Warm brew, sous vide coffee?

I'm a coffee drinker, nothing complex, just a simple pour over. However I've been hearing about cold-brew lately. Supposedly the heat of traditional brewing, around the boiling point of water (96-100C) causes bitter flavors and other junk to be extracted. These compounds are not extracted at lower temperatures.

The recipe is pretty simple, pour water over grounds and let it sit. I think if it's at room temperature it sits for 12 hours, if it's in the fridge then 24 hours.

I'm lazy and don't want to wait 12-24 hours. It seems temperature plays a role and that the brew process is inversely proportional (higher temp, shorter time).

100C --> 2 minutes

21C --> 720 min

(Room temp, 70F, 12 hours{

This got me thinking, what if you brewed at something in the range of 50-70C? Could you achieve similar effects in a shorter time? 15 min, 1 hr, etc.?

Add your coffee to a container (mason jar? french press?) and cook in a water bath.

Is there any research on this coffee temps / extraction?

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brian_martin2001

I'm not sure if anyone here has though about sous vide coffee extraction. There it's a quick cold brew technique here. The issue that i would see about trying to find the temperature threshold regarding when the undesired compounds extract is you would need isolate the individual components, determine which ones lead to a less than ideal cup of coffee, then start testing on what temperature those compounds extract at. No idea is this had been done or not.

And here are a couple links that i found when i Googled sous vide coffee:

http://www.amazingfoodmadeeasy.com/info/modernist-recipes/more/sous-vide-coffee-recipe

http://www.blossomcoffee.com

Good luck!

EDIT: that blossom will set you back 6k USD.

Jay_Sit_301369

I might give this method a shot. I've been making cold brew for almost two years now so I'm excited to try something different. Once I get my Joule...of course!!

Martin_411586

Are you just curious or dissatisfied with your current coffee?

With a french press you'd normally use water at around 90 degrees C, 60 grams of ground coffee per liter of water and an extraction time of around 3 to 3,5 minutes. If that's too bitter for you, go for a more course grind and sift out the fines.

Still too bitter? Switch brand (region and/or roaster).

Example: Ethiopian coffees are WAY different from Guatemalaan coffee. On top of that, within a country there's different terroir and styles of growing, washing, fermenting and roasting... to name a few variables.

Mind you, different methods of making coffee work with different coffees. I like a relatively fruity/herby coffee (Sidamo / Yirgacheffe) on a french press, fines included for some bitterness. On a chemex, these coffees turn to something that closely resembles tea

If you go lower and longer, and drink similar amounts of it compared to the pour over, you're in for a hell of a ride by the way. Such an extract will contain lots and lots of caffeine

Temperature and pressure doesn't do a whole lot for this stuff, but time on the other hand... (that's why espresso contains relatively low amounts of caffeine)

JasonWirth_68226

Awesome links! Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for.

It's funny, I was searching "time temperature coffee extraction" and couldn't really find much. When writing this post I threw that "sous vide coffee" in the title at the last minute because I thought it was more descriptive. I should have thought to google it.

6 grand for a coffee machine?!?! Maybe they are willing to trade for the bridge I'm selling.

brian_martin2001

I'm not saying it's not worth it, Judy a bit steep for me. I'd you think that's bad, have a look at the b-kon brewer. That's significantly higher priced. Happy to help, good luck

JasonWirth_68226

I like my current setup, it's quick and easy. No muss, no fuss.

I'm optimizing for speed and taste. It doesn't matter how great the coffee if it takes a day to make. Likewise, I'm willing to spend a little time if I can get something good. For example, the link that brian had for the ChefSteps cold brew uses 3 NO2 charges. Thanks but no thanks, too much work (and cost).

BTW, my pour over is a hybrid between a pour and a French press. I tried a french press once but thought it was a bitch to clean, then I found a pour over style called the "Clever Dripper". You add the filter, water, coffee ... wait while the coffee steps ... set it on your cup and the coffee trains out. Then you toss the filter with the grounds in the trash. Super easy!

artstype

A little off-topic, but several issues come to mind with some of this discussion. Coffee is highly affected by the time and temperature of the roasting. High temps tend to make more acidic, bitter coffee. A dear friend of mine is a coffee roaster in Portland, Oregon who hand roasts carefully chosen lots of coffees, often obtained directly from the farmers rather than through traditional channels. The coffee is spectacularly good. He is also a great guy, so check out http://www.badbeardscoffee.com/Coffee

Another device for making a very smooth, rich coffee is like a reverse or inverted french press. My son gave me one last Xmas, and it is highly portable and easy to clean. https://www.aerobie.com/product/aeropress/

Martin_411586

Cool, I love those

Strictly speaking, it's not a pour-over but immersion coffee by the way (like a french press).

What you describe is the opposite of my personal experience: you say coffee from a french press is too clean for your taste, so you went for a clever. Normally, the paper filter in a clever would hang on to a lot of fines and funky bits (and fat), whereas all of that would make it to the cup when using a french press.

JasonWirth_68226

No no no. It's not about a "clean" taste. It's a about cleaning the messy grounds out of the French press.

In the Clever I grab the filter and throw the grounds away.

lfmichaud

I'm also using a clever for my daily coffee. But if you want minimum time the cold brew also works very well because it will keep for days or weeks without loss in quality. If you want to drink it iced you can even put milk and sugar in it and keep it in the fridge. It's pour and drink!

EDITH_ANN_ZECCA_416589

I have been drinking cold brew coffee for more than nine years. Extremely easy. (If you only drink a coffee once every week or two, that cold brew method is probably not for you.) With a 12 oz can of coffee you add six 8oz cups of water. Let it sit until tomorrow. Drain (and then I add three more 8 oz cups of water and drain the NEXT day - call me frugal but this method gives me 72 oz of coffee concentrate). In the morning, I nuke a mug 2/3 full of milk and top it up with cold brew concentrate. Oh yes, and the coffee grounds eventually get tossed out to the base of a tree near my front door - the tree is thriving so it apparently likes coffee too,.

Dave_Marshall_574289

i like coffee too

eathyssen

Just read this recent article about making/sous viding coffee: http://www.extracrispy.com/drinks/4736/what-is-sous-vide-coffee-and-why-should-i-try-it. It recommends 90 degrees C = 150 degrees F. And it recommends heating it further for better taste.

Over the years I've done French press, Chemex, even Braun/Krups/Mr Coffee. I've had coffee in France, Germany, UK, Italy, Turkey . . . . . and I settled on/ am a major fan of cold brew: anywhere between 12-20 hours works (reminds me of no-knead bread) - it's that fool-proof because no heat is applied.

Curious about this method of brewing via sous vide as it would apply heat and automatically extract some of the bitter oils (not good, IMHO). And it seems as if it 'cooks' the grounds rather than 'brews' in water. Interesting. If anyone has tried this method, mind chiming in your comments? I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one who'd love to hear. Thanks in advance.

LangdonJohn_1301879

In the case of coffee, extraction means the extraction of substances from ground coffee when it is brewed. The practical application of this term is to select the extraction that is optimal for a particular coffee and the method of preparation.

invictusman_1237564

Not always. Much depends on the cooking method and technique. Recently I read about chemax we hario and realized that you need to rely not only on the cooking technique in Turk. The course of extraction during brewing is influenced by a number of factors: water, temperature, grinding, pressure. The influence of water lies in its composition: the degree of mineralization, the level of hardness and alkalinity. Usually, coffee shops install special filters (check it with chemex vs hario) or use bottled water with the necessary composition of the above-mentioned elements. The optimal water temperature for brewing coffee is 91-96 degrees. As a rule, extraction at a higher temperature gives a more concentrated, solid drink, increases the perception of acidity and bitterness.