There are 100 ways you can brew your coffee. Do You Boil Coffee or Pour Boiling Water on the Coffee? There are different ground styles, mixing ratios, coffee strains, add-ons and so on that can affect the taste of your cup.
But how do you brew coffee? Should you stick to boiling coffee on the stove and brewing it? Or should you only stick with adding boiling water on the coffee ground?
We will end this debate with this article.
Why You Should Not Boil Coffee?
As the title of the article implies, we have to understand why we are not up to boiling a mix of water and coffee grounds.
Traditional coffee recipes never call for a mix of cold water and coffee and then boiling it up on the stove. This is because boiling the coffee will literally destroy the flavor and the compounds of the ground itself. There will be over-extraction and bitter taste in the coffee.
Boil Coffee or Pour Boiling Water on the Coffee: Which is Right?
This answer is not as simple. Both forms can be valid, but one exceeds your expectations.
First of all, boiling a mix of coffee ground and water will ruin the taste. This style is only applicable to tea. This means you’ll get a better result if you pour boiling water on the grounds.
But there are some more conditions as well.
As long as the opinions of expert baristas are concerned, you should not always pour boiling water of 100-degree centigrade on the coffee ground. It’s better to stick to a few degrees lower.
And what is that sweet temperature?
What Temperature Should You Heat Your Coffee Too?
As we’ve just said, 100-degree centigrade boiling water is not the best thing to pour on the coffee ground. Although it’s the quickest and easiest method to brew coffee, you should stay away from this as long as you’re serious about the taste of the coffee.
The sweet spot of boiling water is 95-96-degree centigrade(202 to 206 degrees Fahrenheit).
Why is 100 Degree Centigrade(Boiling Water) Bad for Coffee?
This question may pop into your head- why you should not pour boiling water on your coffee grounds?
Having a good brew of coffee is all about coffee extraction. If you pour 100 degrees of boiling water on the coffee ground, the extraction will be too fast. And it will mix a bitter cup.
Another point behind the debate is the uneven extraction of coffee. Boiling water is so hot that it does not allow the coffee ground to be extracted uniformly. What’s the result? A bad taste in the coffee.
How Do You Recognize The Perfect State of A Boiling Water?
We want you to recognize the right moment and right temperature to add hot water onto the coffee ground. There are two ways to do this-
First of all, you can use a kettle with a thermostat. As it reaches the required temperature zone, you need to take that off from the cooker and pour it right onto the coffee.
Another quick hack is to wait for around 30 seconds after the water starts to produce bubbles. Those bubbles show that the water has reached up to its boiling point. And a 30 minutes break from that moment will let it drop the temperature by around 2-3 degrees Fahrenheit.
What If You Are At An Altitude?
The temperature of the boiling point of water is around 100 degrees centigrade at sea level. So, the advice of adding water with a temperature below 100-degree centigrade is applicable. But when you are at an altitude of 1000 feet, things will be changed to some extent.
Because of the change in air pressure, the boiling temperature of the water changes if you are at an altitude. There is a certain formula you can use to calculate this. But for now, here’s an example- ‘At a height of 1000 feet, water starts boiling at 96-degree centigrade.
Boil Coffee or Pour Boiling Water on the Coffee:
Is There A Better Way?
Some like to go with filtered coffee machines, where some others love to stick to hand-brewed coffee.
The choice is completely yours.
But there are some aspects that you always need to take care of. For example- there should be no compromise with the quality of the coffee ground. That being said, you can add your own customized flavor or add-on to make it even better.
Bottom Line
First thing first, boiling a mix of water and coffee is one of the worst possible ideas you can ever come across. This turns your cup bitter
You should add boiled water onto the coffee ground. But not at the exact temperature at which it boils. You should give it some time to lower down the temperature to 96-97 degrees centigrade, and then go for the mixing.
Happy brewing!
1 thought on “Boil Coffee or Pour Boiling Water on the Coffee: Which is Right?”
I actually boiled coffee on the gas grill during a power outage and it tastes great. Now I do it every weekend on the stove and pour it through the coffee maker filter. I thinks it’s more flavorful and less bitter. Everyone should try it.