Would you like to learn how to maximize the flavor of your coffee each time you make it?

Coffee extraction is extremely important if you want your coffee to taste great. The proper extraction process is not known by many people.

Most of the time people are in such a rush to drink their coffee they do not pay much attention to the extraction process. It is very simple to make the best tasting coffee possible by following these tips.

How does the extraction process work?

Extraction is more than just an important part of the brewing process, extraction is the entire brewing process.

When you are brewing that amazing brown liquid called coffee, the extremely hot water is what extracts the flavors and nutrients from the grounds.

During the extraction process the water will pull out the acids and sugars first, the solids and oils second, and the bitter components will be extracted last.

If you interrupt the extraction process before it is completed, it could alter the results of your coffee.

A well-balanced extraction process will leave your coffee tasting rich, bold, and slightly bitter to round out the wide variety of natural flavors in the grounds.

If the coffee doesn't have the time required to fully extract all of the flavors to balance the sweet and bitterness, your coffee is under-extracted.

What are 3 signs that my coffee is under-extracted?

1. Does your coffee have an overpowering sourness that you can not handle? Coffee is not meant to be sour in the least.

Acidity is a good thing for the coffee's taste.

It may not be good for your teeth, though. It is natural for the acid to enhance the flavors of the coffee grounds when extracted.

Some acids can even have their own flavors like apple, orange, or even strawberry.

If your coffee doesn't have the pleasant acidity flavors when you drink it, then you are drinking under-extracted coffee. The coffee can taste extremely over sour to the point of not being able to drink it. It can make your eyes water and your mouth pucker up.

Sour coffee isn't necessarily bad coffee, it just doesn't have enough of the other flavors to balance out the acids in it, which is what leaves you with a rich coffee flavor.

2. Is your coffee bland or taste more like water than coffee? This will make you pour out the entire pot.

When your coffee is under-extracted it is because, the sugars, oils, and bitter notes haven't been extracted from the grounds with the water.

Have you ever had coffee that tasted like it wasn't quite finished brewing yet? This incomplete or lacking of flavor with your coffee is another hint of being under-extracted.

This is incredibly different compared to the dull or flavorless coffee that is the result of over-extracted coffee. When your coffee is under-extracted the acids leave your coffee with plenty of flavors, those of which are not very pleasant.

You can tell that the flavor isn't complete.

3. Does your coffee have a salty taste to it? Yes. It is possible for coffee to taste horribly salty when under-extracted.

Have you ever has coffee with a slightly salty flavor? Were you able to finish the drink?

Under-extracted coffee can leave a salty taste. It is not the exact same flavor as table salt but, it is relatively close. The salty flavor will stick out a little bit from the over sourness of your coffee.

I never thought my favorite brown liquid could be salty. Until one day, I had some under-extracted coffee and I was doubting my own tastebuds. After some time with my barista friends, I realized that I had drunk under-extracted coffee.

What are some common mistakes that lead to under-extracted coffee?

If you come across under-extracted coffee, there were several reasons for it. Here are a few of those reasons to help you to understand what not to do when making great-tasting coffee.

The coffee did not have enough time to brew completely.

If your coffee doesn't have the time to completely extract all of the sugars, acids, oils, and bitter notes, it will have an over sour flavor that is not very satisfying. The only thing that will get extracted is acids. If there is nothing to balance them out, this is what leads to the sour tastes.

Your water is not the right temperature to extract everything in time.

The temperature of your water is extremely important to the extraction process. The water should be within 10 degrees of the boiling point. If the water isn't hot enough, it will fail to extract everything from the grounds. This will leave your coffee with an incomplete, sour, and very unpleasant drink on your hands.

Your grounds are too coarse for proper extraction.

One of the main components of extraction is coffee grounds. If you grind your coffee to coarsely, they will not be able to be fully extracted in time. The water can only do so much without the grounds doing their part.

You do not use enough water to extract the sugars, oils, and bitter notes.

If you are making a pour-over and you do not use enough water to make the water to coffee ratios, your result will be under-extracted coffee that tastes over sour. It is extremely important to make sure that the water and the grounds are done correctly to have maximized flavor results with your coffee.

This means that if you are trying to pour 500g of water out of a kettle and only pour 470g, then all of the balancing flavors are still going to be stuck into the coffee grounds.