Chemex Blooming question?
 

I watched some videos of coffee blooming using standard Chemex, but my
coffee doesn't bloom like that. As far as I can tell, my coffee isn't
blooming at all. What's wrong?

Does course or fine grounds affect blooming?

What I do is the same as they do. After rinsing out the unbleached filter
with near boiling water, I put the freshly ground coffee into the filter and
slowly add the water as they do, but after watching a number of videos, my
coffee has never bloomed like that. Not even remotely close to that.
However, the coffee tastes better then I could even do in drip maker or
French Press.

What is the secret of this blooming technique? Does the kind of beans
matter? I use standard Columbian beans by bulk, Costco.

Thanks,
GBMT

Chemex Blooming question?
 

"GoneBeforeMyTime" > writes:
> I watched some videos of coffee blooming using standard Chemex, but my
> coffee doesn't bloom like that. As far as I can tell, my coffee isn't
> blooming at all. What's wrong?
....
> What is the secret of this blooming technique? Does the kind of beans
> matter? I use standard Columbian beans by bulk, Costco.

Apparently the "bloom" comes from CO2 in the beans, which is produced
during roasting, and slowly escapes afterwards (I read something which
said that freshly roasted beans may bloom so much that it's annoying).

So it may be that your beans are just too old (not so surprising for
something from costco).

-miles

--
Conservative, n. A statesman enamored of existing evils, as opposed to a
Liberal, who wants to replace them with new ones.

Chemex Blooming question?
 

On Mon, 21 Jun 2010 14:35:47 +0900, Miles Bader > wrote:

>"GoneBeforeMyTime" > writes:
>> I watched some videos of coffee blooming using standard Chemex, but my
>> coffee doesn't bloom like that. As far as I can tell, my coffee isn't
>> blooming at all. What's wrong?
>...
>> What is the secret of this blooming technique? Does the kind of beans
>> matter? I use standard Columbian beans by bulk, Costco.
>
>Apparently the "bloom" comes from CO2 in the beans, which is produced
>during roasting, and slowly escapes afterwards (I read something which
>said that freshly roasted beans may bloom so much that it's annoying).
>
>So it may be that your beans are just too old (not so surprising for
>something from costco).
>
>-miles


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

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.

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

boron

Chemex Blooming question?
 

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