Recommended Water Temperature Parameters for Pour-Over Coffee - What's the Ideal Water Temperature for Brewing Coffee?

Anyone who has brewed coffee knows that water temperature affects the final flavor of the coffee. It's well understood that higher water temperatures produce richer coffee, while lower temperatures result in milder flavors.

But does a difference of just two or three degrees in water temperature significantly impact the final coffee? For example, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using water temperatures between 90-93°C for brewing medium-light roast coffee. Does this mean any temperature within this range is suitable for brewing medium-light roast beans? Without further delay, let's conduct an experiment to find out.

For this demonstration, FrontStreet Coffee is using Panama's "Flor de Mariposa" coffee beans, which contain 70% Panama Geisha coffee, thus exhibiting the classic fruity characteristics of Geisha varieties. The main comparison here is how much difference exists in coffee brewed with different water temperatures. We selected the minimum and maximum values of the generally recommended temperature range: 90°C and 93°C.

Brewing Parameters

Other brewing parameters follow FrontStreet Coffee's standard recipe:

Coffee dose: 15 grams
Ratio: 1:16
Water temperature: 90°C/93°C
Grind size: 80% passing through #20 sieve
Dripper: V60
Technique: Three-stage pouring method

By measuring the concentration of both coffee samples, we found that the coffee brewed with 90°C water had a concentration of 1.32%, while the coffee brewed with 93°C water registered 1.40%. From a data perspective, using water 3°C higher than 90°C increased the extraction rate by 1.2%.

Flavor Comparison

After examining the data, let's taste and compare the flavor characteristics of both groups. First, the 90°C group: the aroma presents sweet fruity notes, though relatively subtle. The tasting reveals citrus fruit characteristics with gentle acidity. It carries a light hint of honey-like sweetness and a tea-like sensation. Coffee brewed at this temperature effectively expresses the fundamental flavors of these beans, with moderate concentration that makes for comfortable drinking.

Next, the 93°C group: the aroma is noticeably more pronounced and abundant than the previous group, presenting fragrances of fruit and ginger flower. Through tasting, we can clearly detect a higher sweetness than the previous group. While maintaining the same citrus foundation, the sweetness of ginger sugar is particularly prominent. The complexity is also superior to the 90°C group. However, there's a slight drawback—as the coffee cools, a subtle almond-like nutty flavor and astringency emerge.

Conclusions

From a tasting perspective, with just a 3°C difference between the minimum and maximum recommended brewing temperatures, the resulting coffee shows quite distinct flavor changes. Using lower temperatures within the recommended range produces gentler, more comfortable coffee. Choosing higher temperatures can yield richer aromas and flavors, but higher temperatures also increase the risk of extracting undesirable astringent or bitter elements.

Therefore, when brewing most medium-light roast coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee typically uses 91°C water temperature, which significantly minimizes unexpected outcomes and improves consistency in the final product. However, some coffee beans are suitable for higher temperatures, such as Ethiopian Uraga and Kenyan coffee beans, which helps express more abundant flavors and solid acidity.

Regarding water temperature selection, we now have a deeper understanding. For example, the increasingly popular temperature-drop brewing method—using higher temperatures (≥93°C) in the early stages of brewing to extract the initial segments of coffee, drawing out rich aromas and flavorful compounds. Then, using lower temperatures (≤88°C) in later stages to adjust the coffee concentration and reduce the release of bitter compounds from the final extraction segments.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473