This is a response to a subscriber who asked if I'm still brewing off boil as they a noticed a trend towards brewing at lower temps in recent years.
I’m currently brewing with 93c R.O. water and pouring faster with MD (7-10g/s) to achieve a higher peak temperature and faster draw down. This also seems to help with benefiting overall structure where sweetness and acidity are denser and there's less lack of weight on the palate.
I’ve been brewing with lower temperatures for a couple of years now due to wanting less and less bitters in the cup to a point where 93c seems to have a very wide margin for error i.e. no matter how aggressive I brew with agitation or pour speed, there's less bitterness/astringency in the cup.
As a result I’ve also been brewing with a smaller ratio around 15:1 to make up for the any lower strength from a lower temperature. This way I have the option to add water to spread the flavor out for a more delicate presentation.
All this doesn’t taste as good unless I sip from a smaller cup like the Neat Glass or Orea Sense which cools the brew temperature down quickly to emphasize acidity and provides more detail throughout.
When brewing cooler, to mitigate any sourness, I’ve been pouring at a much faster default speed into the melodrip - from 4-7g/s which is medium light, to 7-10g/s which feels forcibly stronger than my comfortable regular pour. I use my Varia AKU PRO scale connected to Ben Conqueror to track this.
If sourness persists, I grind finer and don’t touch the temperature unless I can’t dial out the sourness. This rarely happens but depending on how I'm tasting my sensitivity to sourness and bitters changes through the year.
This leads to another important point which is my palate sensitivity changes seasonally throughout the year. Sometimes I’m more sensitive to sourness or bitterness one day and not the other. Then I adjust various parameters to adjust. The main thing is to be calibrated every time I brew (Nasal Spray, Stress Levels) so I know if it’s the coffee or it’s ME. This is irrespective of roast style this is simply about being a human!
So temperature is a sliding scale based on what you're in to at the moment, what the coffee is giving, and what your psychological expectations are based on your brew parameters. I'm currently stuck at 93c, but I try 95c on occasion and won't change until it tastes clear of bitters across multiple bags for multiple days. I trust my gear and my technique, it's being and ever adjusting human that I'm more weary about.
This is the reason why I need to revise my melodrip box recipes to show there’s no actual baseline for temperature. Although extraction rates for various categories of flavor compounds can be measured, the ratio of these compounds are not consistent bag to bag, so it’s not relevant for an all in one recipe recommendation. Always take Data with a grain of salt when applying it to flavor perception on Your Bar.
For example, I also don’t feel fit to provide any direction because I brew with 13g. Your doses can be much larger and all of the brew dynamics are very different based on dose, especially when temperature is involved.
But the increased interest in water formulations in recent years is in-line with lower extraction brews. It can indicate flavor compensation for lower intensity flavor, strength, and body at the same brew Ratio. Which also may indicate that people are not quick to adjusting their ratios/grind/pour recipe and mainly kettle temperature as temperature has a big effect on body and balance.
The main takeaway is understanding that our palates are seasonal. Try different things out like lowering / increasing temps, but be open to knowing you will change – not the gear.
Until next time,
Ray Murakawa
