There are all sorts of fancy tools and expensive equipment that can dramatically improve the taste of your coffee, but now scientists have discovered a new trick that requires just a few drops of water.

When you grind coffee, the process creates friction, which causes some cracks in the beans. This generates electricity that causes the coffee particles to clump and stick to the grinder.

Publish the survey results in a magazine Casea team of researchers reported that coffee beans with higher internal moisture levels generate less static electricity.. This meant less coffee was wasted and a stronger espresso was obtained.

This moisture level is achieved by simply adding a small amount of water to the beans. in front Polishing them.

“Moisture determines the amount of charge formed during grinding, whether it’s residual moisture inside the roasted coffee or external moisture added during grinding,” says the senior author. Dr Christopher Hendona computational materials chemist at Orjon University.

“Water not only reduces static electricity and reduces mess during grinding, but it can also have a significant impact on the strength of the beverage and potentially its ability to obtain a higher concentration of desirable flavor.”

Coffee experts weren’t the only people involved in this study. In a strange turn of events, a volcanologist was brought in to better understand what happens when static electricity is generated when grinding coffee.

“During an eruption, magma breaks up into many small particles that come out of the volcano in a large plume. Throughout the process, those particles rub against each other and become electrically charged until lightning occurs.” he says.volcanologist joshua mendez harperauthor of the paper at Portland State University.

“Simplistically speaking, it’s like grinding coffee, grinding the beans into a fine powder.”

During the course of the study, the research team measured the amount of static electricity generated by grinding a variety of commercially and home-roasted coffee beans. These vary depending on factors such as country of origin, roast color, and moisture content.

Although there was no association between static electricity and the coffee’s country of origin or processing method (natural, washed, decaffeinated), the researchers found a link between static electricity and coffee content, roast color, and particle size. found that there is a correlation between

Less power was produced when the coffee had a higher internal moisture content and when the coffee was ground at a coarser setting. The research team also discovered differences in the static electricity generated between light and dark roasts.

When we compared espresso made with the same coffee beans ground with and without water, we found that grinding with water produced a stronger and longer extraction. Similarly, milling with water improves shot-to-shot consistency, overcoming a hurdle for baristas who want consistent results all day long.

“The main material benefit of adding water during grinding is that there is less agglomeration and the bed can be packed more densely,” says Hendon.

“Espresso is the worst culprit for this problem, but there are also benefits seen in brewing methods where you pour water over the coffee, like on the stovetop. Where you don’t see a benefit are methods like a French press, where you steep the coffee in water. .”

Although the research findings primarily focus on coffee, they have implications for other areas as well.

“It’s kind of the beginning of a joke: a volcanologist and a coffee expert walk into a bar and come out with a paper,” Harper says.

“But I think there are many more opportunities for this kind of collaboration. These investigations could help solve parallel problems in geophysics, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and how water infiltrates soil. .”

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