Brewing and drinking

There are both hot and cold methods of extracting flavour and aroma from ground coffee, and the caffeine content varies with the variety of bean and method of brewing. Generally speaking, one serving (five fluid ounces) of Arabica instant coffee contains about 70 mg of caffeine, while a serving of brewed Robusta may contain 200 mg.

In steeping or boiling, pulverized coffee is measured into hot water, which is usually then boiled before being poured off the grounds. In percolation, water is brought to a boil in an urn and fed up a tube to a basket holding the coffee. After filtering through the coffee, the water drips back to the urn, where it is forced back up the tube and recirculated until the brew has reached the desired strength. In the filter, or drip, method, hot water is slowly filtered through the coffee and dripped into a receptacle; it is not recirculated.

The espresso machine forces boiled water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Single-serve coffeemakers also force hot water through coffee grounds.

A French press, however, uses infusion to make the coffee. After the coffee has steeped in the hot water, a mesh-lined plunger is used to push the grounds to the bottom, leaving the coffee above ready to pour directly from the container. Many traditionalists consider French-press coffee second only to the rich flavour of espresso.

In vacuum brewing, steam pressure pushes heated water into an upper chamber, which holds the grounds. Once removed from the heat, steam recondenses in the lower chamber, thus creating a partial vacuum. With the pressure now higher in the upper chamber, the brewed coffee is forced back down through the filter-topped spout into the lower chamber, where it is ready to drink.

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Drink to This

There is a long-standing tradition that the best way to serve coffee drinks is “fresh and hot,” within moments of being brewed, though that is not necessarily the case. It is true that espresso should be enjoyed immediately, before the highly volatile aromas dissipate, but brewed coffee that is too hot not only can burn the tongue but also masks the full complement of flavours. Only after it has cooled slightly can more of the inherent flavour be captured. In fact, professional coffee tasters typically wait five or six minutes before tasting a brew. A more moderate temperature produces a more authentic flavour profile. Because of those effects, the temperature of water used for brewing should be calibrated to remain consistent from one brewing cycle to the next.

Finally, high temperature is not needed to brew coffee—as long as one is willing to wait about 12 hours. In cold-water extraction, dampened grounds are left to sit and steep. When strained after some 12 hours, the resulting “cold brew” has a robust but smooth taste without the bitter acids and oils that traditionally accompany hot-water extraction methods. The cold concentrate keeps well for up to two weeks when refrigerated, and it is ideal as a cooking ingredient, as when making coffee ice cream.

Instant coffee

In the manufacture of instant coffee (called soluble coffee in the industry), a liquid concentration of coffee prepared with hot water is dehydrated. This can be done by spray-drying (by drying with a hot gas) or by freeze-drying (a dehydration process known as lyophilization). The operations are complex, and methods vary among manufacturers. The resulting soluble powder, on the addition of hot water, forms reconstituted coffee. The average yield is 25 to 30 percent by weight of the ground coffee, thereby lowering shipping costs. Instant coffee is obviously quicker to make than brewed coffee, and it enjoys a longer shelf life than coffee beans, but it picks up moisture readily and must be kept dry. The taste of instant coffee is also widely considered inferior to brewed coffee.

Cooking with coffee

Water is not the only vehicle for conveying coffee’s character once it has left the bean. Coffee can also be made in alcohol or oil. Although coffee made that way is not good for drinking, it has interesting culinary applications.

Coffee extracted into alcohol, for example, makes a useful ingredient for crafting cocktails. It can also be a good way to add a small amount of coffee aroma to a sauce without adding bitterness. Most of the bitter compounds are not extracted if pure ethanol (such as Everclear) is used. The resulting concentrate is analogous to vanilla extract.

Coffee made with a mixture of water and alcohol can produce a bit (if not the best) of both worlds: the pure, smooth character that alcohol attracts plus the extra taste compounds that water draws from the coffee. Vodka, a pure neutral spirit diluted with water, is a great candidate for that approach.

If one uses a pure fat, such as a neutral cooking oil or clarified butter, to make coffee, only the fat-soluble aroma compounds in the beans will be captured. That does include most of the aromas, but it carries none of the compounds that contribute to taste. In certain cases, that may be the desired effect. There too a greater balance can be achieved by adding some water to the mix. Melted unclarified butter or heavy cream both contain plenty of water, for example. Cream infused with freshly crushed coffee beans produces an intensely flavoured ice cream.

Because espresso is extracted at higher pressure than coffee brewed other ways, the compounds drawn off the beans are more volatile and dissipate quickly, which is why espresso should be consumed immediately. By the time espresso is integrated into a dish and the cooking or preparation of the latter is complete, the peak flavour of the coffee has been lost.