Effects of coffee extraction rate and coffee concentration on taste

Nowadays, when making coffee, we pay attention to the influence of coffee extraction rate and coffee concentration on taste. We have talked a lot about how to make coffee achieve the best taste. Today, Chongqing Best Coffee and Pastry Training Academy will continue to take you into coffee, fully understand the secret of coffee extraction, and further learn about coffee making.

To truly understand what makes good coffee, we must start by understanding how coffee tastes.

The history of measuring coffee taste can be traced back to the 1850s, when EE Lockhart, a chemistry professor at MIT, conducted a series of surveys on coffee taste preferences. Professor Lockhart published his findings in the form of a coffee production control diagram. The diagram clearly divides people's judgments on the taste of coffee. And this result has not changed much to this day.

It is generally believed that the perfect drinking coffee is one with an extraction rate between 18% and 22% and a brew strength between 1.15% and 1.35%. The following figure is Professor Lockhart's diagram of the effect of coffee extraction rate and brew strength on the taste of coffee (previously posted were all in English, this is the Chinese translation):

Combined with this chart, and with the help of a concentration meter for precise measurement, we can quickly find the best extraction temperature and water volume for a coffee.

Note:

Extraction rate: refers to the percentage of coffee components extracted from coffee beans. The extraction rate is affected by many factors, such as the soil where the green beans grow, the roasting process, etc.

Brewing strength: refers to the percentage of coffee ingredients in the coffee cup.

Then, according to the coffee brewing control table, we need to brew the best tasting coffee, that is, to control the concentration and extraction rate within the perfect taste range, which seems to be more difficult to control. The simple way is to use the golden ratio: 1 gram of ground coffee beans with 17.42 grams of water. For most coffees, brewing with this ratio can achieve a brewing concentration of 1.28% and an extraction rate of 20%. You can use this as a starting point to adjust the amount of coffee or water to achieve what you think is the most perfect taste.

An easy mistake to make is to confuse extraction rate with brew strength. It is very important to understand the difference between them. Brew strength refers to the percentage of coffee components in the cup, while extraction rate refers to the amount of coffee extracted from the coffee bean. Therefore, strong coffee has nothing to do with bitterness, caffeine content, or roasting conditions, but it has to do with the ratio of coffee to water.