How to achieve the "Gold Cup Standard" when brewing coffee?

Original title: How to achieve the “Gold Cup Standard” when brewing coffee?

The Gold Cup Standard is a set of coffee brewing guidelines. It was developed through repeated trials and provides a simple and clear set of brewing parameters that can produce delicious coffee as long as these parameters are achieved. The standard was developed by the Specialty Coffee Association and has been continuously studied over the past 50 years. It is now widely used in the coffee industry.

According to the Specialty Coffee Association, the Gold Cup standard extraction rate is 18%-22%, and the concentration of the coffee needs to reach 1.15% to 1.35%.

Part I

Why use the Gold Cup Standard

Adjusting brewing ratios and techniques according to the Gold Cup standard can help us achieve the desired results, not only satisfying the subjective experience, but also achieving an objective, quantifiable and measurable TDS value.

Danny Peng, Specialty Coffee Association trainer and Marco Beverage System Asia Pacific technical and sales manager, said: “I think the Gold Cup standard is very important to help us get the best results for any type of coffee, whether in a commercial or home environment.”

Part Ⅱ

Brewing tips

First of all, we need to choose high-quality specialty coffee beans, and we also need to consider the following factors:

No.1 Water Quality

A cup of coffee is 99% water. It is very important to use filtered water to ensure that the flavor of the coffee is not affected. The water should be clean, fresh, odorless and chlorine-free, but it needs to retain certain minerals and chemicals to extract the natural flavor of the coffee.

No.2 The freshness of the coffee

The freshness of the coffee is another key factor, as stale coffee will lose its flavor and taste stale and boring. Once the coffee beans are ground, they should ideally be brewed within an hour.

No.3 Grinding Coarseness

The coarseness of the coffee grind corresponds to a certain extraction time in different brewing methods. Depending on your preferred brewing method, you should choose the corresponding grind size.

No.4 Brewing utensils

The brewing equipment must be clean, reliable and accurate. To ensure the best quality, many coffee equipment manufacturers allow users to enter the powder-water ratio.

No.5 Water Temperature

Precise water temperature control is essential when brewing, as fluctuations can affect flavor consistency.

No.6 Contact time

The amount of time the coffee grounds and water are in contact will affect the amount of coffee extracted, and ultimately the total TDS%.

No.7 Brewing Chart

There are several versions of the Gold Cup standard brewing chart on the market, most of which are quite complicated. The following is a simplified version, shared with coffee and catering professionals and coffee lovers, hoping to help everyone.

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