From last week’s post, “Which roast has more caffeine?” if you read the linked article, the comprehensive answer given was:
A 12 oz. brewed cup of dark-roasted Arabica coffee will contain more caffeine if it has been weighed prior to brewing as opposed to a lighter roasted Arabica coffee taken to the same weight.
The darker you roast, the more volume the beans require. You can hold the image of beans puffing up more, the longer/darker you roast. For fixed volume, like when we ship in a flat rate box, we can fit slightly less medium-dark than medium beans. For the same weight, if you’re a bean counter, there will be more beans in the medium-dark roast bag than in the medium-roast. And if you buy green beans, a pound looks like a similar volume to our half-pound roasted coffee. Is your head spinning?
This article from Home Grounds goes into detail about why you should measure your coffee according to weight. Once you’ve dialed it in to what you like, though, you can note the volume (X tablespoons or scoops, whatever), and you can just measure by volume.
I’m sure Bea would find this all incredibly fastidious and fussy. She often makes instant coffee, and it serves her needs and taste. Do any of you use recipes from Cook’s Illustrated? I’m very appreciative that they fuss over every last detail, explain as much as possible, but then give you the conclusion, the recipe that works. So if you feel like it, you can read the backstory to any recipe. Or you can just use the recipe, and tweak it for your own needs/requirements.
That’s what I’m trying to provide you … some details if you care about them. There’s a lot that goes into coffee. Myself, I make notes about my brewing recipes and results. Sometimes I use the machine drip brewer, sometimes the Chemex or AeroPress, etc. It depends how many people I’m serving and whatever constraints. When I do something different, I just try and jot down what I do. That way, whatever the result is, I remember what I did. I write it down by brewing method, weight, grind size, water amount, and anything else involved (bloom time, stirring, etc.). I still manage to frequently mess up a fairly simple task (my recent Chemex brews come to mind).
It has become my business to understand what goes into a good cup of home brewed coffee, and I’d like to know how to eke out the best, even if I don’t do it all the time. But I’ve found that as I’ve learned more about coffee, friends are more afraid to serve me or apologize for their brewed coffee. Don’t worry! It’s all good. It should be about more enjoyment (a pause and enjoying time together, or maybe just waking up) and less stress (doing it “right”). That could hold for everything we do — more enjoyment, less stress.