Perfecting the Art of Coffee Brewing
Ever wonder about the best ways to brew coffee? Whether you are looking for the perfect commercial coffee machine, or simply interested in learning more about the process of brewing, to perfect the art of coffee brewing, you must consider a variety of elements such as the tools, water, and conditions in which you brew your cup. Read along to discover what it takes to turn coffee beans into the perfect cup of brewed coffee.
7 Essential Elements to Brew the Best Coffee
To ensure a consistently excellent cup of coffee, we need to consider seven essential elements when it comes to the brewing process.
- Coffee-to-water ratio
- Grind setting
- Brewing time
- Water temperature
- Brew turbulence
- Water quality
- Filter media
1. Coffee to water ratio
Coffee and water are the 2 ingredients necessary to make our cup of brewed coffee, which means that achieving the right balance and ratio between them is crucial to the process. When it comes to the coffee to water ratio, the Specialty Coffee Association has determined the golden standard of a 1 to 16 ratio. Meaning that, we require a 1g of coffee for every 16g/ml of water.
Naturally, this golden standard can vary from time to time as the amount of coffee required may differ, however, following the 1:16 ratio serves as a solid foundation when crafting a new brew.
2. Grind setting
To properly brew our coffee using any kind of coffee brewing equipment, we need to ground our coffee beans to the right size to ensure a perfect extraction. When the coffee particles are excessively fine, there is a risk of over-extraction, whereas if they are overly coarse, under-extraction becomes a concern.
It is important to note that the perfect grind setting will depend widely on what type of brewing equipment you are using.
Have not yet found your commercial coffee brewer? Check out our selection of commercial coffee machines. Whether you are looking for premium espresso for your restaurant or crafting specialty hot beverages for your office, we have a solution for you.
3. Brewing Time
The brewing time is very closely linked to the grind setting. In general, a shorter time indicates a finer grind, while a longer time suggests a coarser grind (and vice versa). Let's take two different containers for French press brewing as an example. The coffee-to-water ratio remains consistent, but the grind settings differ - one is coarse, and the other is fine. Both brews are subjected to the same brewing time.
What occurs is that the water penetrates the center of the fine coffee grounds much more quickly compared to the coarse ones. Consequently, the extraction process begins earlier in the fine grind brew. Meanwhile, in the other brewer, the water may only have reached halfway through the coarse grounds.
4. Water Temperature
Water temperature plays a big part in the speed of extraction. Hot brews can achieve a desirable extraction within seconds to minutes, whereas cold brews require a longer period, ranging from 8 to 16 hours, to fully develop their flavours.
The recommended temperature for a hot extraction is 200°F ± 5° (93.0°C ± 3°). Coffee is highly complex, comprising over 1,000 distinct chemical compounds that respond uniquely to varying temperatures.
This means that certain compounds become more or less accessible during cold and hot brewing, resulting in different overall characteristics and qualities found in cold brewed and hot brewed coffee.
5. Brew turbulence
Brew turbulence, also known as agitation, involves the movement of coffee during the coffee brewing process. A frequent problem encountered in brewing is channeling, which occurs when water fails to flow evenly through all the coffee grounds. This issue can arise from inconsistent pouring techniques, such as in pour-over brewing, or uneven particle size distribution in the ground coffee.
There are different ways to create brew turbulence or to agitate our coffee, the most common one being simple stirring. Through simple stirring, we make sure that the water is evenly distributed, and that all the grounds are getting extracted at the same rate to avoid under-extraction or over-extraction.
6. Water Quality
Water quality is the most important of all 7 elements. Having the tastiest coffee beans and the best equipment won't matter if you don't have good water. Without good water quality, you will undermine the overall quality of your final coffee cup.
Without diving into the complex scientific aspects of water hardness and its interaction with coffee compounds, let's scale it down. Consider this: if the water you use has even a slight undesirable taste, that taste will transfer into your coffee cup, and it will be difficult to eliminate. If you do not have a filter to remove impurities, odours, and chemicals like chlorine that may be present, a recommended approach is to at least use cold tap water.
7. Filtering media
Finally, filtering media is crucial for a perfect cup of brewed coffee as it differs across different equipment and is directly correlated to the grind size. Different filters require specific grind sizes to prevent coffee grounds from passing through. Furthermore, if an already used filter is used, we want to make sure it doesn’t leave any odours or taste in our brew.
Commercial Solutions for Brewing Coffee
If you are looking for commercial coffee machines for your office, restaurant, or business, we at Nestlé Professional have the solution for you.
Our NESCAFÉ Bean-to-Cup Machine does it all, from grinding whole beans to brewing and dispensing a variety of specialty hot beverages with minimal waste. The NESCAFÉ Bean-to-Cup Machine is the perfect office coffee brewer, dispending an aromatic and flavourful fresh brewed cup of coffee with the push of a button.
If you are hosting smaller meeting events that require more compact and mobile solutions, the We Proudly Serve Starbucks Canada brand offers brewed filtered coffee that can be tailored to your needs. Their commercial brew coffee machines are the ideal solution for smaller operations, meetings and events.
Their brewed coffee solutions can be temporarily or permanently placed in your business or leisure facilities and provide a flexible and convenient way of adding premium brewed coffee to any environment.
