How to Extract Juicy Qualities in Pour-Over Coffee? What is Juiciness? How to Adjust the Extraction Framework?

In many articles written by FrontStreet Coffee, the tempting coffee descriptor "juicy sensation" frequently appears. Many friends are curious about this description: "Shouldn't coffee flavor be a more concrete description? What does juicy sensation mean?"

What does juicy sensation taste like? Actually, juicy sensation doesn't just refer to flavor and aroma—it also includes mouthfeel. That's right, it's a dual descriptor. In other words, this cup of coffee has fruit-like sweet and sour flavors, and due to its higher body, the weight of the coffee liquid in the mouth is very close to the fullness of juice! Combined, it's like taking a sip of juice!

Doesn't that sound tempting? Well~ To help friends brew coffee at home with a full juicy sensation, today's topic is—"How to brew coffee with a juicy sensation"!

How to Brew Coffee with Juicy Sensation

Not every coffee bean can produce a juicy sensation! After all, even the most skilled chef can't cook without ingredients—you can't expect a dark roasted bean without sweet and sour flavors to produce a juicy sensation, right? So, the choice of beans is very important! (Friends who already have beans can skip to the brewing section)

For bean selection, we need to filter through two aspects. First, let's start with the roast level! As mentioned above, we can't brew juicy sensation with dark roasted beans. The reason is simple: dark roast beans undergo more reactions during roasting, and their acidic substances are completely depleted—they have no acidity! The fruit flavors in coffee are mainly composed of acidic substances, regardless of whether the acidity is high or low. So, when these important components that form fruit flavors are missing, it's naturally impossible to create a fuller juicy sensation! Therefore, the primary choice for beans should be light to medium roasted beans!

Next is the processing method of coffee beans~ As we all know, washed processing gives coffee more acidity. The reason is that during fermentation, the sugar substances in the raw coffee beans convert into large amounts of organic acids, and washed processing converts more than other methods! So, washed processed coffee beans can better help us brew coffee with a juicy sensation~ (Natural processing can also work, but washed is more suitable~) Combining these two points, the bean suitable for FrontStreet Coffee's brewing experiment today is—"Kenya Assalia". Coffee from the Kenya region is world-famous for its sweet and sour flavors of plum and cherry tomato. The volcanic soil specific to this region provides sufficient acidic nutrients for the beans, combined with ultra-long washed processing, making it a very suitable choice~ (Friends can also use other beans; FrontStreet Coffee is just using this one for today's brewing!)

Understanding Coffee Extraction

There's a common theory online that the sourness, sweetness, and bitterness of coffee are extracted in sequence. This is actually not true! Sour, sweet, and bitter flavors are released simultaneously, but their release amounts vary at different stages! During the extraction process, acidic substances are released first in large quantities, followed by sweet substances, and finally when the sour and sweet flavors are completely released, water can only extract bitterness, so people think bitterness is released last! But in reality, it's because the sour and sweet flavors are gone that only bitterness can be extracted. The release of bitter substances occurs throughout the entire process, but the amount released is relatively small. During the early stages of extraction, it's easily masked by the large amounts of released acidic and sweet substances, making it difficult to detect!

Brewing Method

In summary, the brewing approach is quite simple: we just need to shorten the extraction time to reduce the release of bitterness and highlight the sweet and sour flavors! Then, by increasing concentration, we can replace the body-building effect of bitter substances, thus obtaining a cup of coffee rich in juicy sensation! Therefore, our brewing method is: reduce the coffee-to-water ratio to increase concentration and layer body, then use a three-stage pour to enhance the coffee's complexity, combined with high water flow to shorten extraction time~

Dose: 16g
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:14 (224ml hot water)
Brewing temperature: 92°C
Grind setting: EK43 setting 10, with 75% pass-through rate on a #20 sieve
Brewing method: Three-stage pour with high water flow throughout
Water distribution: First stage 30ml, second stage 130ml, third stage 64ml

First is our bloom stage, pour twice the amount of water as the coffee dose and let it bloom for 30 seconds. After the bloom ends, use a high water flow (>7ml/s) in large circles to pour 130ml of hot water, then wait for it to drip! When the water level is about to reach the bottom, pour in small circles with the remaining 64ml of hot water! The total time is 2 minutes. If friends brew according to this formula, a brewing time error of about 5 seconds is normal! Take a small sip, and it's like biting into a cherry tomato bursting with juice—it has an extremely full juicy sensation, with very distinct plum and caramel flavors. Absolutely delicious!

Although it seems quite complex, as long as we understand the extraction principles, we can completely brew any type of coffee we want according to theory. It's very simple! Give it a try~

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