Brewing coffee starts only after you complete many other steps in the process. You have sourced great coffee; ground it properly for our brewing method; obtained or created some quality water; and now the last and final step – brewing!
Water temperatures between 195-206 F are required to get a proper extraction of dissolvable solids from our ground coffee. Different brewing methods can tolerate temperatures on the lower end of that scale, others cannot. We prefer targeting 202-206 F to ensure proper extraction for all brewing methods.
The “slurry” that is created when hot water is added to the grounds needs to maintain 202 F for the “best” extraction. This means that the water temperature before applying to the grounds should be in the 204-206 F range. Since we are adding hot water to room temp (or cold) grounds, and not adding additional heat, the “slurry” will cool a little to approximately 202 F.
Water temperature is in that top three things we think most important when brewing coffee. How each brewing device handles water temperature and distribution over / through the bed of coffee grounds is either in or out of your control. We discuss some of the most popular ways of brewing coffee in the next series of posts…and we don’t include boiling coffee grounds in the campfire kettle !
