idrinkcoffee2013 Senior Member Joined: 17 Jan 2013 Posts: 6 Location: usa Expertise: I live coffee
Posted Thu Jan 17, 2013, 9:08pm Subject: controlling stimulation...
maybe i'm doing something wrong but i have a real hard time controlling the stimulation, it always plateau kinda at insuffucient level. i been doing the brew coffee. i quitted the drip brewer cuz it was plastic and seem hard to get one that not. and that got all kinds of health hazards. but the manual pour -over hasn't been allowing me to adjust stimulation. i followed barista direction. wetting the ground ,wait a minute, then gradual concentric circles.
got fed up with brewing cuz stimulation was always weak...
i had to settle with a more consistent stimulation premixed instant brand. folgers instant was able to be strong as allowed me to adjust stimulation and crashed if i was not careful. but the brand started to acquire a nasty taste so had to quit them.
am i brewing wrong or something? or brew always produces weak stimulation and would never crash no matter how much you take? kinda frustrating here with no strong stimulation coffee.
redkiosk Senior Member Joined: 13 May 2012 Posts: 156 Location: Chicago Metro Area Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Illy Francis-Francis X1 Grinder: Baratza Preciso w/ Esatto... Vac Pot: Someday, very intriguing Drip: Bunn Trifecta MB Roaster: A sure path to divorce!
Posted Fri Jan 18, 2013, 7:56am Subject: Re: controlling stimulation...
I think he is trying to control the level of "buzz" he gets from caffeine. Maybe one of those portable IV infusion pumps loaded up with a concentrated robusta solution would do the trick. Take care!
Jim
The pathologically precise are annoying, but right!
"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674
yakster Senior Member Joined: 25 Feb 2009 Posts: 1,006 Location: San Jose, CA Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Factory / La Peppina... Grinder: Vario / Kyocera Vac Pot: Yama 8 + Pyrex Lox-in Rod Drip: Brazen / Kalita / Chemex /... Roaster: Behmor
Posted Fri Jan 18, 2013, 12:40pm Subject: Re: controlling stimulation...
I believe that the OP is saying that the pour-over method is not resulting in a fully extracted cup of coffee with the target brew strength, taste, and body.
Coffee needs to be in contact with water for at least 3:30 after any bloom to fully extract in a pour-over, unless you're using agitation or a really fine grind to accelerate this. Four minutes is better if you want to extract the sweetness from the hemi-cellulose component in the coffee. What type of pour-over are you using and are you able to restrict the flow enough to maintain water contact with the coffee for this long?
I attended a talk by Nick Cho on pour-over at his Wrecking Ball cafe in San Francisco and he brought up an interesting topic about the hydrolysis of hemicellulose which he says takes about four minutes. I didn't take copious notes on this, but he does bring this up on a blog post on Iced Coffee here which I'll excerpt below.
While 65-70% of roasted coffee is considered insoluble, as much as 15% is hemi-cellulose, which is hydrolyzable with heat and time. Hemi-cellulose breaks down into reducing sugars, which are typically associated with caramel-ly and savory sweetness. There is, again, pitifully little research I’ve been able to find on the subject, aside from acknowledgement that hemi-cellulose exists in those proportions in roasted coffee and that hydrolysis to reducing sugars occurs over time. In fact, the Lingle book [Coffee Brewing Handbook] refers to hydrolysis as the third-phase of brewing, following wetting and extraction.
I would make sure that you are using enough coffee (60 grams per liter or a 16:1 water to coffee ratio is a good starting point), hot enough water, and a long enough contact time to see if this improves the cup for you.
DavecUK Senior Member Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Posts: 923 Location: UK Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Fri Jan 18, 2013, 12:54pm Subject: Re: controlling stimulation...
I thought perhaps this person had found and interesting, unusual new use for a coffee maker as a controllable stimulation device.....perhaps if they purchase a machine with a vibration pump, they will have much more success and get great "stimulation".....or mebbe go with a washing machine...dunno? Certainly it's true to say hand and battery powered coffee machines won't be as good.
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