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Date: 08 Sep 2006 17:17:54
From:
Subject: Water absorption in cold brew process
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Ok, so here I am, making another batch of cold brew in my Toddy, when
I notice that I've got a lot more coffee building up in the carafe
than previously. This time, I'm using some beans from Stumptown
Roasters (that I picked up on my vacation to Portland two days ago).
In earlier batches, I used beans roasted here in Austin, but were
probably on the shelf for a while (even though I buy them directly
from Texas Coffee Traders, and I'm told that they're fresh).
My question is, what determines how much water will be absorbed by the
grounds while sitting in the toddy? Is water absorption strictly a
factor of the roast level or bean quality, or is it a stale/fresh
issue?
Thanks.
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Date: 09 Sep 2006 00:16:03
From: Peter Allen
Subject: Re: Water absorption in cold brew process
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What you're going to want to do is to always use the same amount of
water for your Toddy per each batch of iced coffee. The blooming that
you're describing of the grounds happens with fresher coffees, and often
times can be brought under control by a simple stirring of the cake on
top into the water in order to break up the air bubbles.
I'm more used to this effect with a press pot than cold brewing, but
the basic mechanics are the same. You might have to wait for a half hour
or so before you stir, but those bubbles will actually prevent you from
getting enough of an extraction. I doubt that it's to the extent as what
happens in a press pot, but it's still something to consider.
Water absorption itself is determined by the coarseness of your
grind, the roast level, and the freshness of the coffee (for degassing
purposes). Unless you're comparing month-old beans to day-old, you'll
find that your grinder setting has the biggest impact on how many
dissolved solids you're able to extract.
choffman@austin.rr.com wrote:
> Ok, so here I am, making another batch of cold brew in my Toddy, when
> I notice that I've got a lot more coffee building up in the carafe
> than previously. This time, I'm using some beans from Stumptown
> Roasters (that I picked up on my vacation to Portland two days ago).
> In earlier batches, I used beans roasted here in Austin, but were
> probably on the shelf for a while (even though I buy them directly
> from Texas Coffee Traders, and I'm told that they're fresh).
>
> My question is, what determines how much water will be absorbed by the
> grounds while sitting in the toddy? Is water absorption strictly a
> factor of the roast level or bean quality, or is it a stale/fresh
> issue?
>
> Thanks.
>
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Date: 09 Sep 2006 03:10:06
From:
Subject: Re: Water absorption in cold brew process
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Thanks, Peter. In terms of absorption, I'm looking at the amount of
coffee yield that I get in the carafe when the cold brewing process is
completed. In general, the grind courseness has been the same from
batch to batch. Let's say that the coffee I just brewed from
Stumptown is batch S, and the coffee that I used from Texas Coffee
Traders last time is batch T. In both batches, I used 9 cups of water
to one pound of grounds. I received at least 1 more cup of finished
cold brew coffee with batch S than with batch T. S was very fresh and
very "gassy", compared to T (although T was also gassy to an extent).
In this example, S was a high grade Guatamala and T was supposedly a
high grade Sumatra. If the bean origin isn't relevant, and the fact
that both batches were ground to the same courseness, I'm curious just
how much of an impact freshness has on final yield (which is the
inverse of absorption). (Which implies that batch "T" wasn't anywhere
near as fresh as the roaster claimed, if staler grounds absorb more
water than fresher grounds do.)
On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 00:16:03 GMT, Peter Allen
<peterallen@now+using+nc-rr-com.home > wrote:
> What you're going to want to do is to always use the same amount of
>water for your Toddy per each batch of iced coffee. The blooming that
>you're describing of the grounds happens with fresher coffees, and often
>times can be brought under control by a simple stirring of the cake on
>top into the water in order to break up the air bubbles.
>
> I'm more used to this effect with a press pot than cold brewing, but
>the basic mechanics are the same. You might have to wait for a half hour
>or so before you stir, but those bubbles will actually prevent you from
>getting enough of an extraction. I doubt that it's to the extent as what
>happens in a press pot, but it's still something to consider.
>
> Water absorption itself is determined by the coarseness of your
>grind, the roast level, and the freshness of the coffee (for degassing
>purposes). Unless you're comparing month-old beans to day-old, you'll
>find that your grinder setting has the biggest impact on how many
>dissolved solids you're able to extract.
>
>choffman@austin.rr.com wrote:
>> Ok, so here I am, making another batch of cold brew in my Toddy, when
>> I notice that I've got a lot more coffee building up in the carafe
>> than previously. This time, I'm using some beans from Stumptown
>> Roasters (that I picked up on my vacation to Portland two days ago).
>> In earlier batches, I used beans roasted here in Austin, but were
>> probably on the shelf for a while (even though I buy them directly
>> from Texas Coffee Traders, and I'm told that they're fresh).
>>
>> My question is, what determines how much water will be absorbed by the
>> grounds while sitting in the toddy? Is water absorption strictly a
>> factor of the roast level or bean quality, or is it a stale/fresh
>> issue?
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
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