I don’t even know if its really a point of debate, but a small thing happened yesterday that made me wonder if perhaps it isn’t as obvious as I thought.
I bought a coffee at a local “not starbucks” cafe.
I ordered a dark roast. They were out, but just about to brew more.
So the barista started the machine, and as the fresh brewed coffee started to pour out of the basket at the bottom of the drip brewer, she tucked a cup under it and caught the approximately 400ml-ish of very freshly brewed liquid directly, put a lid on it, and handed me the cup.
It. Was. Strong. Coffee.
To note, this was a commercial coffee brewer, filling a full (let’s say) five-to-ten litre urn.
My thoughts are that a proper drip coffee brew should be balanced by all the stages of extraction. The strongest coffee comes through first, then the strength tapers off for the duration and at the end some weaker extraction comes through to balance out the full pot. You don’t take bits out of parts of the brew without affecting not just the cup you stole but the whole pot.
Obvious?
I thought so. It’s a good thing I don’t mind a strong cuppa occasionally.