The Science Behind Great Office Coffee
This article was originally written for JavaWorksInc.
In our last post, we covered the importance of office coffee service to employees (hint: very important) and a few key factors that make a great cup of coffee. Now we’d like to go even deeper into the beans on what separates average coffee from amazing, make your day coffee.
Naturally, we at JavaWorks live and breathe coffee. We also obsess over delivering top-quality brews that offer employees a ten minute vacation from life, not to mention rocket fuel for the rest of the day. It’s that delightful taste and sensation that leaves you just slightly disappointed that the cup has emptied.
It may come as a surprise but great coffee is a science. We at JavaWorks have gone all Einstein to figure out how to produce that quality cup of joe time and time again. So without further ado, let’s learn the keys to brewing the perfect cup of java.
The Science of the Brew
Everyone knows a quality coffee bean translates to quality coffee. However, you might not know that the actual brewing process remains equally crucial. Here’s a breakdown the critical elements of that process.
Wetting: Aptly named, wetting is when the coffee grains begin to absorb water and release those oh so sweet smelling aromas. For the coffee to be just right, the wetting must be an even process. To get really specific, the entire bed of the coffee must be evenly wet within the first 10% of the overall brewing time. Consistent wetting is step one to a perfect cup of jitter juice.
Extraction: This is when the coffee grounds dissolve and become what makes us not hate ourselves in the morning. The coffee that has you walking on water is found at the beginning of the extraction process. The height of the graph to the right is where the best coffee is made. However, that doesn’t mean phrase two and three are dregs. In fact, the best cup of coffee combines all three phases.
Hydrolysis: During hydrolysis, the dissolved coffee grounds go from good to great, as proteins and sugars blend to make that perfectly balanced cup.
Match Made in Coffee Heaven:
Here’s another vital brewing fact: you must match the length of the brew cycle with the grind size and your bed depth. The larger the grind crystals, the longer your coffee must brew. That’s because the larger the crystals, the more time the water needs to evenly penetrate them. Here’s a general timeline to follow.
Make Your Bed Properly
Bed depth is another significant factor. Too shallow of a coffee bed and you get watery coffee; too thick and you’ve got over-extracted, bitter coffee. The ideal coffee bed in your brew basket is between an inch to two inches.
Don't Get Antsy
Sometimes you need coffee NOW, not in 3 minutes when the brewing process has completed. However, when you do that, you rob yourself of that perfectly balanced cup of mud. As we mentioned previously, coffee solids turn to magical liquid but that process occurs in stages as seen on the right. Don’t think of the first stage as the best, think of all three stages combining to make great coffee.
Coffee is to workers as oil is to cars. Even kids know not to be completely nuts until their parents enjoy ten minutes of coffee bliss. At JavaWorks we understand that and we know that coffee at work is doubly important. That’s why we offer the best office coffee service available in Florida. Check out our website for more information on how our coffee service can change your office.