TLDR:DECANT your coffee from one vessel to another inst. of stirring/swirling
Over my last couple years of making coffee, I’ve always observed the disparity in the treatment of any coffee after it is brewed.
Around half of the baristas nowadays opt to stir a beverage over swirling— mostly because of the James Hoffman video that was released around 4 years ago. In the video, he stated that he found stirring homogenised the different density layers in an espresso better than swirling.
But I am here to bring an alternative that you might wanna consider 😱
Why do we stir or swirl?
1. Homogenisation of oils, organic acids and fine particles extracted from coffee bed
2. Cooling for easier drinkability + higher perceived sweetness/acidity on first sip due to palate temperature sensory capabilities (anything over 43C can be perceived as a bit “too hot”)
Gongfu is a style of tea serving that has existed for thousands of years and is still enjoyed today. During a session, brewed tea is poured into a separate cup/pitcher (known as the “fair cup” or “cha hai”) to emulsify the oils and fine particles before being distributed to each consumer- so that each person’s cup contains the same density of tea and thus a shared experience. So my question is, why has no one really advocated for decanting (pouring from one pitcher to another at least once) at all if it’s been a concept for so many years?
Most brewed coffee (in cases extracted through percolation i.e. pourover, batch brewing or espresso) is more “dense” because there is pressure involved (water resistance from the coffee bed vs gravity/water pump); therefore, more oils/particles being present in the end beverage. Because of this ‘relative weight difference” between layers of the coffee , swirling would simply just spin the liquid in the same direction, failing to homogenise the mixture (unless you swirl aggressively HEAPS of times); whereas, stirring would cause the different density layers to cut and mix through each other but still requires quite a few stirs to mix the coffee well. Let’s not forget, oil and water DO NOT mix and thus require more agitation for complete emulsification.
And that’s where we have DECANTING: pouring a finished beverage (often at a perpendicular angle) into another pitcher to aggressively homogenise + cool the liquid much more significantly. This, in similar fashion to “gongfu”, not only enables the same drinking experience between everyone, but just makes coffee way more drinkable in the first place + you get more perceived sweetness/acidity (YUM) because your palette isn’t being abused.
Give it a try. Decant more than once if you want. I honestly think there is a ceiling to it because you also lose some volatile aromatics while the liquid is travelling in the air + cooling and no one wants some cold ass coffee (unless intended lol).
Thanks for reading #2
Appreciate you,
jos x