TomC wrote:There's been several World Aeropress Championship winning brew recipes using very low temp water and i'm sure if I started digging them up, I'd find some in the Brewers Cup Championship as well.

And you can contribute this to origin, processing type or degree of roast? In those instances it's very specific. We definitely aren't helping the OP going down that road. My prior comments were dispersed with the OP in mind.

The input is all just great. I've honestly never brewed below 198 so it's probably high time to broaden my thermal horizons. I wish I had the time for a more rigorous (but ultimately and inevitably subjective) experimentation.

Usually when I can't crush the bean between my fingers, I'll brew upwards of 205-208, when it's easily crushable I don't go much bellow 203. Then again almost none of the coffees I have will have oils showing on the surface, so I drink mostly light-medium roasts.

aeropress is a different beast. I don't think standard brewing ranges really apply to it as much

thepilgrimsdream wrote:aeropress is a different beast. I don't think standard brewing ranges really apply to it as much

I use the same temperatures for Aeropress, pourover, Clever Coffee Dripper. The Aeropress is a good insulator, no mystery otherwise. The reason Alan Adler suggests a lower brewing temperature is group tasting of coffee that he roasts darker than our standard here on Home-Barista. I say this having spent time with him and having had the good fortune of Alan introducing me to home roasting.

brianl wrote:There is a reason that temperature is rarely discussed: It doesn't really matter for brewed coffee (like it does for espresso). I don't taste a difference between the 195-205 range. You'll get more decisive results just adjusting the brew time for a few seconds. In fact, Matt Perger now recommends brewing with boiling water.

That said, the latest trend is going way outside this range and I'm interested in the results. It seems to just be used at the competition level and it's hard to attribute it to the temperature alone.

Temp isn't the only factor, definitely. But keeping all other variables the same on pourover and changing the temp produces drastic differences. Source: I've been brewing with the v60 daily for years now, with intermittent use of other devices. Perger seeks a certain result and does so excellently, and basically eliminating temp as a factor is useful in perfecting the other variables for the coffees he uses. But it should also be noted that Perger, in the same paragraph in which he advocated boiling water, implied that this was because "I prefer darker roasts" and he prefers sweetness to acidity: "I hunt down sweetness with reckless abandon. Acidity is great (and possibly over-celebrated in Specialty), but sweetness is crucial. I'm also happy to get sweetness and pay for it with more bitterness." And when asked by another user whether "lighter roast might tolerate a higher temp," he affirmed. Find the AMA here:

So, if a sweet cup from a dark roast is the desired result, definitely try boiling water. Otherwise, keep experimenting--including with temperature!