Many coffee lovers appreciate their favorite drink for its bitter taste. There are also those who do everything possible to eliminate this flavor. It was previously believed that the more caffeine, the stronger the bitterness. Scientists have been able to prove that there is no connection here. Nevertheless, it is worth understanding why coffee from a coffee machine or Turkish coffee tastes bitter and what affects the intensity of the taste.
Chemical composition of grains
Many people believe that bitter coffee is a consequence of a large amount of caffeine, but it is not the only one that creates bitterness. There is also chlorogenic acid (from the word “green”), which is much more inside – as much as 8%. This is what gives the bitter taste of coffee during roasting, as it decomposes into two other acids and forms lactones.
The latter are the cause of bitterness. With medium roasting, there are fewer of these substances, but with further exposure to high temperature, substances are formed that are the result of mixing carbohydrates and proteins. They also give a bitter taste. Therefore, we can conclude: the longer you roast the grains, the more bitter the resulting drink will be.
Many people are aware of the laxative properties of the drink; some people even use this quality of the grains to normalize intestinal function. This is also the merit of chlorogenic acid and its derivatives. Quite a useful quality for a healthy lifestyle.
Video: How to choose the right coffee
In green grains, chlorogenic acid acts as an antioxidant and stimulates the body to remove toxins from the body. True, the herbal taste of the drink is not impressive, but it has a gentler effect on the body and digestive system, and also contains useful substances that have not been subjected to heat treatment in their pure form.
This drink is recommended for use in weight loss programs. Its effect is so strong that the body has to help by drinking more water than usual per day.
The most bitter coffee
Bitter Arabica coffee is quite difficult to prepare. This variety is characterized by a milder taste. However, bitter notes are prominent in Arabica Honduras and Arabica Ethiopia Mocha. To give the desired flavor, ground pepper is often added to it.
The most bitter coffee is Liberica. It is classified as a technical variety that is added to other coffee blends. This is due to excessive strength and bitterness. In second place is Robusta. Accordingly, the desired effect can be achieved by purchasing mixtures with a high concentration of this variety of fruit. The brand doesn't really matter.
The main thing is to look at the composition. The package should contain a maximum of Robusta and a little Liberica. Arabica should not predominate.
What affects the taste characteristics of a drink?
In addition to the variety and roasting, there are other factors that can change the taste:
- the temperature of the water during brewing and its quantity relative to the brew;
- grinding degree;
- the serviceability of the coffee machine and its settings.
The contents of the grains are best extracted at a temperature of 91 to 96 degrees. If it is less, the drink will be tasteless, if more, it will be bitter.
A very fine grind will release more flavor oils into the cup; a coarse grind will release less. This means that you need to adapt how best to set up your coffee grinder.
The coffee maker settings greatly affect the flavor. This explains why coffee tastes bitter when coming out of a coffee machine. If there is no breakdown, you need to experiment with the options and choose the appropriate ones.
How to reduce the bitterness of coffee
Despite the fact that a noble, refined bitterness is a distinctive feature of certain varieties, there are people who prefer less bitter coffee. Firstly, you can choose not robusta, but Arabica, preferably high-altitude ones (there is more acid and a minimum of bitterness), or use blends of Arabica with Robusta, and secondly, if you have already bought coffee, its taste can be adjusted:
- Add salt to the tip of a knife , to the ground coffee, or directly into the cup. There are sodium ions that compensate for the bitterness, reducing it. Just a small amount is enough, you won't feel the salt in the cup, but the taste will change. It's worth trying coffee with salt.
- Add milk or cream . Dairy products remove the bitter taste of the drink well.
- Brew coffee in a Turkish coffee pot or brew it in another way, at low temperature and with the lid open. In a coffee machine, it's the other way around, which is why the espresso turns out so bitter. Again, you can add a little salt to your machine coffee.
- Try pouring coffee into a blue, brown or black cup . Inexplicably, scientists have verified that many people actually find coffee to be more bitter if it is poured into white containers. Perhaps due to the contrast of shades, it seems darker, and therefore stronger, and is perceived as more bitter.
How to cook grains to make them less bitter
There are several proven ways to make coffee not bitter:
- grind coarser;
- adjust the machine so that the water passes through the coffee tablet faster;
- add milk, cream, ice cream, spices.
It is also recommended to choose the right type of coffee, which is not bitter. These can be various combinations of Arabica. The consultant knows better what to advise, so you need to ask for help in choosing.
Other Factors Affecting the Taste of Coffee
If you've tried everything and the drink comes from a Dolce Gusto automatic coffee machine,
Nespresso, Bosch or Vitek still tastes bitter, which means some kind of breakdown has occurred. In this case, the following could fail:
- Coffee grinder millstone.
- Temperature and pressure sensor.
- Control block.
- Nozzle.
Do not try to eliminate the cause of the problem yourself. This can only make the damage worse. Especially if you have neither experience nor special tools. The best solution would be to turn to professionals.
Is the best coffee expensive? What brand?
Experts say no. We found out that the retail price of good coffee starts somewhere around $10 per kilogram. It cannot be said that a person who is presented with two cups of coffee, one of which contains the most expensive Blue Mountain variety, selling from $100 per kilogram, and the other - Brazilian Arabica at $5 per kilogram, will prefer the coffee from the first cup.
- Coffee under the Jockey brand. Good Dutch technology. This coffee is distinguished among budget brands by the identity of the blend and excellent flavor tones.
- Inexpensive but high-quality ones include all brands and Jacobs. Paulig brand espresso is so popular that it even began to be sold at McDonald's, because it was made and “customized” for Russia.
- Coffee from Ethiopia, sold under one of its own brands in the Auchan retail chain.
- Lavazza coffee - this brand of coffee is too overrated in Russia. In Europe it sells for 2 euros per pack, but in our country many consider it premium.
- Experts rate Blue Mountain as a very good and tasty variety. Its price depends on the fact that it is harvested very little - only 900 tons per year worldwide, and Arabica production amounts to millions of tons.
- Expensive Kopi Luwak variety. Its price - about $200 per kilogram - is due to the fact that the cute little animals of the musanga simply cannot produce more. They pass the coffee beans through their intestines and thus promote the fermentation of the coffee. The result is a dense, rich, soft variety.
Advantages
Electric Turks greatly simplify the process of making coffee and have many advantages, thanks to which more and more lovers of delicious coffee drinks choose this device.
The Turks call the main advantages:
- ease of use - no special knowledge is needed to use the device, just fill the pot with water and add high-quality ground coffee;
- compactness – the device is small in size, it is convenient to transport, take it with you to the country house or on a trip;
- versatility - if desired, you can quickly boil water in a Turk for tea or other drinks;
- autonomy - many models are equipped with an automatic shut-off function, which allows you not to monitor the device during the cooking process;
- fast coffee preparation process - a Turk with maximum power can brew an aromatic drink in just 30 seconds;
- absence of an unpleasant odor - unlike ordinary Turks, the drink does not burn in an electric device, so unpleasant odors cannot appear during cooking;
- stylish design – modern coffee makers have a quite attractive appearance and fit into any interior;
- structural strength - if used correctly, the device will last more than 5 years, because it is highly durable and durable;
Attention! An electric Turk does not require additional costs, because it is not equipped with filters that need to be changed regularly
% discounts
| Types of jobs | Discount for master's work |
| Replacing one part | 10% |
| Replacing two parts | 20% |
| Replacing three parts | 30% |
| To whom | |
| WWII veterans | 50% |
| Low-income citizens | 20% |
| Large families | 20% |
| Single mothers | 20% |
| Pensioners | 20% |
| Disabled people of the 1st group | 20% |
| For students | 10% |
You haven't changed your coffee for a very long time
This is especially true for French presses. It is used in the following way: heat a glass test tube with hot water, pour medium-coarse coffee into it, add water, allow time to brew, and then lower the plunger, sifting out the coffee particles. When the grounds remain in the French press for a very long time, when filling the next cup, the drink will be more bitter. If the drinking process takes a long time, then pour it into a thermal carafe. This way it will retain its warmth and beautiful taste.
Black insomnia
The creators of Black Insomnia justified such a telling name with a truly “off-scale” caffeine content.
Its amount in one cup reaches 702 mg, which exceeds the daily norm - 400 mg - almost 1.8 times!
At the same time, the grains of this deadly strong product do not give off a “burnt” smell; it itself is exclusively natural, with a soft nutty taste and a pleasant aroma.
Black Insomnia was first released in 2022, in Cape Town. A year later, the revolutionary product conquered the United States.
Overextraction matters
It has been said more than once that coffee in a cezve should not be brought to a boil. Having boiled, coffee not only acquires a characteristic unpleasant bitterness, but also loses most of the flavoring and aromatic substances for which it is valued.
Moreover, you cannot bring coffee to a boil 3 times, as coffee lovers sometimes do. Triple overextraction can make even the most expensive elite light-roasted Arabica bitter and flat.
Interesting fact. The Turks themselves do not pour cold water into their coffee, but heat it to 60 degrees. Moreover, this standard for baristas is even specified in the rules of the Turkish Specialty Coffee Association. This is done in order to reduce cooking time, and therefore extraction.
Conclusion: the shorter the preparation time, the less bitter the coffee turns out.
Low prices
| Service | Price |
| Diagnostics | |
| When ordering repairs | For free |
| In case of refusal of repair | 1.5 standard hours |
| Diagnostics of a professional coffee machine | 2 standard hours |
| Services | |
| Departure of a service specialist to repair the coffee machine on site | 0.9 standard hours |
| Comprehensive cleaning of the coffee machine (decalcification, cleaning of the hydraulic system, cleaning and lubrication of the brewer) | 2 standard hours |
| Comprehensive cleaning of the coffee machine with disassembly of the coffee machine, replacement of the necessary sealing rings of the heating system (cleaning the hydraulic system, decalcification, cleaning the coffee grinder, cleaning and lubricating the brewer)/td> | 3 standard hours |
| Repair of an automatic coffee machine of category 1 (minor repairs that do not require replacement of the main units of the coffee machine) | 1.5 standard hours |
| Repair of an automatic coffee machine of category 2 (replacement of one of the main units of the coffee machine) | 2.5 standard hours |
| Repair of an automatic coffee machine of category 3 (replacement of 2 or more main units*, replacement of the display, replacement of the power board, replacement of the coffee machine control board or repair time exceeding 6 hours) | 4 standard hours |
| Related | |
| Repair of units, modules | 50% of the price of new |
| Installation and dismantling of the built-in device | 1 standard hour |
| Markup coefficient | |
| Embedding | 1,8 |
| Premium model | 1,8 |
| Urgent departure (within 15 minutes) | 1,5 |
| Cramped working conditions | 1,5 |
| Any repairs involving complete disassembly of the product | 2,5 |
| Basic values | |
| Standard hour (rounded up to half an hour) | 1000 |
| Final provisions | |
| ● When repairing the control board, the technician takes the board, after the repair he returns it and installs it ● Spare parts and consumables are paid separately ● Travel outside the city - 40 rubles/km ● The final price of the repair is determined by the technician, based on the complexity of the breakdown and the volume of work performed | |
Light or medium roast is the best option
The next important factor affecting the bitterness of coffee is the degree of roasting. And here we come back to chlorogenic acid. The more coffee is roasted, the higher the percentage of its transformation into even more caustic and bitter cinchona.
During the Maillard reaction (a chemical reaction between amino acids and sugars that occurs when heated), melanoidins are formed - the same substances that are responsible for the golden crispy crust on fried meat or bread. They also give foods a bitter taste. The darker the roast, the more melanoidins in the bean and the more bitter the coffee will be.
Conclusion: if you don’t like bitterness in coffee, choose not just Arabica, but light or medium roast Arabica.
Why coffee tastes bitter: technical background
Coffee brewing is a science, and the main reason for the bitter taste may be extraction. Extraction is a method of extracting a substance from a dried consistency or solution using a solvent. It is thanks to him that clear water in a cup is transformed into a beautiful drink. When water is mixed with coffee base, a chemical reaction occurs that reveals the smell. The trick is to extract good flavor notes, not bitter ones, which can take a long time to develop.
Here are a few circumstances that could leave your drink with a nasty aftertaste. By paying attention to them, it will be easy to always drink only delicious coffee.
Types of coffee machines and coffee makers
| Carob coffee machines (manual) | Automatic coffee machines | Capsule coffee machines | Geyser-type coffee makers |
Let's take a closer look at the different types of coffee machines and how a coffee maker differs from a coffee machine, what a geyser coffee maker is and why pressure is so important when preparing tasty and aromatic coffee
Carob coffee machines
To make coffee in a coffee maker, otherwise known as a manual or mechanical coffee machine, you pour the ground coffee into a strainer (the coffee horn) and then attach it to the machine. The drink is prepared under pressure. Depending on the depth of the filter, you can prepare one or two cups at a time. To prepare the next portion, you need to empty the cone and pour in the next portion of ground coffee. If you want your coffee with milk, you can also use the milk frother. Carob coffee makers differ in that, unlike automatic ones, they do not have a mill for grinding beans. So if you want to enjoy freshly ground coffee every day, you will have to purchase a separate grinder. For this type of coffee machine, it is better to use finely ground coffee.
Some models also allow you to use espresso bags.
It is better to choose a carob coffee maker if you:
- love the ritual of preparing this aromatic drink;
- Looking for an easy-to-use espresso device;
- I don’t mind cleaning the horn after each preparation.
Automatic coffee machines
The automatic model has an advantage over the carob model in that it includes a steel or ceramic mill in its design, thanks to which it can prepare a drink from grains or, depending on the model, also from ground grains in automatic mode. This device has high pressure - at least 15 bar. If you like coffee with milk in addition to traditional black coffee, a coffee machine will be the best solution. These models allow you to prepare fluffy cappuccinos or lattes using the milk frothing attachment. Vending machines with advanced technological solutions independently select the appropriate parameters for preparing the drink: grain grinding thickness, amount of water and temperature for preparing the drink. This type of equipment uses finely ground coffee.
It is better to choose an automatic coffee machine if you:
- want to get a professional device that will prepare different types of coffee - espresso, cappuccino or latte;
- want to prepare a high-quality drink in a fully automated process;
- A lot of coffee is drunk in your home, and it is often prepared for the whole family and guests;
- quality is the most important and price is secondary.
Capsule type coffee machine
A capsule coffee machine does not take up much space on the kitchen counter, and its colorful appearance and the variety of coffees it can brew make it more and more popular among other models. To prepare a tasty and aromatic drink, just insert the capsule and press the “Start” button, and after a while you can get a ready-to-drink drink prepared under pressure. This model means, first of all, convenience, since the used capsules go into a special container that is easy to clean. Some manufacturers offer collection of used capsules and their disposal.
It is better to choose a capsule coffee machine if you:
- Are you looking for a device that is easy to use;
- love aromatic coffee;
- prefer a minimum of work on cleaning the device;
- love quickly prepared coffee, chocolate or cocoa.
Geyser coffee makers
A geyser coffee maker is the simplest device that prepares coffee under pressure, although compared to the above options, it is relatively small. But thanks to its small size, it can be used both at home and while traveling. To prepare the drink, you will need medium grind grains. The disadvantages of this coffee maker are:
- relatively long preparation time for the drink - about 8 minutes;
- every time you need to clean the sieve after preparing the drink;
- The drink will have no creamy foam.
Typically, geyser coffee makers can prepare a portion of a drink for 1-2 people, as they have a limited capacity, however, there are larger models. If you like coffee with milk, you need to froth the milk in a separate device designed for this.
A geyser coffee maker is for you if you:
- Are you looking for a device that is compact and easy to use;
- love aromatic coffee without grounds;
- want to save money.
Beverage quantity
Coffee maker. Everything here is simple and according to the instructions: if the model is designed for 4 cups, then you will prepare only these 4 cups. Each time it will have to be loaded exactly to the required volume, no more, no less. It is not always convenient if you need to prepare a different number of servings. Here's an example: you've prepared 4 servings and you need 4 more. Adding water and adding coffee just won't work. You will need to unwind the coffee maker, wash the filter and rinse the structure itself, repeating the whole process again, and given that the coffee maker is hot, doing this is difficult and inconvenient.
Turk. But here you can already vary the quantity and you are limited only by the volume of the Turk itself. But there's no problem if you want to make one cup or three.
Which country has the best coffee?
- Kenyan coffee is one of the usual, but very high-quality varieties. It is perfectly balanced in both acidity and aroma.
- Costa Rica – coffee with light hints of chocolate and very airy, reminiscent of sweet honey.
- Ethiopian – rich, very chocolatey.
- Hawaiian coffee is very fruity, very aromatic.
- Kenyan - has a light chocolate flavor.
- Africa. Fruity or floral notes.
Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico. Chocolate and nutty notes.
Which coffee is better - expensive Arabica or Robusta?
There are more than 20 types, but only two are mass produced - Arabica and Robusta. Everything they sell in the store is a mixture of them. One hundred percent mixtures, even if this is indicated on the pack, are not found. All manufacturers allow some percentage of robusta in 100% Arabica blends.
- Arabica coffee beans are far superior to Robusta in terms of taste and quality. Arabica can be grown at higher elevations, which allows more time for growth and benefits.
- Robusta beans contain more caffeine than Arabica beans. More resistant to diseases and produce higher yields. This is why farmers love to grow robustas, although they sell them at a lower price. This coffee is grown for companies that produce instant coffee and supply coffee beans to regular supermarkets.
