this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2024
32 points (100.0% liked)

Coffee

8398 readers
1 users here now

☕ - The hot beverage that powers the world!

Coffee gadgets - It's always great to learn about new gadgets. Please share your favorite hardware or full setups. It might inspire newcomers to experiment!

Local businesses - Please promote your local businesses. If you are not the owner of the business you are promoting, kindly ask the owner if it's okay. It would be great if the business has a physical store to include an exterior or interior shot.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
32
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by wfh@lemm.ee to c/coffee@lemmy.world
 

I'm sur a lot of you have seen this video from James Hoffmann discussing the massive differences observed when spritzing some water on the beans before grinding.

So I took the plunge and bought a spray bottle, and tested it immediately on my mildly-disappointing, home-roasted medium-light Yrgacheffe in my Mythos-modded DF64.

Of course I don't have a particle analyzer to replicate the results, but I can still count on my senses to see if there is an actual difference between dry and spritzed beans.

The beans were dialed-in at 18g in, 45g out, 30s when dry.

Then, the 3-spritz beans went in. I didn't see much difference when grinding (maybe a bit less retention), but when pulling the shot, wow. It started to drip much later and slower, and took around 42s to complete the shot. There was a bit of spraying so channeling may still be happening though. The taste was incredible compared to the baseline. Every flavor was turned up to 11, with much more body, sweetness and complexity, with still a clear acidity cutting through the syrupy goodness, and a taste that lingered in my mouth for a very long time.

I dialed back the grinder for a 30s shot. This one was very disappointing and obviously under-extracted: sour, with a lingering astringency, and the flavors were kind of muted. So the beans really seem to benefit from extra contact time with seemingly no drawbacks in terms of overextraction, or the initial delay acted as a sort of preinfusion.

So my takeway is this: invest in a $£2€ spray bottle, either dial-in with dry beans or aim for a 35-45% longer extraction compared to your baseline, and enjoy!

Have you tested it? What are your results?

top 11 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] DrBob@lemmy.ca 8 points 10 months ago (2 children)

What does "18 g in, 45 g out, 30s when dry" refer to?

[–] kensand@sopuli.xyz 8 points 10 months ago

18 grams of espresso beans produces 45 grams of espresso liquid when running the machine for 30 seconds.

[–] wfh@lemm.ee 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

It's a simple espresso recipe that says "18g of coffee beans, ground fine enough that 45g of liquid (espresso) come out in the cup in 30s from the start of the pump". It tells you about the dose and the ratio, and the brew time is an indication since everything else is a variable depending on the beans, roast level, grinder, machine, temperature and humidity levels.

"dry" means unadulterated beans, since were talking about wetting them before grinding.

[–] Sparkega@sh.itjust.works 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I accidentally misread the instructions when I first heard of this and added 5ml of water for 25g of beans. The beans were chunkier after grinding but was the best cup of coffee I've ever made, definitely more delicious than dry grinding. Unsure how it compares to spritzing instead but just adding water works for me.

[–] wfh@lemm.ee 6 points 10 months ago

Soaked beans are the next trend you're a precursor 🤣

[–] CCMan1701A@startrek.website 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I tired this yesterday, but only did one spray. Need to try with two or three next time.

[–] CCMan1701A@startrek.website 1 points 10 months ago

Did 3 sprays on 11g, no lumps, no static in the hopper or catcher. I didn't notice any difference in taste, but I used the aeropress. I did notice less dripping.

[–] walden@sub.wetshaving.social 0 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Do you have a good recommendation for a little spray bottle?

[–] wfh@lemm.ee 4 points 10 months ago

I bought the cheapest I could find 😅

[–] CCMan1701A@startrek.website 2 points 10 months ago

I ordered the ones that say for cosmetics.

[–] joemo@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 10 months ago

Any spray bottle will do. If you don't have one, you can probably just add a few drops of water (turn the faucet on very low or find another method to do so) and then swirl the beans around to distribute the water.

I forget if James Hoffman mentions a specific amount, but I typically go for like 0.5g when I add the water to my beans.