#grinding coffee

[huariqueje]

Woman grinding coffee   -   Tettamanti, Ampelio , 1956.

Italian ,  1914-1961

Oil on canvas , 100 x 70 cm.

[sohannabarberaesque]

HUCKLEBERRY HOUND, grinding up some coffee for the morning with Clementine: Shucks ... freshly-ground coffee sure has something of an aroma all its own. And what could possibly taste better with some sweet rolls in the bargain?

[green5quirrel]

Greeney Odd

Me to my coffee beans this morning:

These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, How he smiles in the light, My friends, My faithful friends... Speak to me, friend. Whisper, I'll listen. I know, I know You've been locked out of sight All these years! Like me, my friend! Well, I've come home To find you waiting! Home, And we're together... And we'll do wonders... Won't we...?

My Friends-Sweeney Todd

[rpsandcicobooks]

Grinding Coffee with the Curious Barista

With the weather heating up, we're thinking about delicious iced coffee with our morning meal. Taken from his new book, The Curious Barista’s Guide to Coffee, Tristan takes us back to the basics of grinding coffee beans with some great advice on fineness of the grind.

In the most basic sense, grinders take coffee beans and break them up into smaller pieces. Coffee cannot be brewed as whole beans, and the increase in surface area provided by smaller particles allows better access to the inner sanctum of the bean’s porous structure. The smaller you go, the more the bean’s surface is exposed, which means flavor is extracted faster. Put simply, if you grind finer, the brewing time is decreased; if you grind coarser, brewing time increases.

The grinding of coffee also marks a significant point of no return in the brewing process as, once ground, the coffee is more exposed and vulnerable to the effects of oxidation, and so it remains potent only for a brief spell. If you want to make better coffee at home, probably the best piece of advice that I can give you is to grind it fresh; it is no exaggeration to suggest that doing so will produce a dramatically improved drink when compared with a cup made from pre-ground beans.

Taking this a step further, I would advise you buy the best grinder that you can afford. A good grinder will last years, require less in the way of tweaking and adjustment, and consistently produce better-tasting drinks. You see, chopping up coffee beans might seem like only a minor part of making a tasty beverage, a basic but necessary step before the real skill of brewing comes into play, but shoddy work at this early stage of coffee’s precarious journey has big consequences later down the line.

Fineness

The finer the grind, the higher the surface area of the coffee. Greater surface area means a quicker extraction, because the water has better access to the flavorful compounds that the coffee holds.

For percolated coffee, where water lets gravity do the work and flows through a bed of coffee, the surface area needs to be relatively high. The first reason for this is that during percolation brewing the water has a limited contact period with the coffee. It washes through, extracting flavor as it goes. The second reason is that finer ground coffee acts as a barrier of hydraulic resistance during percolation, preventing the water from washing through and underextracting. In other words, a finer grind both speeds up and draws out extraction. A coarse grind means the water flows quickly through the bed of coffee, as well as having a slower rate of extraction. Getting the right balance means fine-tuning the grinder to reach a desirable contact period between water and coffee, and a grind particle size that corresponds to that contact period.

When immersion brewing, with a French press, for example, the fineness of the grind affects only the rate of extraction, since the water and coffee contact period is determined by the person pushing the plunger. There is, perhaps, an exception where an excessively fine grind is used in a French press, leading to filter clogging, and rendering it impossible to depress fully.

One of the biggest issues that the speciality coffee industry faces is the language and communication of grind fineness. It is perhaps the most important variable in brewing a cup of coffee and yet, even now, it is impossible for me to tell you how fine or coarse to grind your coffee. It’s not even possible to draw comparisons between identical models of grinder, since even minuscule deviations in the manufacture and assembly of the grinder will give rise to a subtle reworking of the grind size. In a properly equipped lab, it is of course possible to measure particle size (in microns) and to grade different samples accordingly, but for most of us this is not a day-to-day option.

In this book, I refer to different degrees of fineness in words that describe how they might be used, i.e filter grind, Turkish grind. They are ambiguous phrases, highly inexact and only a few steps away from being utterly useless – this admission alone should illustrate the severity of the situation! The table above, however, may go some way towards helping you understand your grinder, so that you can get the best results possible in the cup. Please do not take it as gospel, however; part of the fun of making great coffee is tinkering with the grinder and analysing the shift in flavor. Note that the table is not linear, i.e. a coarse filter (6) is not necessarily the halfway point between filter (5) and coarse (7).

For more coffee advice from Tristan, check out this article on The Telegraph and learn how to cold-brew coffee at home. For more information about his new book or to buy a copy, please click here.

[captainswanfairytale]

Because of those spoiler pics...

I don't want to get my hopes up. But the amount of casual intimacy going on in that scene. Makes me think that maybe there's already been some coffee grinding going on. You know, to make that coffee I mean. Just sayin.

[captainswanfairytale]

The ship that innuendo's together...

Kinda need a parallel gifset for Killian's..

2x09 - "Word of advice. When I jab you with my sword, you'll feel it."

to Emma's...

4x04 - "I don't pillage and plunder on the first date. Just so you know."

[theroastercoaster-blog]

The Roaster Coaster Complete Guide to Grinding Coffee

Intro

So what’s all the fuss about grinding coffee? You just buy your beans and tell the barista how you like to brew your coffee right? Wrong! A great cup of coffee starts with fresh coffee beans and this means whole beans that are ground right before you brew. This is because preground coffees expose more coffee surface area to oxygen. Through a process of oxidation, coffee will quickly lose its subtleties and result in a duller flavor. There are many options for grinding coffee that will be discussed below. So let’s get stuck in.

 ROCO Science:

The most common oxidation process for coffee is when an oxygen molecule donates two electrons to a compound forming a new compound and bonding with hydrogen to form water. The most delicate aromas also tend to be the most volatile and therefore diminish more quickly when the coffee is exposed to air. Aldehydes can be floral, sweet, and fruity. Esters may release bouquets such as pineapple, pear, or peach. Certain malty/sweet/caramel-smelling aldehydes were found to decrease by 50% within fifteen minutes of grinding and exposure to open air. (Source: Black Bear Coffee)

The Science of Grind Size

The size of coffee grind needed depends upon your preferred brewing method (see “Brewing Guide”). Smaller grinds will result in a faster extraction rate because more surface area is exposed to hot water. Different coffee grinds may require pressure (as in espresso) to speed up water flow. Keep in mind that over extraction will result in a bitter flavor, whereas under extraction will result in a watery taste because the coffee flavors are not fully released. Now that you understand why the grind size is important, experiment with your machine to find what is best for you. This is because some methods, such as a French press, will favor suspended extraction and others will be a pull through extraction, such as drip .

ROCO Science:

Similar to steeping tea, the water you use for your coffee will extract the soluble flavors available in the beans. Drip coffee is an example of a cup of purely soluble solid (insoluble solids – aka the ground coffee bean - are caught by the filter). The french press combines soluble and insoluble solids, resulting in the “muddy” or gritty taste towards the end of your cup. These insoluble solids add a feeling of body as they are heavier on your tongue.

Visual Grind Guideline

(Images from INeedCoffee.com)

Extra Coarse Grind Use: Cold brew concentrate

Coarse Grind Uses: French press

Medium Grind

Use: Drip coffee makers

Medium-Fine Grind (No Photo)

Use: PourOver

Fine Grind Use: Espresso, slightly finer then Aeropressb

Extra Fine Grind Use: Turkish

Grinders

As coffee grinders come in many different varieties range from $15-$500, buying one can be a daunting task. In general, what you need to look for and what ultimately increases the price is the grind consistency the grinders can achieve  . Below, we have provided a quick pro and con list to help you decide which method best fits your needs.

  ROCO Science: 

Coffee grind sizes must be consistent to ensure even extraction. Certain grinding methods may deliver a varied batch of coffee where some grounds are too small and too big. When brewed, the small pieces will over extract whereas the bigger pieces may under extract. Over extraction and under extraction do not balance out; in most cases you’ll be left with a non-ideal cup of coffee. 

Blade Grinder

Not ideal

Pros: Cheapest, can double as a spice grinder, Cons: Can’t control grind size, very inconsistent, heats up easily, difficult to clean

Burr Grinder – Disk

Step in the right direction

Pros: Good grind consistency, cheaper than conical grinder, durable burrs, easy to clean Cons: Can be limited to fineness, easily heats up, noisy

Burr Grinder – Conical

Best option

Pros: Best grind consistency, less prone to overheating, easy to clean, large range of grind size Cons: Expensive Cool video explaining how it works: click here

Hand Grinder – Conical Burr

Best budget option

Pros: Same function but cheaper than electric counterpart, less prone to overheating, get a workout Cons: Arm gets tired, sometimes more difficult to clean, small hopper

For questions or comments email us at theroastercoaster (a) gmail.com