Ultrasonic Rapid Barrel-Aging Coffee - Weird Coffee Science

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[@jameshoffmann]

Just a quick note to fix an error: While the Sonic Dutch kicked off this whole video, it isn't actually an ultrasonic brewer itself. It seems like a subsonic brewer, to get those kind of waves in the brew. Apologies!

[@_idiot]

Hi James, can you make a video about putting turmeric in coffee?

[@anelisakoh8844]

what do you think about matcha and espresso fusion?

[@tchaggbruin3805]

since you're an expert could you please explain difference between african coffee and brasilian coffee and how to brew the best of african if at all possible

[@gh3179]

Hola James; could you make please a video about making a Turkish coffee? Saludos desde Madrid!

[@jakobtheiner6329]

Hi James! Great video as always :) How about combining this with last years centrifuge technique? Thereby getting rid of the tiny particles/mudiness in your ultrasonic coffee but retaining the high extraction this "accident" created 🤔

[@scientologydies]

You weren't kidding when you said this was gonna be a weird one

[@hopegold883]

Yes, weird enough.

[@weeksweeks9552]

My hospital colleagues aren't going to be happy when they find out why the ultrasound probe is warm and smells of yirgacheffe, and also broken.

[@jamesgreenwood8728]

After the "centrifuging espresso" one I got caught using the centrifuge in the bio lab at uni.... Long story short it doesn't matter how much the lab tech likes coffee he can't be bought 😂

[@bluewinterstorm]

Did you bring enough for the whole class?

[@jek__]

Thank god those machines are very different wavelengths or they would shred your organs lol. Ultrasound machines operate at around 2-20 megahertz, ultrasonic cleaners operate at around 40 to 60 kilohertz

[@SolarSourcerer]

Did you know i'am the lyrical veteran

[@verendus9]

James, I’d honestly love to see Weird Coffee Science as a Netflix show!

[@CertifiedSlamboy]

There are (good) shows on Netflix that are nowhere near as good as this.

[@superspeederbooster]

nooo, I dont want to pay for it

[@vayunbiyani]

Totally.... James needs to go famous

[@samx36]

This would be pretty awesome. Coffee experimenting!

[@alexandrefilho-unifor308]

Either that or make it like Mind Field - a free KZbin original

[@jamesgreenwood8728]

"dress up like an adult and pretend to know what I'm doing" isn't that just life though?

[@bigblue6917]

As they say Fake It Until You Make it. Then just keep faking it and hope no one notices.

[@ei96byod]

Yep. Pretty much what I do every weekday 😄

[@kendallstark4302]

@@bigblue6917 but don't you find, that the more you "fake it", you're actually doing it? I mean, like with everything, it depends on experience. I do see your point, though.

[@moorejl57]

That's my dating technique

[@DavesVids7]

The intro is so flipping good

[@Nobrr_]

Chemist here: There are some unique things going on in sonication. 1) You degas whatever your solvent is, IE removing air from water. Not sure how relevant here 2) You will break up / destroy small particles. Sonication is often used to dissolve insolube components. 3) you can homogenise oil/water mixes. It may be you are extracting more of the "non-water" soluble components. Would be interesting to see what these brews look like left overnight. End of video edit: Brew a 200ML batch, then sonicate to see if cloudiness occurs to test the above.

[@kusazero]

Thanks, that cleared up a bit of my suspicion/conclusion, did the experiment the day that KS came out.

[@groawr]

If you remove air from the liquid, wouldn't that in a way reduce it's taste since when you taste test liquids you want to bring in a lot of air together with it?

[@alex15295]

Was literally about to write this comment myself 😂

[@JohnnyArtPavlou]

Next up, Ultrasonic Vinaigrette.

[@brettfuller6603]

As I was watching the video I too thought about the homogenization (except called it an emulsion due to cooking background), but didn't know if that is what would be happening scientifically. Thanks for clearing that up.

[@it-s-a-mystery]

"Sorry for the slurps" - Moments before slurping the sound of a thousand baby birds screaming for food.

[@adamiotime]

I wanted to die.

[@trenton6219]

Read this comment before it happened, you are correct on that description

[@rbmanb]

My ears! Maybe some audio editing can take place? I don't mind the sound per se, but my ears hurt!

[@kittenkat3910]

I laughed so hard, then he slurped again and I died.

[@FLFOREVER]

Ultrasonic coffee needed some ultrasonic slurps

[@aqcd]

the ultrasonic probably forced the oils into an emulsion along with any fines into a suspension. It sorta makes sense that it wouldnt pass through the filters easily, think trying to pass mayonnaise through a filter.

[@Mrjmjam]

This is what I thought too. In Noma (Copenhagen) they use ultrasonic wands to make long lasting emulsions.

[@samroesch]

So the real take away from this is that I can make ultrasonic mayonnaise, cool!

[@SeanoHermano]

Juan de Mucha That was my immediate thought as well.

[@manatoa1]

I think the cavitation against the surface of the coffee particles probably blasted bits off of them, making more fines. You can get micropitting on the surface of metals if you clean them too aggressively in an ultrasonic bath. I think there's a good chance that the same mechanism was at work here.

[@Fantastovich]

manatoa1 This is exactly right. More fines in suspension because the cleaner breaks up the smaller coffee grains into increasingly small sizes. If we’re right James could take the density of the ultrasonic coffee and it should be measurably higher because of the introduction of more dissolved solids. Only way to filter it safely would be a centrifuge too.

[@Diaarozza]

“Ultrasonic barrel ageing” aka scream into a barrel of your favourite coffee

[@bigblue6917]

I think you need to work on that. Not sure you could keep it up long enough to get it to work.

[@kobalt2010]

Send James Hoffmann an Aldi Espresso machine and place the barrel in front of him.

[@Tomartyr]

aka my morning routine.

[@LadyTigerLily]

Honestly, who hasn't had the coffee screams now and again...

[@softlycrumblingcastle1820]

@@LadyTigerLily Jajaja. I think, for that matter, and in terms of ease would be great to add a water extract of the oak per se but I wouldn't bother with every time I have a coffee using an ultrasonic machine. wh... what was that?

[@safiyeserdengecti7487]

You're dangerously tempting me to use our lab equipment to brew weird coffees

[@Dialogue_SC]

the only thing that went ultrasonic in this video was James' slurping.

[@bribbripnairbnab7301]

No, that was supersonic.

[@musachi5999]

That intro was frickin' dope!

[@sonny9390]

Time to get the centrifuge out to clarify that ultrasonic brewed coffee possibly one of the nerdiest sentences ever said

[@theecat3689]

just found this video and wanted to suggest this so that we can check the pellet size

[@sonny9390]

@@theecat3689 damn it’s been a year since I commented this!

[@kwtheng]

This man's editing and comedic timing is orders of magnitude greater than actual comedy youtubers/comedians

[@Cypeq]

Up next, James shoots a cup of coffee into an orbit. Makes careful observation how 3g launch and time in 0g affected brewing. Ends asking community, "have you shoot your coffee into an orbit? How does it taste? Let me know in the comments."

[@fabianirsara9846]

James, I have to say you have introduced me to one of the nicest hobbies I have picked up in at least a decade. I sleep less and I spend tons of money on weird toys and I watch hours on end how you're experimenting with roasted beans, but it's given me such a great joy and I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being one of the calmest, nicest people on youtube. I wish you would do voice overs or read books on audible. That calm voice of yours is very pleasant :-D Thanks!

[@someguy9520]

This comment might be 1 year old, but i have all his audiobooks on audible. Very very relaxing especially on a long road trip in the car/motorcycle

[@Kishgofu]

that sound at 5:13 tho

[@Elias_Bnk]

Yea, turn down the volume by ALOT. This cought me off guard... great video, still :)

[@eigerw]

друг

[@jessicamedina5251]

I dont hear anything :(

[@pyleopain6528]

I feel like James has some of the best intros not only in the coffee space, but on the platform in general. Well done.

[@desertrainfrog1691]

Will Tennyson has the best of all in my opinion.

[@somefreshbread]

"Everyone says this is supposed to be for cold brew, so I'm going to work as hard as possible to do everything EXCEPT cold brew".

[@ninoding]

I would love to see this man wearing a hoodie

[@gilliangilliangillian]

James: Sorry for the slurps. James's mouth: demon noises

[@globalhedonism3799]

Ultrasonic waves, depending on the intensity, can cause cavitation. That's what generating the ultrafine particles. It has also been shown that ultrasonic waves will improve mass transfer. The pressure waves generate a form of stirring. There needs to be some talk about the intensity and whether cavitation ocurred. Given the hot water temperature cavitation is more likely to occur regardless of the intensity, and the fines really conclusively point to it. On a cold brew, with low intensity ultrasoud, you could improve mass transfer without cavitation occuring. That would be someting completely different of what James Hoffman showed here, and these results cannot be extrapolated to cold brew as easily.

[@sas3dx]

What's bad about cavitation?

[@mitchellsteindler]

@@sas3dx cavitation is usually the point of using ultrasonic. The stress induced by ultrasonic waves is highest at sharp angles (like particulates in jewelry). The stress becomes so high at that point that it essentially blows up the particulate, causing cavitation (a vacuum bubble) in the solvent (water). Once the particles are blown up or off of the surface, they're more easily suspended by the water. Basically cavitation allows the solvent to dissolve the solute more quickly. So in essence, the coffee is being blown apart into incredibly small particles.

[@NothingXemnas]

Despite the ultrasound causing cavitation, I believe it wouldn't be strong enough to break solids, or at least not to the point of making it cloudy. What I think happened is that the ultrasound emulsified something. Fats aren't soluble in water, even in high temperatures. However, the fact that coffee can form crema indicates it has some limited emulsifying capacity, so the cloudy aspect could be an oil-in-water emulsion.

[@teoschollmaier7542]

@@NothingXemnas it isn't that hard to belive that the ultrasonic sound could break off solids, as its point as a jewelry cleaner is to break micro solids off of jewelry. The ultrasonic waves are probably smoothing the coffee grinds and breaking off tiny particles.

[@manatoa1]

@@NothingXemnas if an ultrasonic can pit metals, it can also create pits on coffee particles. Probably much more effectively since the coffee particles have actually absorbed water and the cavitation can happen inside the particle as well as on its surface.

[@thejoetandy]

Brew a chemex with the whole thing dunked in a giant one of these, to see how it effects draw-down and extraction. Hook an ultrasonic exciter directly to the group-head of an espresso machine... that's all I can think of for now.

[@junger613]

What an intro. Holy moses. I just finished reading your book and loved every page of it. Took me two days. Love your channel. Thank you

[@callenbragdon5495]

"Sorry for the slurps." That's when I knew I was in for a treat.

[@bigblue6917]

Saturday morning drinking coffee while watching James dressed as a scientist doing Weird Coffee Science. Is there a better way to start your weekend

[@sosasoseante8757]

Any day in general

[@gennyfer8]

“I dress up like a grown up and pretend to know what I’m doing.” Every day, James. Every. Damn. Day.

[@tylervenz3179]

I love these intros, and then how he explains it is amazing

[@daviddivelbiss]

I think I may have to retract my +1 on the kickstarter vote.... 1. this was not so weird, but SO interesting! 2. Barrel aging is SUCH a thing with Beer, as well as whiskeys. 3. James, you are informing, and entertaining my family and I during these crazy days, THANK YOU!

[@UnfinishedIdeas]

"I'm not gonna talk about coldbrew today" Me: *screams ultrasonically at my screen*

[@clericneokun]

Ngl, Ultrasonic Rapid Barrel-Aging Coffee sounds like a good title for an EDM song.

[@santiagogervaz9608]

12:13 james: “and that’s okay”. me while listening to it “and that’s oakay”

[@stephenthorsteinsson]

Hey James, Awesome video as always. Every single video I notice the production quality increase bit by bit, and I think your progress is really evident in this video. The intro, the layout, the lighting, some of the close-ups. All great stuff. I believe Elixir is using this same process without heat to extract whole bean coffee. So I ordered an ultrasonic cleaner of my own and will be trying it to test out my theory. Will be making a video about it in the next month and reporting back with the results! I'm glad you made this video as it gives me more of a jumping off point, so thank you!

[@hvze9848]

I’ve been binging this channel for days now. This is content.

[@MrMisterPhoenix]

I've only just started the video and this is a strong 10/10 for the intro James! Love it!

[@agreen182]

This channel takes coffee to places I never would have thought it would go, and I love it.

[@me_asme]

The quality of your content is just brilliant man... One of my favourite channels... Thank you

[@e.b.]

Really cool glitch/8-bit editing and great video as always. Love your channel and your presentations!

[@cabe_bedlam]

Retrowave and Coffee on a Sunday morning? Winning.

[@K1LL14N]

thank you for ALL the videos you make.

[@rahilukani5060]

I think it would be really interesting to try centrifuging the immersion coffees after heating/sonication! It would help to separate out the suspended particles or potentially any emulsions, and you could get a better sense of whether the sonication actually impacts the extraction.

[@youraveragefilm6118]

this is so infomative! ive never touched on aging! thx james!!

[@onuriltas8472]

I'm a simple man. I see notification, I stop everything I do. Get a cup of coffee, and start listening to Mr. Hoffmann

[@bigblue6917]

Snap 👍😊 Though I came prepared as I already had the coffee. just in case. As you do

[@afterworkcoffee]

This video is really really Helpful for me. Thanks for great video!

[@JJ-ji9xx]

Im always surprised that James doesn't have way more subscribers, his videos are top tier.

[@howienordstrom1290]

Thoroughly entertaining AND it sparks my curiosity about the flavour. I can actually see this as a thing in a bespoke café.

[@billy-mild]

I've been hoping you'd cover this technique! Thanks!

[@dylanparker9110]

I don't even drink coffee, yet i can't stop watching

[@elijahschwindt7403]

I would love to see more of this.

[@stephengoldberg7609]

My favorite WCS episode yet. Thank you!

[@robertmartin513]

Dude, this type of experimentation video format is intriguing and I love it. Do more crazy stuff like this please.

[@sinocte]

Well now I think the obvious next step would be to try different wood chips and see if any are preferable to the oak! I could see cherry, for one, being interesting, but there are a variety of woods used in drink making. Birch, Sassafras, etc. And I would also be curious to see if soaking the wood in spirits instead of water made a noticeable difference on the final product!

[@mikeydflyingtoaster]

Thanks for crediting the music! I love that sound so much. Reminded me of Moderat's 'A New Error'.

[@sluive3228]

Tried this also already, you can't filter ultrasonic brew, unless you want your coffee done in about half an hour for one cup. I just put my coffe in a teabag when brewing with ultrasonic which helps a lot. Also what I'm going to try next is doing this with mircrowaved whole beans. Will keep you updated on my findings, probably next time you drop a video/1week

[@dosetti]

Just when I thought ive seen pretty much all there is about coffee and James comes up with this!

[@surrealchemist]

There is a distillery Copper & Kings in Kentucky that primarily makes brandy and they play loud music to agitate their barrels.

[@emidior7948]

Keep doing these type of topics,it’s great.

[@Black3ternity]

I just watched through the episodes. These Intros are just phenomenal. Awesome content. Love it.

[@LadyTigerLily]

Getting more and more Socratic Coffee madness by the upload, Jim. Honestly, though, absolutely fascinating stuff! I'm glad we have so many cool experimental approaches to coffee from so many different people tinkering about in the industry.

[@dhruvsinghal5399]

Yeah, James, weird enough!! The weird science was subtle enough to not take away from it the classic JH Coffee love. What fun! Always fun to be watching the weird science series :D

[@jeremyromand]

This was a great video! Definitely weird. Keep em up!

[@Husky825]

Really loving your intros for these. And they keep getting better

[@knownunknowns589]

I am seriously tempted to buy a bath and try this. This is top-quality content creation right here.

[@rmesav1]

Hey James! I just finished barrel aging a washed Colombian coffee for 8 months. I will roast it next week, let me know if you want a sample of either green or roasted.

[@meliber]

“sorry for the slurps!” oh James how bad can it OH MY GOD WHAT OUCH???

[@benhaywood2510]

I've been using my ultrasonic bath incorrectly all this time for cleaning bicycle parts.

[@bigblue6917]

That will definitely change the coffee taste have bicycle parts in there.

[@nahum3557]

There's a cool experiment where you put whisky or other liquors/beverages with barrel chips and it ages them to make them taste more expensive

[@SiopaoSauc3]

#cleanchaingang hell yeah

[@vwertix1662]

@@nahum3557 The Thought Emporium did a video on that kzbin.info/www/bejne/j520hWemqdx_gdU

[@Tomartyr]

See this on Thought Emporium James? Edit: hehe yesss. Soon he'll be genetically modifying himself to sweat coffee.

[@ArpisRoh]

This is very interesting. Up until now, I've only used my ultrasonic bath for periodically cleaning metal filters. Now I'm inspired to get experimenting!

[@NLLHW]

These intros are honestly so dope. My mans an artist as well as a coffee expert!

[@brandonpau6395]

fantastic intro james. i loved this episode

[@rickastley885]

I always love the Weird Coffee Science intros

[@k.l.u6254]

Great episode, that intro was fantastic!! 👍🏻

[@MangaMovieMusic]

Thank you. Master!!!

[@RowlandCrawte]

Perfect amount of weirdness, really interesting and definitely worth my own investigation. Thanks.

[@bigblue6917]

Great way to start your Saturday

[@RodneyMullensNo1]

That intro James! Loved it!

[@basarix]

just gave me a good reason to go fishing in the storage closet for my ultrasonic jeweler cleaning thingy to do some tests when i get my hands on some coffee

[@ahwestvergina]

Wow, fantastic intro, I love the retro setup, amazing and I am happy to be apart of your community.

[@_zerotwelve]

I’m embarrassed how happy and excited this title made me when it popped up.

[@bigblue6917]

Your not getting enough coffee, mate

[@marsbar6523]

I would think different materials would be more or less conducive to ultrasonic waves. Might be interesting to compare the coffee prepared in a plastic bag or stainless container vs glass.

[@Electrohama]

I just love this Intro so much. It's so epic!

[@josephharburg993]

That intro was awesome! Nailed it.

[@4.0.4]

The video editing is really top notch.

[@vajs6312]

Have been enjoying your videos very much, especially the moka pot one, since I stumbled upon your channel while searching for a “how to make coffee in a moka pot” video. In general, you have a very pleasant diction and speaking tone. I would very much like to see your take and opinion on Turkish coffee.

[@ayuvelo]

I LOVE that intro! And this whole series!

[@unknownmemoirs]

Hoffman: You can have your cake and eat it My empty wallet: no

[@nwhamguy1368]

That intro deserves a freaking oscar

[@ANTheWhizkid]

After I experimented with new beans and grind this morning... and having pulled the best and sweetest espresso shot of my life in.... 37sec. - I think... everything seems to be possible now. Ultrasonic brewing/aging? Sure! Going new ways is always exciting!

[@criptonic1828]

Man, that intro was really COOL! Great job!

[@akquicksilver]

This reminded me of my first trip to Hawaii. When flying from Ohau to Hawaii on Hawaiian Airline we were served Kona coffee that had been roasted with Macadamia nuts. The smell in the cabin when the brewing started was amazing and the actual taste of the coffee was incredible. I found the Kona Coffee company once in Kona and bought some of the coffee to take home. Several times after that I purchased what was supposed to be Kona Macadamia Nut coffee and it was never even close. I wonder if similar results to my original experience could be obtained with this method. Good video, very interesting indeed.

[@justinlymburner580]

Dude. The editing on the opening was iconic

[@classica1fungus]

God bless you James Hoffman

[@halcofdrops]

I have a flat bottom drip coffee machine. One trick I learned was to put a second filter on top of the coffee grounds as a sort of water spreading plate and slow down the brew. I'm a chemical engineer so it sort of made sense to me that you would want to have some type of plate to make water flow more evenly through your bed.

[@kusazero]

I did the exact same thing after I heard about the KS, using my spectacle sonic washer. I think the "cold brew" is breaking the coffee into the fines, and using those fines to flavor the water.

[@davidchannon6004]

Hi James, thanks for the videos, I love your channel. Especially enjoyed your recent travel videos, definitely worth expanding on these. Any chance you can do a review video on the Bullet Proof Coffee craze (coffee, butter, mct oil) currently in circulation.

[@hotfromafar]

NOT WEIRD ENOUGH, THANK YOU.

[@Sarlucic]

My wife is very sceptical that there can be such a different between coffee types, I hope by nerding out on your videos i can make her see the light :) Love your work and this machine sounds really bizzare, love it!

[@snozrick]

Intro quality = instant like :D good job man

[@maveric2881]

Always enjoyed Weird Coffee Science. You really took it to the next level with Ultrasonic barrel aging with toasted American oak chips 🤣

[@InefficientElectron]

I love it already