Cold Blooming - Simple Secret to Next Level Filter Coffee
Colder blooming brings out more taste!
Filter coffee is one of the most widely consumed coffees all over the world. It’s commonly available in large batches usually.
A version of it that has been gaining popularity is actually manual small batch (1-3 cups) pour-over.
There are different parameters the people have tried to optimize over the years:
the grind size
the dripper shape/size
the water characteristics
the method of pouring water
steering of coffee
Bloom; where magic happens
The first phase of extracting filter coffee is called blooming. Blooming is the first pour of water over the bed of coffee.
The coffee bubbles and it's essentially degassing with the release of carbon dioxide.
Blooming is where major part of the taste is captured.
Water temperature
One noticeably consistent though parameter has been the water temperature. Most recipes have been following is ~90-95 degrees Celcius
You can check the recipes of World Brewer’s cup competitors in 2017 for example.
You can also see the technique of Lance Hendrick where he uses 89-95 degrees Celsius.
Colder blooming
One of the other famous coffee experts is James Hoffmann. I wanted to check his technique and learn how to pour over better.
As I was watching the video, I noticed something interesting. The temperature of the first 1 minutes is actually in the range of 50-70 celcius.
So there is some lower temperature during blooming in his technique.
Then searching a bit more about it I found out that there has been different people trying lower temperature of 60-70 celsius to capture more taste with the earliest being Rubens Gardelli using 62 degrees back in 2014 World Brewers Cup. His goal was to capture the aromas and tastes.
Actually, Lance Hendrick also made a video about it and even named Samo Bloom after Samo Smrke, who is researching on coffees, compounds and aromas.
Again, same goal: influencing the blooming phase where a large part of the aromas of the coffee are captured.
Over the last year I have been using lower temperature for the blooming, even trying with room temperature water and I have to say that the coffee is sweeter, less bitter and has a better overall taste.
Try it yourselves, and enjoy your cup of coffee while reading Hoops & Beans!