The trigeminal nervous system is not as familiar to most people, but it has been the subject of much recent study in terms of how it affects flavor. These nerve endings exist in both the nasal passages and mouth, and give thermal sensations and pain. At a less intense level, they cause sensations of pungency […]
Articles Tagged: Water Quality
The Brewing Process
Brewing coffee should be considered from two aspects: physical and chemical. The physical aspects of brewing coffee include the effects that water will have on the coffee grounds themselves (such as expansion), the amount of solids dissolved (as the result of temperature, stirring, etc.) and the physical actions that take place as the water passes […]
Interactions of Coffee and Water
Let’s discuss what could happen when coffee is prepared with poor quality water. What follows are some possibilities using some radar charts as illustrations. In a radar chart, start reading at the top. The flavor attributes are listed on the outside, and the distance from the center indicates the intensity of the particular flavor attribute. […]
Effects of Water on Equipment
The dissolving of calcium and magnesium in natural waters makes water hard, and hard water is responsible for scaling, liming and other undesirable mineral deposits on brewing equipment. When water is heated and then cooled, these dissolved substances can deposit scale on metal surfaces. As scaling proliferates, these compounds restrict flow through spray heads and […]
Examining TDS and Taste
In a tasting conducting by the Technical Standards Committee of the SCAA, coffee was brewed with different levels of TDS in order to determine if significant flavor differences existed and how much difference actually existed. The tasting was blind and was designed to isolate TDS as the key variable. The same coffee, grind and brewer […]
The Basics of Coffee Brewing
Coffee brewing masquerades as a simple process, when in reality it is a very complex interaction of many variables, all of which must be tightly regulated. Coffee gets most of its flavor from the great variety of chemical compounds released when the ground particles make contact with water. Under normal circumstances, water extracts roughly 80 […]
The Brewing Process
Aroma + Taste = Flavor Some of the chemical compounds in coffee evaporate easily and are responsible for the brew’s aroma. Others aren’t so volatile and are the source of the brew’s taste. The combination of aroma plus taste constitutes coffee’s flavor. Further, there are the insoluble compounds – the ones that don’t break down […]
Water Quality Standards
Water (H2O) is comprised of one oxygen and two hydrogen molecules, and the bonds between and among them lead it to be a unique and fascinating biological molecule. As we know, depending on the coffee beverage (espresso versus drip-based) water can contribute 94-98% of the ‘coffee’ beverage as we consume it (Illy and Viani 2005). […]