Why Does Pour-Over Coffee Flavor Change with Temperature? Best Drinking Temperature and Time for Pour-Over Coffee

The Art of Coffee Tasting: From Hot to Cold

"Coffee tasting should be done from hot to cold..." Have you ever heard similar expressions? When tasting coffee, we should start at high temperatures, but there's no need to rush through it. As time passes and the coffee temperature gradually decreases, we can then taste the flavors that emerge as it cools down. Is this the correct approach?

In fact, this tasting method originates from coffee cupping. Coffee cupping serves two purposes: one is to evaluate the coffee's flavors, and the other is to test the coffee's quality. Therefore, a complete cupping session typically lasts 30-50 minutes. During coffee cupping, tasters sample the coffee from high temperature to low temperature to comprehensively detect any flavor defects and observe how the coffee's flavors change.

Why Do Coffee Flavors Change with Temperature?

Why do coffee flavors change with temperature? This involves two variables: one is that the coffee's own flavors are changing, and the other is that temperature changes affect how we perceive coffee flavors. The former is the coffee itself changing, while the latter is our perception changing.

Using cupping as an example, the cupping extraction process works like this: hot water soaks the coffee grounds for 4 minutes, then after breaking the crust, the coffee grounds on the surface are skimmed off, and tasting can begin. However, throughout the entire tasting process, the coffee liquid remains in relatively static contact with the coffee grounds at the bottom, so extraction continues during tasting, albeit at a much slower rate compared to the initial extraction.

The other factor is that temperature affects our sensitivity to taste perception. For example, we can often detect sour, sweet, and bitter tastes in coffee. Between 10-40°C, our taste buds' perception of sourness shows almost no change, but as the temperature rises further, the perception of sourness becomes more pronounced.

When it comes to sweetness, our taste buds are relatively insensitive to sweet flavors above 50°C and below 35°C, while perception becomes more sensitive at temperatures close to body temperature.

Bitter flavors, on the other hand, are harder to perceive at high temperatures. When the temperature drops to room temperature, our perception of bitterness becomes very sensitive. (So now you know why Guangdong herbal tea should be consumed while hot!)

Temperature Zones for Coffee Tasting

Precisely because our perception of sour, sweet, and bitter varies at different temperatures, tasting coffee at different temperatures yields different flavor expressions. Therefore, cupping is divided into three temperature zones - high, medium, and low - for comprehensive evaluation.

The high-temperature zone is approximately 50-70°C. Above 70°C, it's actually too hot to taste and difficult to discern flavors. The high-temperature period mainly reveals the coffee's flavor profile - the general flavor direction. Most people find it difficult to distinguish subtle differences between coffees in the high-temperature zone. For example, fruit-acid-toned coffee beans are hard to differentiate in this zone, but you can immediately identify that this coffee bean belongs to the fruit-acid category.

The medium-temperature zone, typically around 35-50°C, is where delicate flavors are best appreciated. At this temperature, many subtle flavors can be detected, and it's also the temperature range where our perception of sour and sweet tastes is most sensitive. The low-temperature zone ranges from approximately 35°C down to room temperature. Negative flavors are more likely to appear at this temperature, so tasting through to the low-temperature zone during cupping provides a more complete evaluation of the coffee beans.

How to Taste Pour-Over Coffee

If you want to comprehensively evaluate pour-over coffee, you can certainly start from high temperature, then move to medium temperature, and finally low temperature, tasting the coffee's flavors at different temperature stages. Some coffees show surprising performance in the low-temperature zone. For example, Geisha coffee often presents green tea and honey notes at lower temperatures.

If you want to enjoy the best flavors of pour-over coffee, FrontStreet Coffee suggests drinking from the high to medium temperature zones. For example, some coffees dominated by bitter notes taste balanced and full-bodied at medium-high temperatures because our perception of bitterness is relatively dull. However, when the coffee cools down, although no negative flavors may have developed, our increased sensitivity to bitterness can make the coffee seem "bitterer" and difficult to swallow.

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