What is the optimal tasting temperature for coffee? Best brewing temperature recommendations for pour-over coffee beans

Many friends have privately messaged asking, "What is the ideal drinking temperature for coffee?" This question momentarily left FrontStreet Coffee unsure where to begin.

"Generally, it's not recommended to drink coffee at temperatures exceeding 55°C!" "Why?" "Because it will burn your tongue "

Alright, alright! Jokes aside! Now for the serious discussion.

FrontStreet Coffee has come to understand that this friend actually wants to know at what temperature coffee tastes best, when it's most fragrant and most enjoyable to drink.

To clearly understand this question, we must start not with coffee itself, but with our taste buds. Our tongues can perceive five flavors, among which the sourness, sweetness, and bitterness of coffee are the most easily perceived tastes. In coffee, the substances creating sour, sweet, and bitter flavors are mixed together.

Typically, when sour and sweet substances overpower bitter ones, the coffee will present sweet and sour fruity notes, which are the flavors we enjoy. If the bitter taste becomes prominent or sourness dominates alone, it becomes unappealing.

Temperature also affects our perception of sourness, sweetness, and bitterness. We perceive sweetness most strongly when the temperature is above and close to body temperature. For bitterness, perception becomes more pronounced as temperature decreases (to room temperature). Our perception of sourness, however, is not affected by temperature.

Furthermore, the most prominent flavors we experience when drinking coffee come from aroma. Freshly brewed coffee has the richest aroma, which becomes more subdued as the temperature drops. For example, in a cup of washed Geisha coffee, when hot, we can smell (and taste) rich jasmine and citrus flavors, but as it cools, the jasmine and orange aromas become less noticeable, giving way to honey-like fragrance. This doesn't mean coffee tastes bad when cool, but rather that it's not as flavorful as when hot.

Optimal Temperature for Hot Coffee

Therefore, for hot pour-over coffee, it's best to enjoy it within the 35-45°C temperature range. Coffee brewed with 90°C water takes about two minutes to complete. Its temperature will be around 65-70°C, which is high enough to burn the tongue and makes it difficult to perceive flavors properly. If the coffee temperature is too high, you might want to first appreciate its aroma – this is also part of the coffee tasting experience.

Of course, you can also follow the approach of coffee professionals, tasting from high to low temperatures to experience the coffee's flavor changes at different temperatures.

Preserving Coffee Temperature

Some friends have asked whether keeping coffee in a thermos or reheating it can preserve its flavor. The answer is no. Drinking from a thermos within an hour won't significantly affect the taste, but if left for too long or reheated after cooling, the volatile aromatic compounds won't return, so the original flavor cannot be restored.

Iced Coffee Considerations

Others might ask, "You mentioned that bitterness becomes more pronounced at lower temperatures, but I don't experience this when drinking iced coffee." This brings us to the preparation method for iced coffee. The common method for iced pour-over is to extract the early to middle-stage coffee compounds and then cool and dilute them with ice.

This means that the more bitter substances from the middle to later stages are not extracted. In iced pour-over coffee, the sweet and sour flavors can cover the bitter ones, making it taste less bitter. However, if you compare the aroma of iced versus hot coffee, the difference between the two is enormous.

Therefore, customers often ask FrontStreet Coffee whether this coffee tastes better hot or iced. FrontStreet Coffee's usual answer is that hot coffee provides a more complete sensory experience, but whether to drink it hot or iced ultimately depends on your personal preference.

Important Notice :

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Tel:020 38364473