A study published in the section Scientific Reports of the online journal Nature says that chilling coffee beans before grinding them will enhance the flavor of your coffee.

According to researchers from University of Bath and coffee shop, Colonna & Smalls Chilling roasted beans before grinding is the key to having more flavorsome coffee since cold temperatures produce a narrower distribution of small particles.

Science has no boundaries when it comes to innovate the way people harness the Earth's resources. This time coffee takes the lead role, as recent research shows the colder the beans, the better the coffee. Image Credit: Serious Eats
Science has no boundaries when it comes to innovating the way people harness the Earth’s resources. This time, coffee takes the lead role, as recent research shows the colder the beans, the better the coffee. Image Credit: Serious Eats

By testing the effect of grinding coffee beans at different temperatures, from room temperature to roughly -320° F, researchers found out that the colder the beans the finer and more uniform particles were once ground. According to the researchers, this new study will have a significant impact on the development of new techniques for prepare coffee as well in coffee competitions around the world.

Getting more coffee from the same beans

The research indicates that it is possible to have more coffee from the same beans. Cold is what it takes to have more flavor concentration in coffee. Dr.  Christopher Hendon, a chemistry Ph.D. student at the University of Bath, explains that temperature is the secret of having more flavorsome coffee for less.

“What you’re looking for is a grind that has the smallest difference between the smallest and largest particle. If you have small grinds you can push flavor extraction upwards. We found that chilling the beans tightens up this process and can give higher extractions with less variance in the flavor – so you would have to brew it for less time, or could get more coffee from the same beans”, says Dr. Herndon.

However for Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood, co-owner of Colonna & Smalls the importance of this study has a double impact on the flavor and the quality of the cup of coffee.  He says that understanding grinding more comprehensively not only allows coffee shops to make better tasting coffee but also be more efficient in the way to prepare it.

He also states that having small grinds is having more flavor extraction but also suggests that beans temperature need to be more constant to achieve consistent grinds. The study suggests chilling roasted coffee beans because it would maximize surface area and utilize more of the coffee.

This study will have a significant impact on how people prepare coffee, and also in the future technologies for making or preparing coffee, especially when The World Barista Championship- an international coffee competition that focuses on promoting excellence in coffee- is coming up in Dublin between 22nd and 25th of June.

Source: Phys