I think some of the confusion here comes from the fact that the SCAA only uses the final brew volume in extraction/strength calculations where Alan uses the input water in his extraction/strength calculations.
I don't know which is right but the SCAA considers the retained water as absorbed and doesn't extract anything where Alan includes all the water for extraction and looks at the retained water as trapped in the grounds.
I think the SCAA method comes from the result you would get if you evaporated the finished brew and weighed the resulting extracted coffee then used this amount to find what percent was extracted. Using this method the absorbed or trapped water would stay in the grounds and would not show up on the brew side.
Now there's an idea, if you have a precision scale and preferably a dessicator. It'll be a little inaccurate because I suspect you'd lose some CO2 and some volatile organics during the evaporation -- low-temperature dessication would probably limit that. But that's probably going to be way more accurate than using Brix or TDS meters, both of which are measuring only certain types of dissolved solids.
But really, it's overkill, since I'm sure that the 20% "optimal" extraction figure is pretty much just a guess. Does anybody know how the SCAA came to that number? I'm thinking it wasn't a particularly scientific or precise process. I suspect somebody just estimated the extraction he was getting in his own personal favorite brewing method using a TDS meter, mediocre digital scale, and back-of-an-envelope calculations. My understanding is that TDS meters actually only measure ionic compounds, since they operate by measuring the resistivity of the solution, so just as with Brix it's using a subset of the compounds present to estimate the total compounds.
And anyway, doesn't it matter which compounds you get? Extracting the most bitter, nasty 20% will not produce a good cup, even if you're super-accurate and get 20.000000%. I think the real benefit of certain brewing methods over others is not how much they extract, but what mix of compounds (i.e., relative proportions) they extract. That's obviously affected by temperature, as different compounds have different solubility vs. temperature curves, and probably also affected by contact time, water hardness, grind fineness, and maybe stirring. I'm not sure how much the water:coffee ratio affects the relative proportions of different compounds that are extracted, but I suppose it might.
I for one only care about being thrifty with my coffee beans when I'm brewing a lot of coffee for a crowd of people who can't tell the difference between great coffee and mediocre coffee. And it's not that I'm rich -- it's that the price difference between 14g and 22g of coffee is really only a few cents. I'll spend a few cents to get a better cup of coffee. I drink it for the taste first and foremost, and the caffeine is just a side effect.
If you want to get the fullest possible extraction, I suggest that you eat the beans. Or brew it however you like, drink the brew, then eat the spent grounds. And the filter. Yum! Maybe you could make brownies with the spent grounds.
Brewing methods which use less coffee than the AeroPress can only do so by exceeding the recommended 20% extraction. That results in more acid and bitterness.
I like the Aeropress, but in my experience, it clearly requires a lot more coffee than most other methods. Using Alan's numbers, one Aeropress scoop of approximately 12g produces 5oz of americano. This is in keeping with my experience: I use two double shots to fill my small Thermos carafe (20oz) with americano. That's 48g of coffee to produce 20oz of americano.
To make the same 20oz in my Yama vac pot, I use 5 standard tablespoon scoops of approximately 7g to produce a similar strength brew. That's 35g for the same 20oz.
To make a full pot of 34oz in my KMB, I also use 5 standard tablespoon scoops. That's 35g to produce 34oz of coffee. If I tried the Aeropress ratio of 12g per 5oz for a full pot in the KMB, the grounds would not even come close to fitting in the filter holder!
My Bialetti moka pot uses an even lower ratio of grounds to brew (diluted to equivalent americano strength), although I just fill the filter basket and don't measure the amount in scoops.
Do these other methods exceed the "recommended" 20% extraction? Who cares? The coffee tastes great and is not the least bit bitter. However, experimenting with less coffee in the Aeropress (various permutations of finer grind, longer stirring, and/or more water pressed through the cylinder) produced inferior results, just as I would expect poor results using the Aeropress grounds to brew ratio with these other methods.
Just because it happened to you doesn't make it interesting.
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.
For those who want more extraction from the AeroPress, here are some ways to accomplish that:
Use finer grind, that requires a VERY GENTLE pressing. That in turn takes longer and you get more extraction from the fine grind AND from the longer wet time. My experience is that you can push extraction up to 25% this way with no increase in acidity or bitterness.
Press more water through the bed of coffee. That both extracts more and reduces the strength of brew trapped in the puck. My experience is that this noticeably increases bitterness. But rasqual likes this approach.
Use hotter water. This may be better anyway for light roasts -- even if you're not seeking to reduce coffee expense.
Have fun, do a lot of tasting comparisons. They needn't be blind, but side-by-side comparisons are recommended.
Posted Fri Apr 11, 2008, 6:00pm Subject: Re: Aerobie Aeropress - How much coffee does AeroPress use?
DrugOfChoice Said:
I like the Aeropress, but in my experience, it clearly requires a lot more coffee than most other methods.
However, experimenting with less coffee in the Aeropress (various permutations of finer grind, longer stirring, and/or more water pressed through the cylinder) produced inferior results, just as I would expect poor results using the Aeropress grounds to brew ratio with these other methods.
Wow! I received my Aeropress today and was certain that I had blown my expectations out of proportion after reading the marketing material, several reviews from different sites, then finding a warm reception for the device here, I was expecting the impossible.
I have loved coffee for about 15 years, I don’t know why I retained the desire for coffee after mostly drinking horrible stuff. I took to dosing it heavily with cream and sugar and enjoying the faint coffee flavors that were left over after I had masked the bitterness. I have had good coffee and really nice restaurants and other events so I know it could be done, but had no idea how to do it myself.
I went through the probably stereotypical experience for people in this forum, I bought more and more equipment, I bought more and better beans, only to be disappointed time and time again. Well I stumbled across Aeropress Wednesday. I bought it at Amazon and had it second day aired. I got it at lunch, but needed to get back to work and had no good beans (They were delayed and will arrive Monday). I sat at work thinking about how to get some marginal beans and how great the coffee was going to be.
I stopped by out smaller grocery stores and bought a couple bags that looked somewhat fresh and well roasted. I ran some through my coffee maker and some through the Aeropress and I was blown away by the Aeropress coffee. Maybe other machines could be wielded by professionals to make a better cup, but I have never produced anything like this in my kitchen. I drank my first cup of black coffee and enjoyed it.
I am looking forward to playing with the temp, amount of coffee and dilution ratio over the next few days to fine tune the creation, but wow. The cup was dark, dark, dark and smelled very good and very strong. There was no bitterness! A good day!
Three friends and relatives and going to order their own after hearing me go on and on about it. Great coffee, the cycle is broken!
Scott, can you elaborate a little. I did not mean my comments to be a knock on the Aeropress. I get great coffee from it using Alan's recommended amount of coffee, but that recommended amount IS significantly greater than required by other brewing methods that I use.
I don't really mind this; when I use the Aeropress I just use the amount of coffee that works best, just like I do for other methods. I don't really feel the need to MAKE the Aeropress work with less coffee just for the sake of making it work with less coffee, and I don't really feel the need to make the Aeropress work BETTER, either. I've experimented with different techniques for fun and out of curiosity, but I'm very comfortable with my current recipe (pretty standard, although I don't make a fetish out of water temperature).
What would you suggest I do differently?
I WOULD like to be able to make a larger quantity without multiple pressings, but that's a different issue.
Just because it happened to you doesn't make it interesting.
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.
Posted Sun Apr 13, 2008, 9:12pm Subject: Re: Aerobie Aeropress - How much coffee does AeroPress use?
DrugOfChoice Said:
Scott, can you elaborate a little. I did not mean my comments to be a knock on the Aeropress. I get great coffee from it using Alan's recommended amount of coffee, but that recommended amount IS significantly greater than required by other brewing methods that I use.
It's not whether someone's knocking an Aero that bothers me -- it's the tragedy of wasting good coffee. ;-)
It's difficult to say what might help you. The advice I generally give folks is to trust their own brewing experience and ignore the Aeropress instructions entirely. For example, to brew a cup would you generally use just as much water as comes up to that (1) mark on the Aero? No, of course not. You'd use much more.
Secondly, there's nothing magic about the Aeropress. What it possesses is the qualities of a design that permits a lot of control over the brewing variables. Since there's no magic, it doesn't somehow change the rules of brewing. Your coffee doesn't become mysteriously incapable of delivering a strong extraction unless you increase the amount of coffee. Something in your brewing variables just isn't quite right.
I'd suggest trying more water, but perhaps starting your press after less time stirring. That's a guess.
Now I will confess that I end up using a bit more coffee with my Aero brews, but I've realized that this is because I'm progressively enjoying stronger and stronger brews as years go by. I'd use more coffee in other methods as well.
Also, for anyone recalling my brewing at our church, I happily report that the congregation is now enjoying full strength coffee, whereas a couple years ago they were habituated to rather weak brew. Nice to see. Also, satisfying existential feedback -- inasmuch as strong coffee is only tolerable if it's good coffee (and thus I deduce that my roasts are satisfying to folks ;-)
Best of luck!
P.S. -- Alan must shake his head in wonder at how often I've counseled folks to ignore the instructions he so carefully researched and tested. But that's what he has to endure from someone who finds his device just about the finest design for manual brewing I've ever seen. :-)
Posted Mon Apr 14, 2008, 9:54am Subject: Re: Aerobie Aeropress - How to Brew
rasqual you loveable rascal!
I offer a compromise.
Don't "ignore the instructions completely" as raqual counsels. Try the instrucions -- along with any other scheme your heart desires. Choose your favorite.
Yes, the AeroPress chamber and plunger are polycarbonate and contain Bisphenol-A. The material is FDA approved for contact with boiling water and other foods.
Bisphenol-A is an ingredient in many types of kitchen cookware, electric teakettles, microwaveable food containers, cling wrap, baby bottles, linings for food cans, dental sealants, medical devices, eyeglasses, and numerous other plastic products.
"The use of polycarbonate plastic for food contact applications continues to be recognized as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the European Commission Scientific Committee on Food, the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency, the Japan Ministry for Health and Welfare and other regulatory authorities worldwide."
"An average adult consumer would have to ingest more than 600 kilograms (about 1,300 pounds) of food and beverages in contact with polycarbonate every day for an entire lifetime to exceed the level of BPA that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set as safe."
Nearly all cookware materials are accused of health risks:
Glass and ceramics (release lead and/or cadmium) Non-stick cookware (flourochemicals) Aluminum (suspected of promoting Alzheimer's disease) Stainless steel (nickel, chromium) Copper (poisonous, banned in Canada for direct food contact) Brass (also banned in Canada yet used for boilers in most espresso machines) Silver (poisonous, silverplate easily scratched to expose underlying copper or brass)
See Health Canada: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/iyh-vsv/prod/cook-cuisinier_e.html
My intent here is not to launch a debate on the safety of Bisphenol-A. We are relying on the FDA for guidance. However anyone who feels uncomfortable about Bis-A should make their own choice.
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