Which brew formula for staged brewing?

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
squaremile
Posts: 74
Joined: 12 years ago

#1: Post by squaremile »

I have started experimenting with the Clever as a hybrid steeping and pour-over, much like this: http://sprudge.com/brewers-cup-realness ... mpion.html My question is whether I should be calculating extraction using the steeping or pour over formula. Since the water level stays above the bed of grounds the whole time and the draw down is very slow, I have been using the steeping formula. Anyone have leads or a rationale on this one way or the other? Thanks!

MWJB
Posts: 429
Joined: 11 years ago

#2: Post by MWJB »

If I have this right it's a preinfuse, with fresh brew water being added as the brewer draws down the early, preinfused stage? If so, calculate yield as per a pourover as you are washing out the grinds, and will have a declining strength of liquid in the slurry/bed.

jpender
Posts: 3863
Joined: 11 years ago

#3: Post by jpender »

The two different methods for calculating extraction are based on the notion that the liquid that is left in the grounds is either (A) coffee of the same quality that you'd add to your cup if you could, or (B) poorly balanced tailings that you wouldn't want to drink. Steeping produces A whereas pour overs result in B.

So it depends on what's happening in your staged brew.

If the brewing is effectively over after the steep phase then all the pour over phase is doing is diluting the grounds and getting you a bit more bang for your buck. In that case you should count all the extracted solids, not just those in the cup. On the other hand, if the pour over is not just diluting but also continuing to extract then you probably want to count only the dissolved solids in the cup as MWJB is suggesting.

You could measure it both ways at the same time as a way to see how much additional extraction is occuring during the pour over phase.