Pot-Brewed Coffee Method: Brewing Steps and Parameter Guide - Can You Boil Coffee Grounds for Drinking?

What is "Cooking" Coffee?

In the culinary world, "cooking" refers to the process of placing food in water-filled cookware and continuously heating it until it's done—a widely used preparation method for various dishes.

However, in the realm of coffee, although FrontStreet Coffee often mentions the term "brewing," except for the extremely "heavy-tasting" Turkish coffee, most domestic extraction methods actually utilize the principle of allowing coffee grounds to briefly contact hot water to release soluble substances. Therefore, they can't be considered true "cooking"—at most, they're "steeping" or "infusing."

Experimenting with Cooked Coffee

Since coffee is a food that needs to contact hot water, it can naturally be cooked. So what would happen if we "prepared" coffee using the method of cooking instant noodles? To find out, FrontStreet Coffee mobilized connections and successfully borrowed a cooking pot, then brought out the commonly used ceramic stove from the shop. OK, let's get started!

First Attempt: Brazil Red Bourbon

For this first attempt, FrontStreet Coffee selected a medium-roasted Brazil Red Bourbon to cook. This bean often displays baked aromas like cream cookies, roasted peanuts, and caramel when pour-over brewed, with excellent body, making it suitable for various extraction methods including moka pot, French press, and siphon.

In terms of parameter settings, considering that coffee grounds need to be added after the water boils and will be maintained at 100°C high temperature throughout, the release rate of soluble substances will be faster than conventional extraction methods. Therefore, to avoid significant over-extraction, FrontStreet Coffee's first round will use a coarse salt grind level, corresponding to 12 on the store's EK43s scale, with a 60-65% pass rate using a China #20 sieve.

First Brewing Parameters

Other details were similarly considered—to ensure the final concentration falls within a palatable range, FrontStreet Coffee will control the time to 1 minute while adjusting the powder-to-water ratio to 1:18. The first round of pot-cooked coffee parameters are as follows:

• Coffee beans: Brazil Red Bourbon
• Amount: 18g
• Powder-to-water ratio: 1:18
• Grind size: EK43s-12
• Planned time: 1 minute

First, FrontStreet Coffee poured 324g of room-temperature drinking water into the pot and heated it at the highest setting until small bubbles appeared. When the temperature reached 96°C, all the ground coffee was immediately poured in, and timing began.

After the coffee liquid completely boiled, FrontStreet Coffee immediately turned the ceramic stove to the lowest setting and used a small spoon to stir up and down or left and right, allowing the floating grounds to contact the hot water as thoroughly as possible.

Unfortunately, just as the time approached one minute, customers entered the store (FrontStreet Coffee needed to serve coffee), so the entire boiling time far exceeded the plan. We quickly removed the pot from the heat source and used a stainless steel filter to separate the coffee grounds, then tasted it while hot.

First Results and Analysis

Before tasting, we measured the entire pot of coffee's TDS at 1.53%. Visually, this cup of cooked coffee was very turbid, and because FrontStreet Coffee used a metal filter with relatively large holes, some foam from boiling was retained on the coffee surface. The coffee tasted rather subdued, predominantly with the scorched aroma of rice crust, with almost no distinct flavor, a slight powdery texture, and heavy bitterness. The overall experience was complex and thick, clearly indicating severe over-extraction.

Second Attempt: Improved Method

Although the flavor and mouthfeel of the coffee were less than ideal, after this first practice, we gained some experience and no longer worried about the coffee tasting bad while operating cautiously (because we had already tasted the worst possible).

In the second attempt, to achieve a richer pot-cooked coffee, FrontStreet Coffee also tried adjusting other parameters: first reducing the powder-to-water ratio to increase concentration, adding clockwise stirring during the boiling process to further accelerate the release efficiency of flavor compounds, and most critically, precisely controlling the 1-minute boiling time. In summary, the second round of pot-cooked coffee parameters:

• Coffee beans: Brazil Red Bourbon
• Amount: 18g
• Powder-to-water ratio: 1:16
• Grind size: EK43s-12
• Time: 1 minute

Finally, to achieve a cleaner mouthfeel for the cooked coffee, FrontStreet Coffee used a dripper paired with non-woven fabric of better density to filter the grounds, then shook it evenly and tasted it while hot.

Second Results and Success

The adjusted pot-cooked coffee liquid was significantly clearer than the first pot, with no foam on the upper layer, and measured a TDS value of 1.35%. The coffee entry had distinct flavors of roasted peanuts, dark chocolate, and cookies, with a rich and solid mouthfeel, slight bitterness with some sweet aftertaste, high body, and a clean finish—it can be said to be a decent cup of black coffee.

Third Attempt: Light Roast Experiment

Since medium-dark roasted coffee grounds still showed excellent flavor after cooking without signs of over-extraction, FrontStreet Coffee could be bolder in bean selection, turning attention to light roast types. Coincidentally, we had just acquired a Peru washed Geisha that showed rich jasmine floral notes and grape juice tones during cupping, with fresh flavors and noticeable fruit juice characteristics, making it seemingly suitable for other extraction methods as well.

Third Brewing Parameters

High-altitude coffee beans naturally have higher hardness, and this Geisha used a medium-light roast. To coordinate the extraction of flavor compounds, FrontStreet Coffee adjusted the grind size half a setting finer, keeping other parameters unchanged. Without delay, let's start cooking:

• Coffee beans: Peru Washed Geisha
• Amount: 18g
• Powder-to-water ratio: 1:16
• Grind size: EK43s-11.5
• Time: 1 minute

Final Results and Conclusion

The final pot-cooked Geisha measured a TDS value of 0.94% and was visibly the clearest of the three pots. Originally thinking the coffee might be under-extracted, unexpectedly, it had rich aromas upon entry—first delicate floral notes and grape juice tones, accompanied by black tea and plum flavors. The mouthfeel was round and sweet, though the body was slightly weak, the aftertaste was quite elegant, and the complexity didn't lose to pour-over.

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Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473