"Technical Post" Hand-brewed coffee: the ratio of coffee powder to water, different coffee powder and water ratios in different containers

[Introduction] I believe that most hand-poured coffee lovers pay attention to every detail of hand-poured coffee. What is the water-to-powder ratio for hand-poured coffee? Some say 1:16, some say 1:18, and some say 1:10. Let us understand the different taste parameters of different water-to-powder... Some novices will ask about the water-to-powder ratio. If the amount of coffee powder is 15 grams, the water-to-powder ratio is 1:15. Multiply it by the coefficient 15 to know how many grams of water are needed, and you will get 225 grams of water.

Practical parameters of water-powder ratio for hand brewed coffee

[Heavy taste] 1:10-1:11 (coffee beans in grams to black coffee in milliliters), which is the Golden Cup standard of 1:12.5-1:13.5 (bean weight to raw water in milliliters)

[Moderate taste] 1:12~1:13 (i.e. 1:14.5~1:15.5 according to the Gold Cup standard)

[Small Fresh] 1:14～1:16 (i.e. 1:16.5～1:18.5 of the Gold Cup standard)

Even if the scale is correct, but the brewing ratio is not right, it is not easy to brew delicious coffee. During the learning process, you need to repeatedly try and test the concentration. It is found that the best brewing ratio for hand brewing, that is, the amount of coffee beans to the milliliters of black coffee, is between 1:12 and 1:13, which is equivalent to the four major gold cup systems in Europe and the United States , the ratio of coffee beans to raw water is 1:14.5 to 1:15.5. It is easiest to hit the golden range of the "golden cup square" extraction rate of 18% to 22% and the concentration of 1.15% to 1.35% , without brewing strong coffee with a tangled flavor spectrum or thin coffee with too strong a water taste.

I believe that the brewing ratio of most hand-brewed coffee lovers should fall within this range. The most commonly used hand-brewed brewing ratio is 1:15-1:16, which is the "Golden Cup Standard" of 1:16.5-1:18.5.

Of course, some hand-brewed coffee enthusiasts use more extreme brewing ratios. For example, those who like strong flavors often use 1:10 for hand-brewed coffee (that is, the Golden Cup ratio of 1:12.5), using a higher concentration to make up for the lack of extraction , that is, only extracting low-molecular-weight and medium-molecular-weight sweet and sour flavors, and avoiding extracting high-molecular-weight bitter substances. Although it can also brew mellow and delicious coffee, the concentration is too high for most people to accept, and it wastes too much coffee powder, which is not worth encouraging. In fact, a more normal 1:12 (that is, the Golden Cup ratio of 1:14.5) can also brew very mellow and good coffee.

Interestingly, there are also some coffee lovers with a lighter taste who prefer to brew coffee with a more diluted ratio of less than 1:14. However, do not underestimate these coffee lovers, as their taste buds may be more sensitive and they can appreciate the layers of flavors from a thinner coffee liquid. If you have to use a 1:10 ratio to brew coffee to feel that it is flavorful enough, it may be that your taste buds are too dull and you need to rely on a high concentration to stimulate your taste buds.

The brewing ratio does not decrease as the number of cups increases

Many coffee lovers are fine when making coffee for one person, but they get confused if they add more people. Some say that if one more person is added, the amount should be doubled, while others use 2 grams less powder for each additional person. That is to say, if one person uses 14 grams of powder to make a 180 ml cup of coffee, once it increases to two people, only 26 grams of powder (saving 2 grams of powder) is needed to brew twice the amount, a total of 360 ml of coffee . The water-soluble components that can be extracted from coffee beans only account for 30% of the weight of the beans at most, and coffee from some origins may be even lower. The taste buds can speak, the brewing ratio of 1:13.8 with 2 grams less coffee powder tastes obviously thinner than 1:12.8. After ExtractMoJo testing, the concentration of 1:12.8 is 1.42%, which is significantly higher than the concentration of 1:13.8 of 1.39%.

Therefore, under the same brewing ratio, the concentration of coffee will not naturally increase with the increase in the number of cups. That is to say, at a ratio of 1:12, the concentration of one cup of hand-brewed coffee is the same as the concentration of two or three cups of hand-brewed coffee with the same ratio. The amount of coffee powder used will not be reduced due to the increase in the number of cups. The amount of coffee that can be brewed with a certain amount of powder has a fixed concentration, unless you use finer coffee powder or higher water temperature, which is another matter.

A measuring cup is essential to get the exact amount of extraction

It is worth noting that the hand-brewing habits in Taiwan are different from those in Japan. In Japan, one cup or one person's serving is about 120 ml or 130 ml, but in Taiwan, that is considered too stingy. Most stores will brew 150 ml to 180 ml. Coffee enthusiasts are more generous and will usually brew two cups of coffee per person, which is 240 ml to 260 ml.

In other words, the milliliter volume of hand-brewed coffee in Taiwan is up to you, which is fine. It is not a bad thing to be romantic when drinking coffee. The key point is that before hand-brewed coffee, it is best to use a measuring cup to test the number of cups in your bottom pot. The milliliter volume is based on 120 ml or 130 ml. If you measure three cups, the difference between the two is 30 ml, which is enough to affect the strength value.

In addition, although the bottom pot is easy to use, the base is too large and the glass material makes it easy to lose heat , even in winter.

SCAA American Specialty Coffee Association coffee brewing golden water powder ratio

The GoldCup coffee ratio defined by the SCAA American Specialty Coffee Association and the SCAE European Specialty Coffee Association must keep the coffee extraction rate at around 20%, and the TDS is approximately between 1.1% and 1.3%. For DripFilter (drip filter brewing), how to extract the best coffee flavor, the control factors are nothing more than the two variables of coffee powder extract and the concentration in a cup of coffee, and these two variables were defined as the so-called Gold Cup coffee theory as early as 1960. According to the definition of GoldCup Standard by SCAE (European Specialty Coffee Association): "1000ml water, 50~60g coffee powder, 92°C~96°C hot water to brew coffee". This coffee brewing falls at the "bull's eye" position of the best extraction rate (Extraction) and concentration (StrengthConcentration), that is, "GoldCup" .

First, the maximum extractable amount of each coffee bean is about 30% (that is, 70% of the wood cannot be extracted, that is, 10g of coffee powder can only extract 3g of coffee.

Practical parameter suggestions for brewing ratio:

The ratio of hand brewing is 1:13~1:16, the ratio of siphon pot is 1:12~~1:13, and the ratio of AeroPress is 1:17

Hand-pour a cup of washed Yirgacheffe, which is a medium to lightly roasted Yirgacheffe Vodka. It is recommended to use 15 grams of powder and 89-degree water, with a water-to-powder ratio of 1:15. The extracted taste is sour, with a little sweetness from lemon peel and kumquat, and a rich aftertaste.

Hand-brew a cup of Columbia Emerald Manor Sun-dried Geisha. This is a lightly roasted Geisha. It is recommended to use 18 grams of powder, 88-89 degrees water temperature, 1:15 water-to-powder ratio, and 3.5 Fuji grind. This hand-brewed coffee has a moderate sun-dried fermentation flavor, high sweetness and soft sourness.

A cup of hand-brewed Honduras, this is a medium-dark roasted bean, 15 grams of powder is recommended, 90 degrees water temperature, water-to-powder ratio 1:14, Fuji grinding degree 4.5, the overall taste is balanced, with roasted nuts and milk chocolate flavors.

Use a siphon pot to brew 90% + Candlelight (lightly roasted), side-burning extraction, it is recommended to use 20 grams of powder for 2 people, the water-to-powder ratio is 1:12, the water volume scale is 2, after the bubbles appear, put the pot in to extract for about 50 seconds and turn off the fire. The extracted coffee tastes clean and bright, full of sun-dried sweetness, with varied layers and a lasting aftertaste of floral and fruity aroma.

AeroPress Panama Butterfly (medium roast), positive pressure preparation, it is recommended to add 20 grams of coffee powder, the water-powder ratio is 1:17, first inject 100 grams of 85-degree hot water, stir three to five times to fully moisten the coffee powder, let it stand for 20 seconds, add the remaining hot water to 240 grams, let it stand for 40 seconds, stir for 5 seconds, wait until 1 minute and 50 seconds, then put the plug on and press down, the total time is 2 minutes and 5 seconds, the fermented ripe fruit aroma is gentle, clean and balanced, and the aftertaste is long-lasting caramel sweetness.

To brew drip coffee, prepare a pot of boiling water (the recommended water temperature for brewing coffee is between 85℃-95℃), 10g drip coffee powder, water-to-powder ratio of 1:14-1:15, and 150ml of water. When pouring boiling water, pour hot water into the filter bag at a uniform speed (note that the speed should not be too fast and the water flow should not be too large to avoid overflow). After the liquid level in the filter bag decreases, pour again. When the coffee liquid level in the cup reaches 70% full, or according to personal taste, carefully remove and discard the drip bag.