted (but note that lightly roasted beans also have low density). Due to the light degree of roasting, the internal structure is not so crispy, so there is not much carbon dioxide in the cell walls, and there will be no super burgers by steaming. These beans can be drunk as soon as they are received (more than 24 hours after roasting), and try to drink them within 1 month to obtain a more sufficient flavor intensity.

If the beans have a relatively low density after roasting (especially some dark roasted beans , the surface is fully stretched and shiny, it is not difficult to grind, and it breaks when pinched with fingernails. This is because the density is relatively low after roasting), the internal structure of this kind of beans is very loose after roasting, there are many pores, and it contains a lot of carbon dioxide. It will also swell up into super hamburgers when steamed. Many novices understand this as relatively fresh beans (because some beans will not have super hamburgers when lightly roasted). This kind of beans can be put aside, but under normal circumstances, it will be enough for 3 days after roasting . Moreover, this kind of beans are not sensitive to oxidation and can last for 3 months. You can make a cup of stable and delicious coffee.

If you understand this principle, you can arrange the order in which you drink the coffee beans according to their different states, and define whether its shelf life should be 1 month or 3 months. Of course, it does not mean that it has deteriorated after the shelf life has passed. The shelf life can be up to 12 months. There is another thing to note about the shelf life, that is, all foods with shelf life will be marked with a storage condition, which means how long the safe shelf life can be verified under this storage condition. The storage condition of coffee beans is "cool, dry and sealed place", which means it is stored in a dry and unsealed condition at 20℃. But for yogurt, it will be written below a certain degree Celsius.

Generally speaking, bean cultivation is mainly for Italian extraction, and there are not too many requirements for hand brewing. The coffee you get should be drunk as soon as possible, and the stomach is where it should go as soon as possible. By the way, if you buy coffee powder, don’t ask whether it can be cultivated.

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