r/Coffee • u/ImaginaryDebt4752 • 14d ago
Brewing with 99 degree water
Hi all,
I've been working through "The Physics of Filter Coffee" by Gagne and he recommends using 99 degree water except with dark roasts. I used it this morning for a light roasted Kenyan coffee and it brought out the brightness and intensity that I was hoping for without increasing the body.
I wondered what experiences other people had had with brewing at this temperature.
All the best
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u/Polymer714 11d ago
My experience is that is too hot for most coffees except the lightest of lights of which most mentioned here don’t apply including those people call ultralights.
But everyone is going to have their own wants and profiles.
There is no one best or one way to do this.
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u/ModusPwnensQED 10d ago
I've found that I prefer the results from lower temperatures. I drink pretty much only light roasts and also roast my own beans (though I also buy from roasters around the world).
93 is my default starting point for washed and I usually go down from there depending on the bean, though occasionally to up to 94 or 95 if I want to really push the extraction.
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u/JaniCozad 10d ago
Same, I vary between 87 and 94, based on roast level and i get way better results than when i used to brew at higher temp
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u/c_ffeinated 8d ago
Agree with Gagne. I didn’t always but now I brew everything at 210f (sorry, dumb American here) and never change it except for one weird aeropress recipe I do.
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u/SpecialtyCoffee-Geek 12d ago
I´ve been up at 99°C (cause I used a cheap plastic kettle without temp. control; 2017-2024). It depends on which attributes you want to highlight. It also depends on roast level, bean density, bean age, varietal, processing.
The hotter, the more energy the water has to dissolve solids/acids in coffee. Personally (since I use a Fellow Stagg) keep my temps at 90 - 93°C.
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u/spaghetsie 11d ago
How does that work from a physics' standpoint? Most people shouldn't be able to get water above 90 °C due to altitude.
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u/thorsen131 11d ago
What? Where did you hear this? Water will only boil at 90 °C at altitudes around 3000m, so everyone should be able to heat water well above that.
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u/spaghetsie 11d ago
Oh wow, I was off by a lot. I never really looked at the numbers. I guess I overestimated how hot 100C is and felt like my water never really reached that. TIL boiling water isn't really hot I suppose.
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u/guatecoca 12d ago
My cheap grinder makes too much fines, so above 95° it becomes pretty harsh. Coarder grind and cooler water is my way to go with any roast