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

Reply to
GoneBeforeMyTime
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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

Reply to
Miles Bader

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

From the Sweet Maria's site:

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"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

Reply to
Boron Elgar

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.

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:

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" 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. "

No idea about that.

-Miles

Reply to
Miles Bader

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