DEBUNKING 6 MOST COMMON COFFEE MYTHS: Feat. Chemist Dr. Samo Smrke

[@LanceHedrick]

Any of these surprise you? Hopefully some of them can actually help you improve your brewing and dialing in for a tasty coffee! And don't forget to smash that like button and subscribe if you haven't! Much appreciated.

[@hifi2169]

Lance, OK I’ll hit the like button, but please tell me do you have a recommendation for Burrr replacement on my Eureka special 65 grinder that’s worth it, or should I save my cash????

[@LanceHedrick]

​@hifi2169 save your cash!

[@hifi2169]

@@LanceHedrick Thank You!

[@BBB_025]

The Pressure as a static variable seems like fighting words. I am trying to reconcile that statement with all the flow/pressure profiling

[@BBB_025]

Do one of these for Filter please!

[@PhillipLangenkamp]

Such an awesome video! I'm a chemical engineer and so much of what Dr Samo Smrke had to say resonated with my understanding of "fluidized beds" and general extraction principles. The fact that he has actual studies to backup the theories is really awesome! Lots of fun to watch and learn!

[@keco185]

Hydraulic Press Channel needs to do some coffee tamping experiments

[@pimacanyon6208]

great video! Thanks to Dr. Smrke for taking the time to come on the show, and thanks to Lance for putting together the list of myths.

[@alexwilson27]

“Temperature and pressure don’t matter all that much!” *Greg Scace sweats nervously*

[@LanceHedrick]

He been real quiet since this dropped

[@LanceHedrick]

Lol

[@theSnowpup]

True, but consistency gives a ~consistent product. And that's what the Scace II is really useful for.

[@EmileeBryant]

Myth number 7: Lance actually sleeps …

[@LanceHedrick]

That one will never be busted sadly

[@flipper2gv]

@@LanceHedrick Dumb question, have you tried going caffeine free?

[@LanceHedrick]

Haha of course. Did 4 months no caffeine at all. No luck.

[@flipper2gv]

@@LanceHedrick :(

[@BenjaminAbrams]

​@@LanceHedrickhave you tried drinking more caffeine 😂

[@2s_company_]

Love this video and his style of dumbing things down for us! Happy to see people with the know-how sharing information with us

[@LanceHedrick]

Samo is the best!

[@elleas231]

@@LanceHedrick we love him!

[@mr.ricochet8603]

You talked about "fresh is best" in one of your last videos too and believe me you helped me a lot. I'm still kinda new to specialty coffee (about a year) and I was ALWAYS obsessed with roast date, to the point of missing out on good coffee because of that. After your thorough explanation I finally started to relax and I'm starting to obsess less and less over taste notes 😂

[@LanceHedrick]

Definitely! So glad you enjoyed that video. Figured I'd bring it up again with an accredited scientist haha!

[@DanzilF]

This is my favourite type of content, full of information! Thanks Lance and Dr Samo.

[@kerrycoyle8930]

I've watched hundreds of hours of Espresso / Coffee U-Tube videos and I think I enjoyed this one more than most all of the others... Thanks for sharing this with us today Lance.

[@dersnuka]

“Gassy shots.” I have to admit, I giggled at this, but only due to having the sense of humor of a 9 year old. 😁

[@LanceHedrick]

Tbh same. But it's my duty not to laugh at gassy on camera. (Did duty make you giggle)

[@stirfryjedi]

Lance, just want to say how much I appreciate it that you listed the six items, with timestamps, in the description. It's that kind of no BS approach that demonstrates you're the real deal.

[@The_Ubatron]

Thanks, Lance and Dr Samo! Love the chemistry! All in all, this confirms that science is not absolute (that doesn't mean, all you conspiracy nuts, that science is not to be trusted, FFS!) because there are so many variables. On balance, work with what we know, make slight changes to our preference (try new things because that's the only way we can accept tastes different to those which we are used to!) and always remember the law of diminishing returns... Oh, and always respect the raw coffee producers - especially the women majority in the less wealthy producing countries (that is, most of the producers countries!) because they're most often the ones getting the worst deal out of this luxury industry - by purchasing traceable, fair-paid beans. Cheers! ❤️☕️😄👍

[@Laz_Arus]

Thanks Lance & Samo. I think I gained an answer to a situation I have been seeing after I recently "Slayer modded" my BES920, and that is when using quite low pressures, the flow rate seems to be more overall than expected. It stands to reason, now, that the coffee particles aren't offering as much resistance if they aren't squashed closer together, which is what is happening at higher pressures.

[@m4tth3wh]

Thank you Lance for the great video and for Dr Srmke spending many hours on helping better understanding on these points ❤ ☕️ 🙏

[@SUPR_NTRL]

Wow. Not sure why it is so pleasant to hear what I already know but very enjoyable to hear that all in one place 🎉 love it

[@farshnuke]

I just binged James Hoffmann. This is the first of your videos I've watched and I think I'm going to be binging your stuff now.

[@BrokenHangar]

great way to popularize science on the channel, thanks!👍

[@joperez8003]

Great video Lance. As your average consumer I can't say I notice or pay much attention to those myths, but it's very interesting to see how much work and research is done by yourself and other coffee experts/enthusiasts. Thanks for the hard work!

[@TH-tl8hy]

Lance, the consistency of your content quality is excellent. I clicked on this video in my feed, and it took me reading the comments halfway through the video to realize the video was only 1 hour from roast date, haha. Just trying to say your production quality has continuously improved, but it's not jarring to watch videos from years apart. I guess the only way to mark the passage of time is your facial hair, or lack thereof!

[@robertdavis7262]

Really good job on both sides of the conversation. I learned a lot. Thanks!

[@KzoN2561]

Would love more Q and A vids!

[@GeelongVic7140]

Dr Samo Smrke scored a gaming winning goal with this excellent collaborative video. I truly learned a great deal. Thanks. Cheers.

[@Cenot4ph]

very interesting, thanks. This is the kind of content that's not found elsewhere, appreciated Lance!

[@davidrogala7597]

very cool to hear this point of view. thanks Doc and Lance

[@briers9]

Loved this. Dr Smrke knowledge on this is fascinating. What a guy.

[@yingbomiao]

Thank you for the video! I'm always curious why too fresh is not good. I heard explanation on the CO2, but i don't think it affects pourover much. Now I know there are other unpleasant component which can be disappeared in a few days. Great learning!

[@contemporaryartist6542]

More from this dialled in duo! Thank you

[@ScoffMathews]

Due to elevation my water doesn't go above 94-95°C, I've always thought I was leaving some stuff on the table so it's interesting to see that generally a few degrees don't make that much of a difference.

[@elvenaprilnico]

Please do more with Dr. Smrke!!

[@Jules_Diplopia]

Fascinating. Freshness, I used to have a coffee shop, and roaster. Fresh roasted, a few hours, was very 'fizzy' and tasted lighter, because of the CO2. But I have also found that less fresh coffee, 4-6 weeks there was a change in the coffee compounds. For most people, they preferred the coffee younger than this, though they were still happy enough with older coffee.

[@TheTomsijoker]

great explanations, thanks Lance and DR. Samo

[@mikkisdiyobsessions3742]

I am so glad to find out I m NOT MAD!

[@ondrejmitas3325]

Loved this fantastic video, so clear and informative, directly applicable!

[@cheekster777]

Thank you Lance.

[@elromulous]

Just a couple pedantic nomenclature things about these words in American English 1. An easier word for non-homogeneous is heterogenous. 2. Methanethiol is a type of Mercaptan. Mercaptans are more widely known and associated with fart smell (as well as being added to natural gas).

[@LanceHedrick]

Yes I know heterogenous. It has a bit different oomph to pushing the antithesis of homogeneity. As for methane, yes. I think many remember the fart jokes from middle school lol

[@barryposner7609]

And it wasn't mentioned, but methanethiol (methyl mercaptan) contains sulphur, which is what gives it the awful odour (and taste.)

[@torbenstegmuller329]

Such a great video. Loved the insight of Dr. Smrke! Now I feel a little smarter again :)

[@LimpNoodles13]

Thanks for putting this together!

[@FahimehKarimi-cy3up]

Thank you so much for making these videos. it was so cool and I've found the answers of some of my questions in this video. 🙏🏻❤

[@jamesbrightman3997]

Really interesting video! Thank you Lance and Dr Smrke!

[@erikngomez]

This was an amazing video. Thank you Lance!!

[@MrNavyellis]

Great video my friend! I have learned much in this process!

[@jonathancavender8796]

Lance, can you do a video on pour over blooms? How do you dial in your bloom time and weight for different coffees? It seems like most people just do 3x the coffee dose for 45 seconds for all coffees.

[@hectorgarza5842]

Enlightening! Great piece of information! Appreciated. Thanks a lot.

[@jackowens_]

Great video! Thanks guys! 🙂

[@JusBThankful]

Another great video Lance!

[@tshaowmasy]

excellent video! would love to see future videos like with maybe with more visual aid.

[@JeepBigE]

Very interesting information.

[@The_Catman_Dont]

Killing it Lance - great vid

[@parasbhargava6047]

very interesting Lance, thank you.

[@LAVA-el5yt]

Awesome geekin out on coffe!!!!

[@mattamorim8944]

Hi, Lance! Thanks for the content

[@LanceHedrick]

thank you for supporting it!

[@seansweet4883]

Love it Lance!

[@What_If_We_Tried]

Lots of great objective, and illuminating information. Thank-you...

[@LanceHedrick]

Thank you for the support!

[@glen.moralee]

Brilliant thank you. Now I’m going to stop wondering if I should change my machine’s pressure down to 6 bar like so many people swear by and just enjoy my coffee 👌

[@tastyinside]

Very nice video👍🏼 Thank you so much😊🧡

[@creamyhorror]

Yep, temperature is a useful tool to avoid extracting bitter compounds - once more for those in the back! I'd love to see newer studies on this that test temps like 80C vs 85C vs 90C and 95C (not just 87-90-93). Shouldn't only be grind size that's adjusted, because brew temp produces different tastes for quite a few people.

[@Cenot4ph]

in my experience there's definitely a difference in extraction due to brewing temperature and i believe that's well established?!

[@eda7875]

But you do want some of those bitter compounds to balance out the acidity.

[@Sir1ri]

I have the chance to roast beans frequently and yes pour different batches (roast dates) of same beans so yes the coffee varies way too much but so does your climate. Personally the only reason i buy coffee fresh is when im buying a bigger batch or when im gonna drink the most after a week or 2

[@00nix87]

❤❤❤❤moooooore of These!!!

[@MPC325NYC]

In his book, A Question of Freshness, Paul Songer says something like, methanethiol is used as one of the indicators of freshness. Methanethiol is a pungent chemical on its own right, but surprisingly, in coffee, it serves as a flavour compound that actually hides undesirable odours. Does this mean that when methanethiol is extracted along with other chemicals during the brew, it no longer hides other undesirable odors but emit its own overpowering foul smell? I would love to know all the gives and takes of key compounds linked to temp, time, and water chemistry someday.

[@benanderson5978]

Fresh isn't always best, I am curious how the packaging affects the de-gassing. Are the volatile compounds releasing if the coffee is stored in a vacuum canister? Is it better to store coffee in its original bag for a week or two before opening? Should I open the bag day one and let it casually de-gas and then air seal it? You have created a lot of questions to answer🧐

[@TheKINGARTHUR2]

Brother, Also, (It has been my personal experience) on myth #2, that it depends on the process combined with the roast... for example, have tasted natural anaerobic or CM coffees that actually develop more stable tasting notes between 1 to 3 months, Delicate washed floral profiles that really pick up after 8 days and so on... keep up the good work 😇

[@williamf.buckleyjr.1572]

This was interesting. Good video.

[@GadgetsGearCoffee]

I repeated for that laugh at 1:33 way too many times lol

[@fabilemusic9992]

If we talk about the pressure, is it puck or pump pressure?

[@LanceHedrick]

Puck

[@LanceHedrick]

The pressure the extraction experiences

[@crimsonkatsu5919]

It would be interesting if you made a video about methods for consistency. A hard thing about all of this is all of the variables. I always made coffee at home. I was buying coffee from a roaster in Portland called Thornton once and they asked if I wanted to try the espresso. That opened my eyes to the potential of coffee since I had never tried espresso before. After that I knew I must learn how to make it. Ritual brewing in SF gave me the best espresso shot I've had. It really tasted like blueberries it was amazing that that flavor profile could come out of coffee. Besides ritual, I've been disappointed by highly reputable third wave cafés. If I buy their coffee I can make it better at home with a cafelat robot. The baristas are really good at latte art, but the espresso is meh, just an afterthought, a vehicle for coffeesque milk For those of us who never really went to cafés could you make a guide for the café and what to look for? That ritual shot was inspirational but everything else has been disappointing. I don't have the knowledge to select a cafe where the coffee comes first

[@mauort6870]

i feel the same way about many 'good' coffee shops..they talk the talk, they have the hipsters, the cool equipment...and i make better espresso with inferior tools. that being said. if you are ever in Bergamo, Italy go to Bugan Coffee lab. Never have I had a shot with more clearly defined flavors and balance.

[@efafe4972]

Lance it would be really cool to see you cover traditional coffee brewing methods, arabian qahua coffee or ethiopian buna.

[@thamtham4924]

Thanks Lance for this useful aspect as always. I really need you to do this vdo: when someone said use 92degC water for pour over, does it mean temperature of water or temperature in coffee bed? If using 92C water, in bed is about 85, but when I use 100c, it is about 92c. I got both brew from both temp but really love to know from u.

[@braxtonjens7839]

Myth Busters. Coffee Edition. “Watch out coffee myths, cuz your gonna get BUSTED!”

[@DianHrozek]

Awesome video ❤👍

[@HuibNederhof]

The 58mm basket is the most common. Is it also the best size for a single espresso with a ratio of 1:2?

[@ellajean10]

Lance! Can you please talk about matched solubility in roasting/brewing blends?

[@Longtimerolling]

Nice!

[@scviper]

Hey Lance, as usual, I love the video. Could you maybe expand a bit on the topic of lower pressures? In your experience, are there some coffees which benefit from a pressure lower than 9 bar? Does lower pressure allow for a bit finer grinding and less channeling?

[@EmileeBryant]

I was in that damn room 🎉 (not making a collab)

[@LanceHedrick]

In the room where it happened.

[@OneIdeaTooMany]

You roasted those myths!

[@crawdaddyy]

1:01 = this is why I love Lance 😂

[@krazyolie]

I’ve seen more and more pseudoscience creep in to coffee talk so this is refreshing

[@gr3g0r5]

On tamping pressure: can you tamp too lightly? I've always assumed you can, so my solution has always been to tamp pretty much as hard as I can, because that's a consistent value.

[@spider1g5]

Me *sipping beans from 2019 that I just ground and ran through a keurig* "Cool video"

[@exooptik]

Lance, when you guys were talking about RPM and said that for some coffees it’s measurable- please do share for which ones and what the effect is!

[@gabrielchartrand7982]

Very interesting video ! I definitely learned something (myth number 4). I was wondering, what do you use as a kettle?

[@BensCoffeeRants]

Never really noticed a natural gas type smell (sulfur) with coffee but did notice some fresh coffee gives off a nice farty smell lol. One thing i noticed with a lower end grinder like a ceramic burr hand grinder or baratza vario which had the same profile lots of fines. I found i enjoyed super fresh espresso more, now with higher end more unimidal grind distribution grinders for light roasts they do seem to be more variable and inconsistent and settle down and usually give better results after more degassing. I had one light roast coffee that i kept trying to get good results with and it was always just ok like meh. One day i had an amazing shot and couldn't reproduce it. After about a month of rest i think it finally got better and more consistent. A couples times i noticed that.

[@dancingmischief]

I love these scientific tests! SCIENCE FTW!!!

[@georgepagakis9854]

I am sure you both know UMPAUL. He is a Korean latte champion. He makes this tamper called Channeling Master, I suggest you reach out to him and purchase his tamper. With that tamper you will eliminate sour or bitter coffee, no more channeling and 100% extraction all the time at traditional ratios and yield. Time is no longer an issue.

[@LanceHedrick]

I know um and that tamper

[@georgepagakis9854]

@@LanceHedrick Well then get it and try it. It will change the way you talk about coffee.

[@paulstewart4505]

Really enjoyed this interesting video, food for thought. What do you think James??

[@m4tth3wh]

Q. Will the pump in coffee machine have longer service life if set OPV to 6-7 bar?

[@axelcampbell5669]

So I should always hot start my grinder, as in, turn it on then put the beans in? I have been cold starting which is putting the beans in then turning it on....

[@ivankreitman1526]

Thank you Dr. Smrke and Lance. This is great information. You mentioned the size differences from a cold start in grinding. With a single dose grinder, would it lessen the size variation if one would start the grinder and then add the beans so that the burrs are already at their normal speed? Just curious if this would help, but understand that there will always be variations in particle size due to the nature of being a natural material. Thanks again for such an informative video.

[@theSnowpup]

Exactly. By letting the grinder get up to speed, and only then adding the coffee beans (slowly, rather than all at once) you'll minimise the variations from speed thus increasing grind homogeneity. Once the grinder is running at speed, it's no longer considered a cold start, it's known as a hot start. It's easier to do on some grinders than others, but always worth doing if you want to chase optimisations.

[@wmf1595]

I have a very hard time differentiating between bitter and acid coffee flavors. I think this is making very hard for me to dial anything in properly. I need to find a coffee shop that offers cupping/palette training sessions. One of the coffee shops in my town (Columbus, Ohio) used to offer cupping classes at their lab/roastery. I think they stopped offering those classes after COVID.

[@MichaelZuskin]

Samo said that there is no difference in extraction at 6 and 9 bar. But that contradicts what you, Lance, said in your video about turbo shot (quoting English scientists). You said that there is a difference, and turbo shot gives better extraction as 9 is too compressing the coffee puck, causing the water to break through a lot of channels. So who's right?

[@LanceHedrick]

So what I said in the turbo video was based on the paper that theorized 6 bar could lead to more consistency. Not to better taste. The point here was about objective extraction. All extraction being held equal, taste would be similar. But are 6 bar the theory is the shots would be more consistent.

[@LanceHedrick]

Good question!

[@thomasdc94]

"Unreal." - Thomas(2023, after watching this legendary video.)

[@LanceHedrick]

If this is a shoresy reference, we are BFF and you get a stick. Because they're unbelievable

[@peterr8538]

I were a bit surprised 😅 i would se a overlay bitter coffee as a defective coffee, I've heard the theory of scolding coffee oils, I don't think people are afraid of burning as in combustion but burning as in tasting overly bitter, as in burned car-tires as some describe overly darkroasted coffee. So I wouldn't say the myth is busted just because the coffee dosnt combust, just taste overly extracted in a way that that taste unpleasant 😅 Other than that, great video!!!

[@LanceHedrick]

Oh no. You're just removed from novices in coffee. Novices very much believe it will actually burn the coffee like when you burn a steak.

[@peterr8538]

@LanceHedrick wauw 😅 people needs to see more "the last airbender" then 😂 clearly water can't burn, only scold😅

[@EricPetersen2922]

Sleeve is looking good Lance💪😃

[@LanceHedrick]

Thank you so much!

[@cichlisuite2]

The temperature comments surprised a little. Not that boiling water can't burn, that was obvious. But that small temperature changes won't affect the extraction much. With all the PID controllers in espresso machines and the talk of machines that brew at 93 degrees struggling to avoid sour shots with light roasts I had thought that smaller changes in temperature were having more of an effect on extraction, at least with lighter roasts?

[@richardmiddleton7770]

With lighter roasts I always brew at higher temperatures and grind finer.

[@cichlisuite2]

@@richardmiddleton7770 I know that is what is recommended but what I was mildly surprised by were the numbers thrown around here re temperatures needed to make a noticeable difference. Is 3 degrees, say 93 to 96 just enough to make a difference with lighter roasts because when loosely talking temps they were more in the 5 to 10 degree range from what I remember? I guess it's right in the middle of where they said small changes that don't matter (0.5-1 degree) and where we get a big difference so maybe it is just enough to make a real difference?

[@rwh1949homer]

Would you suggest getting the grinder at full speed before pouring the single dose beans into the grinder? Therefore creating a more uniform grind.

[@ibandribew]

That's what many cafes do, us included

[@theSnowpup]

Exactly. Letting the grinder get up to speed and slowly feeding the beans will reduce variability in your grind.

[@markedis5902]

So if I’ve got this right, as long as you make a coffee that you enjoy the minutiae really doesn’t matter.

[@jrodori]

I couldn’t click the like button fast enough

[@Phil_OG]

In 6) pressure are you talking about the peak pressure hit during the extraction? Because when I pull a "9 bar" shot it only reaches 9 bars for a short amount of time and then it quickly decreases from there on. Or are you pressure profiling and the pressure stays at 9 bar for the whole shot?

[@LanceHedrick]

On typical machines, most people dial in finely enough to maintain roughly 9 Bar. Unless you have a rapidly eroding puck and an ever increasing output flow, you're likely sticking around 9 bar or so with maybe a slight dip. Doesn't take pressure profiling to do this. Most normal machines do.

[@viperlt86]

Smrke doin some wrke.

[@LanceHedrick]

He's always bring the boys to the yard tbh

[@theSnowpup]

​​@@LanceHedrick❤ Underated response.