Boron Elgar > writes:
> Sorry to stumble upon this thread so late, but you don't know what you
> are talking about.

Like most people here, I just know about google ... :]

But from what I've read on the net, the general consensus seems to be
that bloom is caused by carbon dioxide from roasting.

> From the Sweet Maria's site:
>
> http://www.sweetmarias.com/brewinstr...nst.chemex.php
> "3. When the water is boiling, remove it from the heat for 30 seconds.
> It should now be about 195 to 205 degrees F., the perfect brewing
> temperature. Chemex recommends pouring a small amount of water over
> the grinds, just enough to wet them without floating them. This
> pre-wetting allows coffee to "bloom", to swell and prepare for even
> infusion brewing."
>
> Nothing to do with CO2.

That quote says nothing at all about the _reason_ for the blooming, it
just says "it blooms."

Here's a quote which gives more detail:

http://www.coffeehabitat.com/coffee-glossary.html
" Bloom -- Fresh coffee releases carbon dioxide, and will expand and
bubble when hot water hits the grounds. This is most evident when
coffee is prepared in a French press. The fresher the coffee, the
larger and more vigorous the bloom. Whole bean coffee will lose much
of its bloom within 10 days of roasting. Pre-ground coffee will go
flat much sooner as it off-gases its carbon dioxide very quickly. "

> And coffee from Costco can be might fresh, indeed, especially from the
> stores that have a big, fat roaster in them.

No idea about that.

-Miles

--
What the **** do white people have to be blue about!? Banana Republic ran
out of Khakis? The Espresso Machine is jammed? Hootie and The Blowfish
are breaking up??! Shit, white people oughtta understand, their job is to
GIVE people the blues, not to get them! -- George Carlin