Coffee Taste

The single most popular reason people return a coffee machine is they don’t like the coffee produced by the machine. I would say 99.9% of the time the complaint is that the coffee was too weak or not strong enough.

With that in mind, I want to look at the variables in coffee brewing that affect what we call strength or taste.

The main variables are these:

Coffee type
Coffee roast
Coffee grind
Brewing style
Water Temperature
Brewing (Extraction) time

Coffee Type

There are two types of coffee beans, Arabica and Robusta. Arabica has a more rounded, complete and complex flavor to it. Robusta has less body, more bitterness and more caffeine. It is a more costly, involved process to grow and produce coffee from Arabica coffee plants than Rubusta. This and the more refined flavor elements is why Arabica coffee is more expensive. Rubusta, being less expensive, is used in mass produced consumer products you will find on supermarket shelves. However, Robusta beans are also used in “quality” blends to achieve certain results. For instance, if you want higher caffeine and bolder flavor elements in your coffee or if you seek improved crema in your Italian espresso, then Robusta beans will achieve this result.

As a result coffee aficionados seek out Arabica beans, but it is possible to see quality coffee blends with as much as 45% Robusta beans.

If a strong brew is your personal preference, you may want to seek out bolder style coffees, particularly when using a brewing style like the automatic drip machine.

Coffee roast

Now add to this, coffee roast. How dark is the finished coffee bean?

All coffee beans, meaning the dried seed of a coffee fruit berry, start out green.

The darker the roast, the stronger and more bitter the taste will be in the cup. Stronger tasting coffee is not necessarily better but it does seem to be a popular taste preference.

However, the more expensive, unique and rare the coffee, the less dark you want it. You see, as a coffee bean is cooked, the elements change. The so called lighter roasts are actually more appropriate for prized single estate, high end coffees like fine Kenyan, Hawaiian Kona or Jamaica Blue Mountain. There is an element called “the place origin characteristic” that develops as the coffee cooks. The French call this terroir – the essence of soil, weather and bean (or grape, or olive). Beyond a certain roasting point, the characteristics of origin fade and characteristics of the roast take over. In the photo below, this starts to happen with photo 13 Vienna/Light French Roast. Most people feel the truest expressions are in the light to medium roast ranges (a.k.a Cinnamon roast, half city, New England or City, Full City, Medium Dark). This would be pictures 9 – 12 below.

If you like, big bold, smack you in the face coffee, then you will want the dark roasts often referred to as French Roast, number 14 below.

Photo from SweetMaria’s.Com

The proper roast depends on the intention of the roaster. Are the coffees single estate, single region blend, inter-region blend? Is the roaster trying for a big powerful boost or a subtle, smooth effect? Are they trying to make a full flavor and yet affordable blend? In many ways, coffee is like wine and no less challenging to understand.

Coffee grind

Now that we know a little about roasting, understanding the grind comes next.

The rule is simple – the finer the grind, the more bold, bitter flavors are extracted. Combine this with the fact that every brewing type has an acceptable range of grinds and we can begin. The most popular brewing method in North America, automatic drip style, is a medium grind. The press style (Cafetiere or French Press) coffee is on the coarse side, as is percolator. Espresso is the second most fine, with Greek/Turkish/Ethiopian style coffee being the most fine.

The grind is appropriate to the style. The longer the water is in contact with the coffee grounds, the stronger it will taste and the coarser the grind you will need. As I just said, each style has a range of grinds that are acceptable and if you like it stronger, use a finer grind, but not too much or you risk making a mess.

Brewing style

Brewing style is another way to get stronger or milder coffee. Greek/Turkish coffee has a very strong, bold flavor and preparing it is low tech, using a special device called an ibrik over a medium flame, heated twice but never boiled.

Espresso is another strong, bold method but may require a larger investment in equipment. Espresso machines allow you to control the grind, temperature and the amount of water. You can make the coffee as bold as you like it. The right equipment? That is the topic of another post altogether.

Another big favorite for making coffee is the press style pots, also known as French Press, or Cafetiere. This type of brewing is also low tech: pour water, slightly under the boil, over a fairly course grind of coffee and steep or brew for 4 – 6 minutes. For ease of use and full enjoyment of flavor, I find the press pot one of the best methods to use. The equipment is inexpensive, and you have lots of control over the strength. If you want a bolder flavor, use a dark roast, experiment with a finer grind or let it steep a little longer.

The most popular method, drip style, allows some control over the process but not much. The way to get a bolder cup using a drip style machine is to use a finer grind, but not too fine. The tolerance here will vary by machine and whether you use a paper or gold mesh filter. The paper filters provide a slower drip through process and should be used with a coarser grind. The gold tone mesh filters allow for quicker drip through and will be better with a finer grind. You can also reduce the amount of water you use in the machine to strengthen the taste. Read the manual – what a concept! – and see if your particular machine has an aroma setting. Setting the aroma function to the strongest setting will get the most out of your brew. The only feature you don’t have control over in drip style machines is water temperature.

The Technivorm MoccaMaster and the Capresso machines produce the hottest, most consistent water temperatures in the business. Be aware that if you have a glass coffee carafe, there will be a heating element under it continuing to heat the coffee as long as the power is on. This will indeed strengthen the taste, but not in a good way.

Water Temperature

The proper water temperature for brewing coffee is 195 – 205 degrees. Espresso may only need 190 – 196 for proper extraction, but you can see there is a consistent range. Hotter water will affect the taste strength but not in a positive way. If the water is too hot, the coffee will taste bitter and over extracted. The prime example of this is percolator coffee. In this method, boiling water is washed repeatedly over the grinds, maximizing the extraction of caffeine and bitter elements.

Brewing (Extraction) time

As just mentioned, leaving the ground coffee in contact with the water longer will produce a stronger brew. It isn’t possible to do this with automatic pressure brew or drip style machines and not recommended for espresso or Turkish/Greek coffee. It is a valid strengthening technique for press coffee, but keep in mind that if you want to leave the coffee in contact with the water longer, remember to use a coarser grind. This will minimize over extraction of the bitter elements.

Summary

Deciding to brew coffee at home means you can save money and time each day, but you are taking on the responsibility to understand coffee without formal training. As you have seen, there are many factors that affect the strength of coffee taste. I’ll bet you had no idea there was so much to think about. After all, you just wanted a strong cup of coffee.

**Special Addendum**
Reader “Dave” left a great comment below about water purity. He is correct, filtered water is a must. Thanks Dave.
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