# Brew hue



## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Bit trivial really, and just throwing this out there on the fly whilst I drink this server of HasBean Oporapa. Do you reckon colour (of the brew, not the beans) can be used to guess what a coffee is going to taste like? What characteristics it might have? Or at least whether it is going to taste strong or weak... low extraction or high... sweet or sour... good or bad... full of body or thin-n-crispy?

Sometimes I look at a coffee and think "this is going to be a big one" but it turns out to be weak and with a low extraction.

What is driving colour? Why is it sometimes more red, and other times more brown? Does red taste different from brown? Or feel different in the mouth?

Musings...


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Some thoughts:-

The level of roast must add to the colour (grind and try and extract a green bean for a laugh)

The efficency of the extraction must add to the colour

The type of filter used must add to the colour

Some observations:-

Chemex and v60 often (but not always) produce a 'red' liqour , this red is very apparent in the bubbles

Aeropress (for me), plunge-pot always look like traditional 'coffee colour' liqour


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## MikeHag (Mar 13, 2011)

Yeah, filtration method certainly seems to affect body/mouthfeel due to more undissolved solids, so perhaps since the undissolved parts make it 'thicker' and less translucent then they make it browner.

So... [Premise 1] Redder coffee has less body than brown....?

Ok, I was going to exclude roast style because it's a shoe-in for brew taste, but I wonder, does a darker roast translate to brown brew and a lighter roast to redder? That might render Premise 1 incorrect. I mean, could a dark roast brewed through a chemex ever be reddish? What if it was brewed to be weak (low TDS), making it more translucent? It might look awesome... red, clean, etc... then taste of phenol.

More questions than answers...


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

On the cupping table, the liquor on the spoon also clearly red-ish


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## snegger (Dec 15, 2010)

if my brew is orange I know I'm in for a good coffee!


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