Recently I found myself involved in an online discussion, as I often do, in which I expressed skepticism about some conventional wisdom regarding coffee. After being in specialty coffee for over twenty-five years, I've seen many of these so-called Laws of Coffee fall.
One of these laws is: 'Don't brew your coffee just off the boil! Wait for it to cool down to around 95C or 205F before allowing it to contact your grounds. Otherwise, you will burn your coffee!' (You may learn Hoffmann's conclusions by watching his video, posted above.) I admit, without shame, that I've accepted this over the years. After all, although I've never experienced 'scorched coffee' myself, I've had many in the business -- some with huge reputations -- communicate to me this 'truth,' so I've always accepted it as such. I've also had others whom I respect insist that they've tasted 'scorched coffee.' They doubtlessly had great palates, so I just took their word for it. Recently, however, I saw Tim Wendelboe in a live chat dismiss this rule. I've also observed James Hoffmann ignoring this rule in his videos. For me, those are two pretty reliable sources whom I trust. Although they usually will follow conventional wisdom, they usually don't do so uncritically. So when I notice them expressing doubts about some of the Laws of Coffee, I give them more credence than I normally would give to others. Those who have watched some of my own YouTube videos may have noticed that I don't pay too much attention to water temperature, either. It's important to me that the water is at least a certain temperature, i.e., 95C, but that's about the extent of it. The reason why I don't is because Hoffmann and Wendelboe. This is in keeping with one of my own rules of thumb: 'Be open, but be skeptical.' (Heck, I've even made a whole video surrounding this concept.) Although I have a healthy skepticism of conventional wisdom, I do tend to trust research which has been backed up with hard data and sound methods. Unfortunately, it's difficult for those of us in the coffee industry to find the resources to dedicate to such research. After all, we're usually busy helping customers, taking orders, roasting coffee, packaging it, cupping, etc. We would first have to find the time -- not a small matter, to say the least -- and then we would have to have the proper equipment to conduct these experiments. That's why I love it when those such as James Hoffmann put out videos like the one which he released earlier today. They help to dispel misinformation to the point where we have little need to doubt his conclusions. That way, we can be more confident in the information we are communicating to our customers; and that can only help grow the specialty coffee market as a whole. This, therefore, is a wonderful service to us all.
Dutch Hedrick is the founder and head roaster of Rube's Good-Brain Coffee. He has roasted coffee since 2003 and has previously roasted for Counter Culture Coffee and Joe Van Gogh. He began his career in specialty coffee in 1993. To shop our line of delicious specialty-grade coffees, just click wherever you see 'FRESH COFFEE NOW!'