Coffee Guide: What Is Body? & How Do I Brew & Roast for It?

Body: what actually is it? It’s something we coffee-lovers like to talk about a lot, and it’s even included on cupping forms. But do we know what body really is? Why some coffees have more body than others? And how we can roast or brew to accentuate this quality?

If you answered no to any of those questions, don’t worry – I’m about to answer them for you.

Spanish Version: Guía de Café: ¿Qué es el Cuerpo? Cómo Tostar & Preparar para Obtenerlo

An espresso, a drink known for its body. Credit: Edan Cohen

What Is Body?

Let’s start with the basics: body is a coffee’s texture. In The Professional Barista’s Handbook, Scott Rao defines it as “a beverage’s weight or fullness perceived in the mouth.”

While body is an element of mouthfeel, it’s worth noting that there can be differences. In The Coffee Dictionary, Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood writes, “It is interesting to consider that you could experience a light body with a sticky mouth feel or a big body with a juicy mouth feel.”

Body is not something we taste: rather, it is a sensation we feel. However, it can influence a coffee’s overall flavor. This is because flavor is a combination of many factors – taste, aroma, texture, sound, and maybe even sight.

SEE ALSO: Coffee Tasting Basics: Taste vs Flavour

And in my experience as a barista, body is one of the three things coffee-drinkers are always looking for (along with bright acidity and defined flavors).

Pouring brewed coffee. Credit: Estate Coffee Company

The Insoluble Science of Body

If we want to accentuate body, we need to know how it’s created. And that means talking about extraction. This is the process by which flavor and aroma compounds are extracted from dry coffee into water, becoming the brewed coffee we love to drink.

SEE ALSO: The 3 Extraction Phases of Drip Coffee

During extraction, substances can be divided into solubles and insolubles. The solubles are the substances that can be diluted in the water. The insolubles, on the other hand, are solids and oils that remain suspended in the liquid instead of dissolving. They’re things like protein molecules and certain coffee fibers. And these insolubles – especially the oils – increase body.

Brewing with a paper filter and a V60, a method known for reducing oils. Credit: Rojo Cerezo

Why Are Some Coffees Fuller-Bodied Than Others?

There are many factors that determine why one specific coffee has more body than another.  Some coffee varieties are just more prone to body. So are specific coffee processing methods, brew methods, and filters. And roast profiles can be manipulated to produce more body.

Let’s take a look at some of these factors now, starting with the green beans and making our way through to the final beverage.

Some espressos are fuller-bodied than others. Credit: Rojo Cerezo

Green Beans With Great Body

Certain coffee varieties are more inclined to body than others. When I first started working as a barista, I was brewing a Maracaturra from El Socorro, Guatemala. It had a peach flavor with hints of whiskey as it cooled, caramel texture, and a round body that filled the mouth. And I fell madly in love with coffee because of beans like this.

On the other hand, you have the Pacamara: another early love of mine. For me, the Pacamara variety is outstanding. It’s distinguished by fruity flavors, mostly stone fruits, and outstanding chocolate notes. However, it often has a medium body.

And then you have Geisha, the industry’s most celebrated variety. This coffee is known for its delicate, tea-like body, making it a very different coffee experience from Maracaturra.

SEE ALSO: Geisha vs Bourbon: A Crash Course in Coffee Varieties

A Pacas variety from Honduras, ready for roasting. Credit: Metric Coffee Co.

If you have a low-bodied coffee lot, you have three options: accept that it has low levels of body; try to highlight body through the processing, roasting, brewing; or blend it with a coffee with greater levels of body.

Washed processed coffees are associated with a more delicate body: they’re more prized for their clarity and cleanness than their mouthfeel. As for naturals, you can expect a bigger, rounder body.

Honeys and pulped naturals are also associated with body. And generally speaking, the more mucilage left on the cherry, the more body you’ll get in the cup. A black honey coffee will stand out for its syrupy sweetness.

SEE ALSO: Washed, Natural, Honey: Coffee Processing 101

Freshly roasted coffee.. Credit: Gerónimo López

How to Roast for Body

Green coffee can be roasted to emphasise body or downplay it, depending on your vision for the particular beans.

First of all, let’s make one thing clear: darker roasts are often associated with more body. However, as Matt Perger of Barista Hustle points out, bean colour and roast development are not always connected. Roasting is a complex combination of multiple factors, and good roasters will control the heat all the way through the roast to accentuate their desired profiles.

In particular, the green coffee suppliers Sweet Maria’s highlights the ability to manipulate body by controlling the duration of first crack. If done right, stretching first crack can increase body. “A more syrupy mouthfeel is related to the perception of particular carbohydrates that are released in greater levels with the stretching out of first crack,” they say in a blog post.

What’s more, in Modulating the Flavor Profile of Coffee, Rob Hoos explains that if roasters also stretch out the Maillard reaction, this can lead to more melanoidins. In turn, this means more body.

However, remember that if you stretch out your roast too much, the rate of rise may stall and the roast will then bake. This will create a flat, doughy beverage. You need to balance all the different reactions going on inside your beans to create the best possible roast profile for each coffee.

SEE ALSO: Coffee Roasting Essentials: A Guide to Rate of Rise (RoR)

Beans cool after roasting. Credit: Bo Smith

How to Brew for Body

Since oils create body, how much oil your brewing method and filter allow through into the final cup has a huge impact on body. And there are a lot of differences between these brewing methods.

Manual brewing methods are often depicted as sitting on a scale, with high body and low clarity at one end and high clarity but low body on the other. The French press, for example, is known for its body. On the other hand, pour overs are generally associated with clarity. The AeroPress is famous for its flexibility: you can brew it to enhance body or clarity, depending on your mood.

One of the reasons the French press is known for its body is its metal filter. Paper traps many of the oils in the coffee, while metal allows them to pass through. The Chemex, in contrast to the French press, is known for the cleanness of its brew, made possible by its thick paper filters. If you have both a metal and a paper filter to choose from, you have more flexibility over what your final brew will taste like.

SEE ALSO: Brewing Methods Compared: How Should You Make Coffee at Home?

Beatriz Macías brews pour over coffee, not traditionally associated with great body. Credit:Credit: Alejandro Escobar, Pare de Dormir Brew Bar

Then, of course, there’s the espresso. This drink has greater body because it has a much higher brew ratio (i.e. more coffee to water) than other methods, and also because it relies on pressure rather than gravity to make the water run through the grounds and extract compounds. This pressure creates crema, a golden-brown bitter layer filled with oils and melanoidins – those same things that produce body.

You can also manipulate the brew ratio/strength of manual methods to create more or less body. But be wary of under or over-extracting your coffee. An over-extracted coffee can taste, as Matt Perger of Barista Hustle says, “hollow and empty.”

And don’t forget that many drinks are made with milk as a base. The type of milk you use – full fat vs skimmed, soy vs dairy – can affect the body. The best milks will add creaminess as well as sweetness.

A barista pours milk into a latte. Credit: Mecca Coffee

Body: it’s a celebrated quality that sounds simple, but is actually far more complex. But one of the amazing things about third wave coffee is the ability it gives us to understand and control coffee flavors.

So go ahead: experiment with everything I’ve just told you. Play around with body. And create the perfect cup of coffee for you.

Written by Pablo Vazquez.

Perfect Daily Grind

https://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2017/09/coffee-guide-body-i-brew-roast/

BA PHƯƠNG PHÁP CHÍNH ĐỂ SƠ CHẾ CÀ PHÊ

Honey, dry, washed, pulped natural… do you ever look at your coffee packaging and wonder what on earth these mean? Or, perhaps more importantly, which one best suits your tastebuds?

Well never fear, because we’ve spoken to the experts at Gold Mountain Coffee Growers,Falcon Specialty, and North Star Roasters to find out.

SEE ALSO: Guatemalan Coffee: Growing, Harvesting & Processing in 2 Videos

The 3 Main Types of Coffee Processing

There are three predominant ways coffee has been traditionally processed: washed, natural and honey. There are alternatives, but these are both rare and typically localised, such as wet hulling in Indonesia.

1. Washed Coffees

Washed coffees focus solely on the bean. They let you taste you what’s on the inside, not the outside.

You see, a natural or honey processed coffee requires that the coffee cherry around the bean be flavourful. Washed coffees, however, depend almost 100% on the bean having absorbed enough natural sugars and nutrients during its growing cycle. This means the varietal, soil, weather, ripeness, fermentation, washing, and drying are absolutely key.

Washed coffees reflect both the science of growing the perfect coffee bean and the fact that farmers are an integral part of crafting the taste of a coffee bean. When looking at washed coffees, it becomes apparent that the country of origin and environmental conditions play a vital role in adding to the flavour.

This means that the washed process is able to highlight the true character of a single originbean like no other process – and it’s the reason why so many specialty coffees are washed.

As Holly of North Star Roasters says, “Washed Ethiopian and Kenyan coffees are fantastic examples of the clarity of flavour that can be coaxed out if the coffee is processed correctly.”

Washed coffee being processed. Credit: Gold Mountain Coffee Growers

2. Natural/Dry Processed Coffee

The natural process, also known as the dry process, is a back-to-basics approach that stems from Ethiopia. The fruit is left on the bean, and there’s little disruption to the coffee while it dries. Although it needs less investment, it still requires certain climatic conditions to ensure the drying of the fruit and seed in time.

Over time, the natural process has become considered a lower-quality method that can lead to inconsistent flavours. This inconsistency is often the result of unripe fruit drying and turning brown alongside ripe fruits.

However, there are many who believe this process actually has the potential to create the most flavourful coffees – and that a comeback is just around the corner. If consistency can be achieved, then many argue that natural coffees can match washed coffees for clarity, and also provide some more interesting notes and characteristics as well. You can see this happening in Brazil, among other places.

Ben of Gold Mountain Coffee Growers told me that a nicely picked and processed natural coffee can bring out incredible cupping notes, and offer consumers amazing sweet flavours – “Some of our naturals end up tasting more like a tropical fruit salad or fruit compote than coffee.”

And what’s more, natural coffee is the most eco-friendly.

Coffee being natural processed. Credit: North Star Roasters

3. Honey/Pulped Natural Coffee

When done right, honey processed coffee can literally taste like someone has put honey and brown sugar in your cup of coffee – although the name actually comes from how sticky the beans get during processing. In many ways, this type of coffee is halfway between a washed coffee and a natural process coffee: it’s fruity, but not in as exaggerated a way as some naturals. It often has a more rounded acidity than washed coffees, with intense sweetness and complex mouthfeel.

The honey process is strongly associated with Costa Rica and, in recent years, subcategories have developed: yellow, red, golden, black, and white honey. This reflects the ability this process has to influence the taste and overall profile of a coffee. It can become a highly scientific process, as the level of mucilage – which influences the sweetness and depth of body of the coffee – is monitored and controlled. Typically, the more mucilage left on the bean, the sweeter the taste.

Honey processing in progress. Credit: North Star Roasters

How Do Producers Decide What Process to Use?

Most coffee producers want to produce the most profitable, and therefore the best-tasting, coffee they can, but they’re limited by the environment. Coffee, more so than most foodstuff, has a very close bond to its surrounding environment.

Producers will often wait to see how much rain has fallen before decide whether to produce washed, honey, or natural coffee. If it’s rained a lot, it’s harder to produce good natural process because coffee cherries can start splitting. If it hasn’t rained, conditions are great for honey process or natural process because no sugars will get washed away.

Ben Weiner explained to me how Gold Mountain use refractometers on their farm to measure sugar content. This helps him decide if the sugar content is high enough for natural processed or honey processed coffee. However, they also aim for high sugar content in their washed coffees, since it results in a sweeter cup.

Experiments & Innovations: The Future of Coffee Processing

Mike Riley of Falcon Specialty told me that traditionally producing countries have favoured one particular process. For example, Rwanda and most of Central America historically used the washed process, while Brazil tended towards honey or natural.

Yet Mike explained that this is now changing – thanks to the demand for specialty coffee. An increasing number of farmers are now willing, where environmental and climatic factors allow, to try other processing techniques. For example, in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Rwanda, some farms and cooperatives are turning towards the natural and honey processes. By doing this, they can create new, unusual flavour profiles that add value to their crop.

This goes beyond simply choosing a processing method: some producers are experimenting with the absence of oxygen for fermentation, while others are looking at catalysts to speed up fermentation. Some are also looking closer at their environmental impact, and trying to process coffees while cutting down the use of water. New machinery and knowledge-sharing are also helping to create more unique cup profiles.

There’s a demand for experimental processing methods; Ben Weiner told me that the coffees he uses alternative processing methods on “sometimes sell out even before they’re picked.”This means we can expect to see even more creative innovations in processing in the future.

Communities working together to process coffee. Credit: Falcon Coffee.

Coffee processing rarely makes it into the industry headlines or coffee shop discussions, but it’s an integral part of crafting the flavour and character of your cup of coffee. So next time you pick up a honey processed Costa Rican or a natural processed Nicaraguan, you’ll know what to look forward to.

Written by R. Turp, with special thanks to Gold Mountain Coffee Growers, Falcon Specialty, and North Star Roasters. 

Perfect Daily Grind

https://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2016/07/washed-natural-honey-coffee-processing-101/

TỶ LỆ CHIẾT XUẤT Ở CÀ PHÊ- NHỮNG ĐIỀU CẦN BIẾT

Our favorite beverage, in its simplest form, is just ground coffee beans mixed with water. What determines how good it tastes – whether we get a sweet, complex, balanced and aromatic coffee or a sour or bitter one – depends on two things: the quality of the coffee beans and water, and how we choose to mix them. That last element can get pretty elaborate: the grind size, brew time, water temperature, brewing device, and more will all impact on our final cup.

And then, of course, there’s the brew ratio. This is the ratio of ground coffee to water, something that will affect your beverage’s strength, mouthfeel, and more. So, let’s take a look at the importance of brew ratio to making great coffee.

Lee este artículo en español Ratios de Preparación de Café: Lo Que Necesitas Saber

Using an AeroPress and Clever coffee dripper to brew Salvadoran beans, roasted by THE BARN Berlin, in Estudio de Café, Barcelona. Credit: Coffee Capital

Why Is Brew Ratio So Important?

A coffee’s flavor will vary depending on the recipe. Yes, the recipe – brewing coffee is like baking a cake. The amount of each ingredient you use matters. Just by adding or decreasing the amount of water or coffee, you can alter the coffee’s taste, viscosity, and more.

This is why many baristas and coffee aficionados use scales and timers when brewing.

Some baristas use recipes such as “50 grams of coffee per liter of water for so many cups.” But others will talk about ratios, such as 1:14 – 14 ml of water for every gram of coffee – or 1:16 – 16 ml of water for every gram of coffee.

You might also like Brewing Basics: How to Make Better Coffee

No matter the brew ratio, most baristas try to keep it consistent. This means that they can work more effectively and efficiently. They also know that, if they like how a coffee tastes, they can replicate it in future.

Tasting filtered coffee at Finca Soledad, Intag, in Ecuador. Credit: Coffee Capital

Different Brew Methods, Different Brew Ratios

Let’s say that you have a high-quality, specialty-grade coffee that has been masterfully roasted to highlight its best characteristics – perhaps its jasmine aroma or red apple flavors, its rounded body, or honey sweetness. So, how would you brew it?

You have a few options: filter coffees are, for many people, the ideal way to taste the nuances of your coffee. (They’re also my preference.) With a longer and more diluted drink, the flavors are clean. In contrast, an espresso is a shorter, more intense beverage that excels at displaying two or three main flavors.

And with this comes a different ideal brew ratio, grind size, extraction time, and more.

You might also like Brewing Methods Compared: How Should You Make Coffee at Home?

For espresso, you’ll be using an extremely fine grind and short brew time (often around 25–30 seconds) and very little water – you’ll probably have a ratio somewhere between 1:1 and 1:3. And then you have your ristretto and lungos, shorter and longer versions of the espresso.

Generally speaking, for immersion coffee (such as the French press, AeroPress, or coffee cupping), you’ll want a coarse grind and longer brew time. For drip or pour over, there’s some variance in ideal grind sizes and brew times. Immersion and drip require a lot more water – and a lot more coffee! You might see 1:15 or 1:18, for example. In general, with immersion, you’ll need less coffee than with drip/pour over.

Learn more! Check out Extraction Wars: Espresso vs Ristretto

However, all of these are guidelines. They’re good starting places for developing your brew recipe but, to really know what’s best, you’ll have to experiment. Try different brew ratios with different coffees.

Luis Armijos brews coffee with a Bodum coffee maker at Cafe Traviesa. Credit: Felipe Cisneros

Is There an Ideal Brew Ratio?

Yes, and no.

First of all, it’s a good idea to learn about how different cultures like to prepare their coffee. Some countries prefer more delicate brews; others, more intense ones.

Secondly, while many people will recommend different ratios, it always depends on the coffee.

So how do you know what brew ratio to use? Well, a filter coffee made at 1:20 would be a weak, diluted cup. 1:10 would be extremely intense. These are the extreme ends of the scale; your aim should be to find the right balance for each cup. You want to be able to perceive the fragrances, aromas, flavors, and acidity, and all the notes that a refined palate can taste – and you want to enjoy them.

Additionally, some people choose to bypass brew. This means that they brew their coffee with a relatively small amount of water to get the intensity. Then, to avoid the heavy mouthfeel, they dilute the coffee with more water.

Luis Armijos tastes coffee at Estudio de Café, Barcelona. Credit: Gee Varella

It’s Not Just About Brew Ratio…

Your coffee brew ratio is important, but there are other things you should consider: the type of water, grind profile, temperature, how you’re pouring the water… there are so many variables.

If your coffee isn’t tasting right, you should start by changing one variable at a time and keeping everything else consistent. The easiest one to start with is the grind size:

• If your coffee is sour, salty, or lacking body, grind finer. This will increase the contact area, in turn increasing the speed of extraction, and allowing you to get more of those sweet coffee flavors in the cup.
• If your coffee is too bitter, grind coarser. This will decrease the contact area, reducing the speed of extraction, and preventing too much bitterness from entering the brew.

Note: rate of extraction (the speed at which compounds enter the brew from the grounds) and brew time (the amount of time the water and coffee grounds are in contact) may sound similar, but are very different. Be careful not to confuse them. 

Learn more! Read Understanding Coffee Extraction & Other Key Brewing Concepts

It’s not always easy to make great coffee, especially filter, because there are so many variables. But when you master it, it’s worth it. You’ll be able to taste all those subtle notes written on your coffee bag, be they jasmine, red apple, raspberry, or honey.

And when you’ve extracted this delicate beverage perfectly – when you’ve got the right brew ratio, grind size, and more – then you’ve hit the sweet spot. And I mean that quite literally.

Enjoyed this? You might also like Brewing Basics: How to Make Better Coffee

Written by Luis Armijos of Coffee Capital blog.

Perfect Daily Grind

https://www.perfectdailygrind.com/2018/03/coffee-brew-ratios-need-know/

The coldbrew Tube

 Bộ pha cà phê lạnh đã thử nghiệm thành công tại Oribeans coffee 108 -C6- Trần huy Liệu-HN

Kalita Wave: The Story & Brewing Guide

Kalita Who?

The Wave is another offering from Kalita Co., the family-owned Japanese company which has been making coffee equipment since the 1950s. The Wave’s streamlined style is characteristic of their products.

The Kalita Wave dripper, available in stainless steel, ceramic, or glass. 

Kalita as a Brew Method

The Kalita Wave dripper is a pour-over, similar to a Chemex or V60, which makes for a clean cup. This contrasts with the robust profile of full-immersion brews, such as the French Press or Clever.

Yet while similar to the Chemex or V60, the Kalita Wave has a markedly different extraction configuration. Rather than water dripping through a singular hole, it features a flat bottom with three extraction holes. This eliminates any channeling of water in the coffee bed, resulting in an extremely crisp cup. The dripper also has minimal contact with the filter, allowing for consistency in temperature and an even dispersion of water.

There are two filter types: the 185 and the 155. The 185 filters go with the larger 185 dripper. The 155 is good for those who only plan on drinking one cup per brew.

The Three Factors of a Perfect Coffee

Before we begin looking at the Kalita Wave in detail, let’s talk about the three constants that are important for brewing the perfect cup of coffee:

1. Grind:

This will dictate how well the coffee brews. For the Kalita Wave, the grind setting should be 7.5 on a scale of 10 (1 being espresso fine, 10 being French Press coarse).

You really need a burr grinder for this—a blade grinder just isn’t capable of providing consistent granule sizes.

2. Water:

Water purity is crucial, as is the temperature. If the coffee’s brewed at boiling point, it risks being scorched. If it’s brewed at too low a temperature, the oils will never be properly integrated. It’s widely accepted among enthusiasts that 90-96°C is ideal.

Precision pouring is also a necessity—and the Kalita Wave just so happens to be one of the most accurate (and elegant) kettles on the market.

3. Ratio:

There’s a lot of speculation on the best ratio of water to coffee. The best ratio actually depends on several variables, but the Kalita Wave works best between 14.5-16(ml):1(g). This range allows for variations based on the type of coffee being used and the time since roasting.

Time to Make Some Coffee

With the Kalita Wave, you want to do incremental pours every 30 seconds. The amount of water needed will vary based on what stage it is in the brewing process, while the finishing time should be between 2(m):45(s) and 3:15, depending on how much coffee is being made.

The brew I’m going to describe uses 20 grams of coffee to 360 grams of water. 

1. Bloom:

Be sure to wet the filter before adding the grounds; this will get rid of any papery taste. Once the grounds have been added, pour 40-60g of water and let it bloom for 30 seconds. This will help the gas within the beans from the roasting process to escape.

2.  Brew:

Next, pour 150g of water in a constant stream for 20 seconds. Wait until the timer reaches 1 minute, and pour 50g over the next 20 seconds. Wait for the 1:30 mark, then repeat. At 2 minutes, proceed to fill the dripper all the way up to 360 grams. Wait for the water to clear from the dripper, and you’re ready to serve.

Kalita Wave Brewing Tips

• The Kalita Wave kettle is stove-top friendly, so don’t be afraid to get it hot. This will help ensure the water being used will stay warm, unlike when you pour boiled water from a hot kettle into a cold one.

• A microfiber cloth and a bit of water polishes nicely, so you can keep your dripper and kettle looking like new.

• When measuring the water you need, go ahead and fill the kettle to the top. This will allow enough margin to wet the filter, warm the server, and preheat the cup. The last thing you want is to run out of water while brewing.

Written by G. Pugh and edited by T. Newton.

Feature Photo Credit: Gavin Pugh.

Perfect Daily Grind.

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