NOTE: There have been people rightly claiming this practice of cooler blooms has been done before. Likely, most odd things with coffee one can think of have been done before. What has NOT been done before is theorizing with scientific proofs what happens with cooler blooms. Hence rewarding Samo with the name Samo Bloom. In his defense, he was hesitant when I asked if I could name it after him, but just like in the scientific community, one tends to name a theory or practice after the one who sets out to prove cause and effect. Dr. Smrke is the first and only to do this. While I know many Johns and Janes have done this in their kitchen while I was in elementary school, the theories were all different and, in the end, steeped (pun intended) in speculation. So, call the bloom what you like, but I'll be referencing it as the Samo bloom crediting the one figure we can know absolutely played a pivotal role in its expansion and subsequent widespread adoption. Thanks for reading. Much love and brew something tasty ❤
Lance, obviously I think everyone here knows that, and no one is speculating that what you're showing is a unique find. But the nuances and studies carried out by each of those who have used this type of method or similar, provide understanding and improvement in general. Keep up your work, excellent as always!!
Somewhat. I've seen some explanations that are flat out wrong. Only one I know of argued the only reason was retaining aromas, and I've linked it in the caption. But none gave any credible scientific underpinnings. The reasoning is similar to those that will brew cooler water at the end because it lessens bitters because less heat equals less extraction. This is an unfounded thesis that is arguably not true if you brew hot at the beginning.
Out of curiosity... because seeing this brought a thought I'll try later... (assuming you may have already done it ) pre soak the grounds in cold water and chill the filter, before bringing it back to the counter for a 92 C pour ? Excuse if this sounds silly
I think it's shunned upon in the scientific community when scientists name things after themselves. That being said someone else naming it after the person seems respectful
Made it in written form for myself, so might as well share it :) *Samo Bloom Technique for V60* *Ingredients:* - *15g* coffee, ground medium-fine _(slightly finer than typical V60 grind)_ - *250g* water, divided into two temperatures: - *Initial Bloom:* 50-60°C - *Subsequent Pour:* 95°C *Steps:* - *0:00**:* Pour 45g of water at 50-60°C for the bloom. - _Immediately after pouring the 45g:_ Increase kettle temperature to 95°C. - *0:00** - **2:00**:* Bloom phase - *2:00** - **2:20**:* Continuous pour phase. Use these checkpoints to guide your pour rate: - *2:05**:* Total water should reach 100g. - *2:10**:* Total water should be 150g. - *2:15**:* Total water should be 200g. - *2:20**:* Finish with a total of 250g. - *2:20** - **2:25**:* Gently swirl. *Total Brew Time:* *Approx. **3:30**.* _Adjust grind for taste/time. Too fast/acidic = finer; too slow/bitter = coarser._ Edit: Pour duration was wrong, thanks for pointing that out @pszemysuaf. Fixed now!
This actually changed the way I brew coffee each morning. I can only describe the result as "less harsh". It softens everything bad but leaves all the good in it. Thanks for the tip!
Just made a cup of pourover and sat down to see Lance uploaded a video about making better pourovers..... Guess I'm doubling my caffeine intake this morning
Just a thought for us US 110v people. When your kettle gets to 70C/160F pour some of your brew water into a steaming pitcher, (how much you want to use for your bloom) When your kettle is up to temp your bloom water will be around 50C. Adjust the temp you pour off into a separate vessel accordingly. Or if it’s too cold when you want to brew, pour some of your kettle water into your steaming pitcher.
Yes, this works perfectly for 110v. I only have one Fellow Stagg electric kettle and an old stovetop gooseneck kettle with built-in thermometer. I heated my Stagg up to 70C/160F then poured my bloom water into my stovetop gooseneck. Then I continued to heat up the Stagg to 95C/203F. Started my pourover/bloom with the stovetop kettle at about 55C for about 1 minute. Then finished the pourover with my Stagg at the 90C+ temp. Lance is definitely on to something. I noticed a better flavor profile. It brought out the cherry and dark chocolate better in my Onyx Costa Rica Francesca Chacon roast, than my previous brew method which was at the 95C/203F temperature all the way through. I used the Next Level Pulsar (Gagne's awesome invention) and kept the release valve open during the Samo bloom. Then closed the valve and did an immersion and finished with percolation (steep and release). Still a lot of great things to experiment with to see what kind of cups I can produce. Cannot wait to dive further down this rabbit hole!
wow... it really works. In the past I have tried cooler temperatures to taste more of the delicate notes, but that ends up being under extracted overall. But this method makes the final coffee tastes so much better. From my unscientific experiments, this works better with lighters roasts. Thank you!
This low temperature blooming technique was used by 2022 World Brewer’s cup champion Shih-Yuan Hsu（Sherry）. It does bring out different flavors. Thank you, Lance for sharing it so more of us are motivated to try it at home
This is a fun one my dude! After hanging with Samo that week and watching his lecture on aromatics being percieved higher in low temp brews, I have been exclusively brewing with lower temps. The aromatics have for sure improved and I have seen much cleaner finishes. Though this is a great answer to that as well! Gonna go get sick off caffeine because of you, you scumbag.
For pour overs, you're doing the whole brew at lower temps, what's lower temp for you? I just started getting more into pour overs recently, do you compensate for the lower temperature? I think you can make up for the lower extraction from lower temperature by doing more pours (like 5 smaller ones), also I noticed your brew water can have a huge effect on how effective it is at extracting. I was using tap water which is pretty hard here and was using a higher temperature for pour overs (with 1 bloom + 2 pours) and it was working out fine. I accidentally got some Dark Roast Profile Third Wave Water and decided to try it (with light roast pour over!) using the same temperature It was turning out bitter and over extracted, I was thinking the dark roast profile was just bad for my coffee at first, but then I tried lowering brew temps a good 10F and it was good again! So seems like it's just more efficient at extracting. I remember I had a similar experience for espresso with the espresso formula, using half strength works better for me otherwise it seems too easy to over-extract.
Tried a both 60° and 70° bloom of 2min on a washed Myanmar coffee from my local specialty coffee. Rest of the brew with boiling water. The results were truly great, way better balance of both acidity and sweetness. A lot more flavour in general too ! Thank you for sharing Lance !
Lance, Lance, Lance! I took your method and adopted it to the cupping style “french press/cowboy coffee. I did a 1:17 where I started with 20g of coffee with a medium-medium fine ground and 100ml at 60C water in a largish vessel and then poured the remaining 240ml of the 340ml at 100C water. let it steep for 4-5 minutes before breaking the crust and another 12 minutes of steeping before pouring it in a mug. The taste was divine. The mouth feel, after taste, and notes were very lively.
You can boost the effect by using a dispersion shower like the gabi Master B or the Hario drip assist, for the blooming. Lower agitation works great if you want those VOCs to reach the cup
This is by far, the best hack I have read/watched a video of. I have not gone nuts and experiment with different blooming times. I kept it simple and followed your recipe with the 2 min bloom, and I got a say that I have been having very nice balanced/round cups of coffee. Truly grateful for this @LanceHedrick . Also, perks to the guy who recommended to just pour some water into a milk pitcher in order to not have to wait that long. It is a nice hack, a little inconsistent, but IMO it works out perfectly fine when you are brewing at 6am in the morning.
Blessings to you, bro Lance! I tried a 60c bloom for 2:30 before pouring the 92c steady pour for the rest. I used a very fresh roasted washed Colombian coffee. I poured out the bloom drippings before finishing the pour. It's unbelievable how SWEET this cup is! It seriously tastes like I've added liquid sugar to it. WOW! Excellent flavor IMO Thanks for the encouragement to try the low temp bloom! It's gonna be my go to... till something even more awesome is found out hahahah
Beginner in doing pour over's here. ;) I gave this method a try last night (I normally to 4:6method)... wow. what a difference! I used a light roast from Peru, it described "milk chocolate, the juicy citrus and the sweetness of blueberries", never really got that out of it, until i tried this method. I used 56C bloom, which took about 2.5min since the boiler wasn't yet hot enough for the 2nd pour ;) Then did the rest with 96C. (used: 1:16 / coarse grind). Thank you for sharing! Love your video's, keep them coming!
Just tried this with a pacamara natural heavily processed that I’ve been struggling with and it was great! More balanced and even sweeter than the control. Definitely try it out! Medium grind (25 clicks on comandante) Origami with cone filters 15g : 250g 65C and 97C 2:15 tbt
Hey Lance - thank you for this great step-by-step video. Here are the steps as I understand it for the chilled bloom pourover recipe: 1. Set kettle temperature to 50°C 2. Weigh out 15g of coffee grounds 3. Bloom with 45g of 50°C water (3x coffee weight) 4. Let bloom for 2 minutes 5. At 2 minute mark, pour water to target weight of 250g with 96°C water 6. Give one swirl at the end to ensure flat bed So in summary, the chilled bloom recipe is: - 15g coffee - Chilled Bloom: 50°C water, 45g, 2 min - Pour to 250g total weight with 96°C water
Blooming colder is a definitely great way of getting a better tasting cup on unevenly roasted & blended coffee or for beans that have sat for a bit longer. Especially if those coffees are on the lighter side of medium and could benefit from higher water temperatures to extract well; the overall perceived bitterness or toastiness may be less noticeable. I've been doing this for some time with pleasant results. Great videa Lance, you always think outside' the box!
I have done cold blooms in my aeropress for a while now...and while it felt so wrong because it goes against most things taught, the results are amazing. I use frozen beans as well.
Just tried this right now!! It tastes great and much more style. After trying a few different ratios and recipes and settled on my main one. But this…. This is it! Immediate difference and a big fan
Tried this with the Clever and it worked well. 22g coffee (dark roast espresso blend) 100g bloom for 2 minutes 250g brew for 1:30 Noticeably better taste and all that.
If you wouldn't mind, I have some questions. Did you flush the bloom after or did you pour the rest of the water on top of the bloom water in the Clever? Especially for espresso blends (which are mostly dark), how hot do you brew espresso blends, how long are you letting the coffee steep? I just ask because I have some problems with bitterness in my coffee with espresso blends in my Hario Switch. I am assuming you are keeping it short since you use more coffee than usual?
I wish I remembered for sure @@d1oftwins , but I suspect I did flush the bloom if that was in the video. I will try it again to be sure in the next day or so. I was using an espresso blend if memory serves me well, so it worked well with those parameters.
@@ClarkVangilder Oh dear, I tried it today. I poured 60C warm water in the Hario Switch as "cold" bloom. At 1:45 I released the bloom and left the valve open. At 2:00 I started to pour the hot water. Ratio was 27g/450ml. The difference was night and day. It tasted well rounded and balanced, no hint of astringent bitterness just that kinds that are tasty and pleasant. It's probably the first time I understand what "sweet" tasting coffee is. I am impressed. 🤯
Hello from France ! I tried this with 40°C for the bloom and it's very interesting how different it tastes. Much more herbal, it feels like you taste a aromatic smell. I tried with a medium dark roast looking forward to try it with a light roast ! Very good video, thank you Lance.
Very effective! I’ve had a nice coffee that I felt was just a touch too far into the fermenty side of things for my taste - this bloom almost completely eliminated that element of the cup, fantastic! In practice, I’ve been heating my kettle to full temp and then pouring enough to bloom into a smaller little glass cup with a spout. Seems to cool the water to the right temp fairly quickly (30 seconds or so? I checked with a thermometer the first time and it came down to about 65°C quickly) and the spout lets me pour well enough for the bloom. Then my kettle is hot and ready to go following my bloom (I’ve been blooming for 1 min lately). Thanks for sharing Lance! This method was quite effective.
Ok I am never going back to how did pour overs before this! Each cup I’ve had since incorporating the samo bloom has much more flavorful and nuanced! Game changer!
Wow… thank you Lance for flagging that up! The « who was the first? » debate is useless to me as long as it’s taught by a passionate teacher. In any case this really makes a difference for me and I’m glad you made me try the cooler bloom. I’m experiencing the best pour over I’ve ever made :-)
Have had two cups this morning so far with the SAMO bloom. Origami with V60 papers Kubomi swirled both. I did a 19:300 and 12:200 cup with some Ethiopian Sidamo. -60°C Bloom (50g and 36g respectively) -92°C single pour At the end of each pour I stirred up the slurry with a stirring wand to increase flow and (purposefully) left with a faster finish time and a domed bed. Cups are definitely perceived heavier/juicier with less clarity (could be grinder fines, totally fine for me). I’m trying not to have a biased take on the different bloom, but I think I like them more, and it leans towards the experience of a long 8min+ Aeropress steep. To make better brew times, one could theoretically have two kettles set at bloom and brew temps. Would love to see an Instagram reel/TH-cam short to see. Other theory for espresso: dual tank temps for pulling shots, with a preinfusion at 60 and brew temp as applies to the coffee. Thanks for the information.
I tried the Samo bloom this morning with a really interestingly processed Colombian orange wush wush from Coffea Circulor--used 60C for the bloom and the results were absolutely undrinkable haha. The front note had a kind of astringent pungency that reminded me of eating dish soap. However, the taste on the back end was sweet, and floral. Ended up giving the cup to my wife (at her insistence we not waste the beans) who uses half-and-half and it was far more palatable. Will definitely try this with something less exotic and see how the results differ. Thanks for the experiment!
Holy smokes, I thought I was the only one to try doing this. I of course did not think of all the Sciencey stuff, but the idea did pop into my mind and I tried it. Not something I do much but once in a while when I'm feeling creative I try it. Now I will have to try it again just like this.
Tried this with the washed Colombian fellow drop from 3 or 4 weeks ago. I’ve been struggling with this coffee as the extraction was taking about 5 minutes. Surprisingly still tasted good but a lot of body and the florals and aromatics were muted. The sago bloom made this brew perfect. Kept the beautiful chocolates in the body but brought out all the grape acidity and floral aromatics it was lacking. Still a 5 min brew but don’t really give a damn. It was amazing. Grinding with a orphan apex on minus 4 clicks. Bloom was at 145 f and brewed at 205 f on a stagg x brewer. FANTASTIC!!
Thanks for the video, Lance! I recently had a similar experience with the French press... After adding the water, I immediately put a small cup on top as a lid. After 4 minutes I wanted to break the crust and wait another 4 minutes before pressing down the plunger... then I noticed that the water vapor condensing under the cup smelled sensationally good... and tasted - yes, I tasted it. Since then, I've always brewed French Press coffee with a funnel-shaped lid to channel the condensed water vapor into the drink. I have the feeling that the coffee tastes much better now... but I have no idea whether I could manage a blind tasting ;-)
I’ve tried it for the last few cups I’ve made and I am definitely a believer! More flavorful, vibrant cups and a lot of the harshness isn’t there. Love it
I have just tried it with my decaf (already late here in Europe). I must say it is very promising. Decafs that I usually get are not super light roasts, rather closer to solid mediums therefore even if I brewed it like with 90 degrees water it still gave me plenty of bitterness with occasional fruit notes if I am lucky, but that was good enough for me providing it is not "real" coffee. But with this method, I feel a lot less bitterness and more pronounced fruit notes. HOWEVER, the most interesting thing for me was that when I finally hit that bloomed puck with hot water I had a MASSIVE PUNCH of sweetest cherry aromas evaporating from that coffee into my face, and, unfortunately, disappearing forever. I am wondering, if you actually need a second bloom with that "colder" water to actually try to wash that off and dilute into the brew before hitting it with a hot one? I will try it next time
The cup is fantastic. More aromatic, very clean cup, no bitterness at all. Brewed using ssp mp at 900-1000 micron. I use 2 kettle, boil 1, then pour into an empty kettle, then add room temp water til it reach 60C
Ok, I have watched many videos and tried a lot of things. But this had the most profound effect on my coffee. Coming from the beer world I really dig aromatics and this technique has really helped me improve that, I now have way more perceived aromatics than before. This is even more profound in freshly bought coffees. I do this technique in an aeropress and the amount of off gassing is so much reduced. This and my new grinder (df64 gen2) has finally giving me the cups I wanted.
This saved a bag of beans for me. I picked up this washed Guatemalan medium-light roast, and I just couldn’t make it taste good (let alone great…) after using several different recipes and brewers. Bitter and zero characteristics. Used a 60c bloom (lowest my kettle can get while still knowing the temp) and then off boil for the rest of a normal recipe. I didn’t think it would make that big of a difference, but it truly made the roast sparkle as best as it can. Great finish. No astringency. The roast has virtually no acidity, but this made the nutty flavors pop. I’m excited to snag a better fruity roast and see what really comes out.
Brewed trying the Samo Bloom. It does add fruitiness, also weakens the brew as noted from Lance. I used V60, @ 1:15.3, 20g Heart’s Halo Eth. 60g bloom at 125°F rest at 208° F. Went one click finer on my Encore. I might go another click or two finer. But the results are quite intriguing.
Brewed a Natural from Costa Rica today and it was a heavily floral aromatic brew. Lacked body, but maybe because I was at 27 clicks on my Comandante. The bed wasn’t flat after swirling too, so things to note for next time. Defo wasn’t as funky of a coffee using this method, but defo pulled out a cherry blossom floral like taste. Lacking the sweet strawberry note I had before when blooming at higher temp…and also lacked a honey finish which I was experiencing before too. Will adjust variables for next time and see how we do. Total brew time was 3:20
Cold water blooms work wonders for espresso! As a runner, astringent coffee triggers my acid reflux, making my morning runs a challenge. But thanks to a friend's recommendation, I tried this technique cold water blooms in my morning espresso. And let me tell you, since I've started using cold water blooms, my espressos have become noticeably smoother and more flavorful. It's interesting how the flow rate can vary depending on the bean at times slower which was very much unexpected. I've been on a journey of experimentation, playing around with different water amounts, temperatures, and bloom durations. And now, as my pre-run drink, I've found the perfect combination: tepid room temperature water, poured about 1.2 ounces using puck paper and metal puck screen. Sometimes pouring water just over the puck paper or over the puck screen. It's a game-changer that not only keeps my acid reflux at bay but also fuels me up for an enjoyable and caffeinated run.
This was a great experiment! I tried the following recipe and couldn’t believe my taste buds: 20g of Colombian Geisha (double anaerobic washed) by the La Macarena Farm in the Cauca region with 340ml water 70C/158F of 60mL Bloom 100C/212F of the remaining 340ml
I like this! I did 50 C then my kettle got up to 93 C right as the 2 minutes were up. Need to grind a little coarser next time, I had a bit of stalling. I was able to drink the cup right away too, which was my favorite part. Usually I have to wait a few minutes (because the coffee is too hot).
I just did a cup with a colombian honey, wonderful surprise, a bit acidic but better profile. On the other hand, I did a fermented mexican and OH NO, yes you get the strong prominent cocoa smell on your cup, but the fermented funkyness just went to another level. I double checked repeating the normal process for the mexican and we came back to balanced-town. So yeah, there is something to say about the samo bloom changing the profile of the cup. I am doing more experimentation, but it is by no means a be-all end-thing.
I just got a v60 yesterday, tried your 2 minute bloom recipe and used only used pretty warm water for the bloom because that was a little more convenient and I thought bloom temp wouldn't mske that big of a difference, then sit down to drink my delicious cup only to stumble across this video lol
I am not sure if I am in pure placebo land right now but for the last few days I have brewed with this method exclusively and have been really enjoying the coffee and perceive less bitterness overall. This actually came at a nice time for me as I had a coffee that I wasn't overjoyed with but now I am finding nice acidity with this method. Again, this could be the Lance-effect but so far really enjoying the method!
I’ve been practicing samo bloom for a month now. And often times it taste sweeter and produce pleasant aroma for the coffee. (I use clever dripper and aeropress) 1. Samo bloom with water twice the coffee weight for 30-60 seconds. 2. And then immersed the coffee with water up to to 1:10-11 ratio (including the blooming) for 2-3 minutes (for aeropress) and 3-5 minutes (for clever dripper, and dont forget to close lid). Drip into server. 3. Sometimes in clever dripper, i tried to percolate with water the same weight as the coffee ground after step 2, because i’m afraid that it not extract well. but there’s no significant change in my opinion. So you could skip this. But Try and see what you guys think 4. After that i pour into a glass and add hot water or ice until the prefered ratio. The great part about this is you could make ice and hot coffee at the same batch. Also the taste almost never dissapoints. What you guys think?
Well, I went 17 grams, 270 recipe in the larger V2 filter. 65C for the 3x bloom, then 91C finishing temp. The coffee is my home roasted Ethiopian Misty Valley Yerg. The result was a bit more balanced and sweeter cup. YMMV.
Great video, and I'm definitely going to give this a try tomorrow. I have to admit, however, that I noticed your shirt about halfway through the video and got hit with a distracting nostalgiabomb. I had to go back and rewatch the second half of it as a result. We spent nine wonderful years in Central AR -- Benton, specifically. During that time, we were introduced to Onyx. We moved back to Florida but still really enjoy the nostalgia Onyx brings us. We have identified two local coffee shops that feature it, with one of them only being half an hour from our house. It's worth the drive when we want a shot of nostalgia with our espresso.
Dude you are so hilarious, I loved your impression of the character in "Let's get our boiling water and... 😠 punch them out of the grounds!", watched it so many times 😂 Also the Squarespace one was great again, and of course the interpretive dancing 😆 Brilliant! Please keep doing this! And also thank you for coining a new term. I think the coffee world will really benefit from people experimenting with this, and also from Samo getting more exposure! I'd love to see experiments with different variations of cold(er) bloom, hot first pour, temp drop second half and/or immersion, etc etc ...
Excellent. I was looking for an excuse to have another coffee. My wife is like... Why are you having coffee just before dinner? Me.... Lance told me to. Wife... OK Bliss Tried room temperature bloom and it was weirdly quite good! Needs more experimentation with some lighter roasts but will have to wait till the weekend. 👍Lance
Just tried this out: 20g:300g with a light roasted Kenyan mixed SL28, SL34 and Batian varieties, 50g bloom at 50C with a stir, then 150g and 100g pours with off-boiling water. One of the sweetest cups I’ve had from this coffee without any bitterness or astringency, but couldn’t taste the flavour notes until it cooled right down. Definitely an interesting way to play with the bloom, I’ll keep at it!
Your squarespace ad transitions have been on point Lance 👌. More on topic, I'm excited to give this a try! I just got some new coffees in today and I'm going to have to have a tasting this weekend to compare different bloom temps to see if I notice a difference from temp to temp (going to try 50⁰ and 70⁰ against my usual 94⁰), as well as the workflow difference. At least that's my interpretive dance interpretation of yours I'll be playing with 😁. As always love the nerdiness, the deep dives, and the fun ideas. Keep up the great work!
Just want to validate this. Once I started trying to aggressively pre-heat my brewers, I noticed an immediate negative change to my coffee. More bitter and muddy cups compared to before (still fine enough cups though).
It's 7:30 pm at the time of seeing this. Can't wait to try tomorrow. Also want to try this in my Flair 58. I figure you could partially fill the brew chamber with 60-70C water, press it through for a bloom. Then with the brew chamber "closed," fill the chamber with 90C water, lift the lever to fill the chamber and finally completing the shot by pressing at 9 bar.
Tried this today with a Costa Rican coffee and i have to say it is delicious. I am going to have to try it with a burundi that i was having issues dialing in. Although being here in the states my bloom was 2 minutes 30 seconds as that is how long it took my kettle to get up to 95 degrees from 55.
I tried this using the Kasuya method and I’m losing a bit of acidity compared to blooming at 95-98°C, but I’m getting more white chocolate in the finish so the overall body is improved. I think this might be because the initial bloom phase is used to bring out a lot of the brighter notes but by lowering temperature we’re not extracting as much? I’d reserve the cool bloom for a bigger funky bodied coffees like naturals or fermented processes. Thanks for the demo.
Tried this Samo method and YES, flavor changed for better, more floral notes from the coffee I brewed. Overall I've been using the 4:6 pourover method at 95C. Today I did the first pour at 70C and waited about 70 sec while the water heated to 95C for the last 3 pours. When I finished the cup was about 4C cooler than pouring all for at 95C. But with only 1 kettle this is an annoyance I do not like. Maybe I'll clutter my kitchen with a second Fellow kettle (diff color) for Christmas? Meanwhile, I'll try brewing all four pours at lower temp, 92C or 90C but doubt I'll go below 90C. The 70C first pour was flavorful enough I am actually considering a second kettle! Thanks!!
Man, this is pure magic. Excessive acidity is gone, instead of it came clean descriptors. And all this on water with zero tds, I wonder what will happen at 60. Tomorrow will find out. Thak you, man
Bought steel balls waay back from Aliexpress but never use them bacause they're really messy to deal with. Now I'm sure this I could do even right after when I wake up 😊 Thanks always Lance
Thanks you very much for all your work there ! For the Samo bloom, a transcript of the recipe could be : Overview : * 15gr coffee * 250gr water Recipe : 1. Start timer & bloom with 45gr of water at 50° or 60° or 70°C 2. Replace kettle and get 95°C water during blooming phase 3. Pour remaining water until 250gr at a flow rate of 10gr/s 4. Make a swirl at the end 5. Total brewing time should be ? Maybe around 2min45 and 3min30 Edit: it is the 121 method explained here th-cam.com/video/rAdgJNK0csc/w-d-xo.html Is there any way to adapt method to aeropress, it could be also produce great cup.
You dont need to reset the kettle temp, just take it out of the base and then put it back (set for 95). At least, in my timemore kettle, it works automatically.
@@3dus I've a classic Hario kettle without temp control, I guess that it is more easy to let the water being hot, pooring ~30gr in a jar with a kitchen thermometer, adding room temp water until it reach 60°C, then you have both semi hot carafe and your hot kettle ready for extraction!
Im more of an aeropress guy than a pour over. The inventor of aeropress says to use a much lower temperature than traditional. I have played around with most temps from 170 to 205 and can definitely taste the difference. I found 185 to be just right for me. I will definitely try this low temp bloom and then go to a hotter water for the bulk. I typically only bloom till the gas is gone and then stir in the rest of my water. Now that I have the xl version I dont bloom at all. There is room to put all the water on in one pour. Yes the grounds do fluff and degas but there is plenty of room in the xl for this expansion. Sorry for rambling about aeropress on a pour over video but the point was is the use of much cooler water for the aeropress. Thats the fun of coffee. If all coffee had one recipe and it was perfect every time it would be nice to drink but not fun to experiment with. Every morning my mind is trying to think of a new way to brew my morning mug of coffee. Now after watching this I have to go make more. Dang the bad luck.
After trying the lower bloom temp in my AP I can say that it didn’t change my flavor profile enough for me to detect. I have been doing a lot more pour overs and can say with certainty that my pour over coffee is superior to my AP. That was hard to say. Im an AP coffee nerd for sure. But after getting my Pour over game going with the proper grind I was blown away with how great it tasted. More rich and less bitter. Not that my AP was ever bitter. But this PO is the smoothest coffee ever. Cant see taking a PO into the woods with me but I see the light. Damm you Lance. Im eventually going to need a second kitchen. My wife already complains about all my coffee gear taking up too much counter space. Just dreaming of my new coffee kitchen.
This reminds me of something I tried a ways back where I used a small ice cube as part of my bloom water mass. I ended up forgetting about that experiment when my workplace transitioned back from remote to in-office, and ADHD kicked in. I may need to bring that back out.
Although a different technique, I don't blume. Straight in with 100g pours. For the same reason, I want those flavours straight into my cup. 2 x 100g or 3 x 80g is my typical pour structure depending on the coffee and brewer. Really fascinating video, though, what we're realising is that the high quality coffee were drinking now can be made in multiple ways and there's no right or wrong. Love your work.
Thanks for another great video 😊 Just tried repeating your recipe with a lovely washed Tanzanian from Pharmacie Roasters in the UK - it's been a really lovely bright coffee with lots off zing from the hibiscus notes. The cool bloom totally changed it - much lighter and more tea like with and intense sweetness. I got an extraction yield of 20.33 % - Can't wait to try some other coffees.
Very new to the world of pour overs and have been trying to get a better cup out of medium to darker roast (light roasts seems good) this technique seems to be key as a way to control the extraction to keep the bitter under control well worth trying seems to work great
TALES COFFEE applies a very similar method, in their words "protecting the grain", performing a bloom with noticeably colder water, and then proceeding with standard temperatures. Very good material as always Lance!
Super interesting approach, will try to test that out. Tetsu Kasuya had a similar approach in his Hario Switch recipe, but with the temperature change reversed. He starts with the 90C and then gets down to 70C. Of course Switch is a hugely different brewer, but the idea to get the most of the desired flavours and discard the less pleasant ones is the same. Would be fun to see those two recipes compared/merged together.
I think merging would actually be very interesting to try and I just might try it later today with 20g beans: 60c bloom (to 50g), 93c first pour with valve open (to 120g), 70c second pour with valve closed (to 280g)
@@MrKekn I actually tried it today with a very light Ethiopia and it was... Not great. As both the drawdown (too slow!) and drinking temperature (too warm!) were affected. I'll try it again with 75c bloom but perhaps, as Lance said in the video, it's not the best approach for all coffees. Was certainly an interesting experiment though!
It’s nice to see that Aram behind you. I’ve had mine for years and much prefer it over an electric machine. The texture!!! They recently came out with a gauge for it too! I know it doesn’t have burrs but I’d really love if you could make a video on it. Thank ya!
Hey lance, good once over on samo's findings. On the topic of improvements, you may want to consider changing the colour on the text in the top left corner where there's the brewing recipe. The yellow faces into the background white and you can see the text at that point. Otherwise, looking sharp as always. Keep up the good fight. Best
I believe this is also why americano just taste slightly different than long black even after stirring. Long black has higher concentration of voc, as the coffee is pressed immediately into water, which traps the voc instead of letting it evaporates as is the case with americano.
It's funny and interesting that quite time ago I studied some cooking basics and I remember the importance of low temperature while making an awesome broth, because when you exceed 80ish degrees (I can't remember exactly the proper temperature) you can lose some flavours and volatile aroma. Remembering this I think I tried to apply this theory while making some brew, but as we can say in Spanish "dando palos de ciego" ... Of course it was a weird brew because I didn't have the time nor the patience to do more experiments. But after this video I'll definitely try it again!
Continued testing this with the Clever and boosted the cold bloom temp so that the kettle could get up to 200-205 by the end of a 2-minute bloom. Decide to test a cold bloom of 160 degrees with a brew at 200. Cold bloom: 22g coffee, 80g water, 2:15 Brew: 270g water, 1:30 RESULT = another great cup of coffee. I’ve done the same as above starting from a lower temperature (130) but it takes 3 minutes for the kettle to get up to 200-205. I couldn’t tell the difference because this also results in a great cup of coffee. My hunch is that this method is extremely tolerant to time, but given that you’re NOT giving the VOC’s enough energy to escape, I suppose it is unsurprising that the good stuff sticks around. Ran out of Chemex filter paper, otherwise I’d report on that as well.
NOTE:
There have been people rightly claiming this practice of cooler blooms has been done before. Likely, most odd things with coffee one can think of have been done before. What has NOT been done before is theorizing with scientific proofs what happens with cooler blooms. Hence rewarding Samo with the name Samo Bloom. In his defense, he was hesitant when I asked if I could name it after him, but just like in the scientific community, one tends to name a theory or practice after the one who sets out to prove cause and effect. Dr. Smrke is the first and only to do this.
While I know many Johns and Janes have done this in their kitchen while I was in elementary school, the theories were all different and, in the end, steeped (pun intended) in speculation.
So, call the bloom what you like, but I'll be referencing it as the Samo bloom crediting the one figure we can know absolutely played a pivotal role in its expansion and subsequent widespread adoption.
Thanks for reading. Much love and brew something tasty ❤
Lance, obviously I think everyone here knows that, and no one is speculating that what you're showing is a unique find.
But the nuances and studies carried out by each of those who have used this type of method or similar, provide understanding and improvement in general.
Keep up your work, excellent as always!!
Somewhat. I've seen some explanations that are flat out wrong. Only one I know of argued the only reason was retaining aromas, and I've linked it in the caption. But none gave any credible scientific underpinnings.
The reasoning is similar to those that will brew cooler water at the end because it lessens bitters because less heat equals less extraction. This is an unfounded thesis that is arguably not true if you brew hot at the beginning.
agree@@LanceHedrick
Out of curiosity... because seeing this brought a thought I'll try later... (assuming you may have already done it ) pre soak the grounds in cold water and chill the filter, before bringing it back to the counter for a 92 C pour ? Excuse if this sounds silly
I think it's shunned upon in the scientific community when scientists name things after themselves. That being said someone else naming it after the person seems respectful
Made it in written form for myself, so might as well share it :)
*Samo Bloom Technique for V60*
*Ingredients:*
- *15g* coffee, ground medium-fine _(slightly finer than typical V60 grind)_
- *250g* water, divided into two temperatures:
- *Initial Bloom:* 50-60°C
- *Subsequent Pour:* 95°C
*Steps:*
- *0:00**:* Pour 45g of water at 50-60°C for the bloom.
- _Immediately after pouring the 45g:_ Increase kettle temperature to 95°C.
- *0:00** - **2:00**:* Bloom phase
- *2:00** - **2:20**:* Continuous pour phase. Use these checkpoints to guide your pour rate:
- *2:05**:* Total water should reach 100g.
- *2:10**:* Total water should be 150g.
- *2:15**:* Total water should be 200g.
- *2:20**:* Finish with a total of 250g.
- *2:20** - **2:25**:* Gently swirl.
*Total Brew Time:*
*Approx. **3:30**.* _Adjust grind for taste/time. Too fast/acidic = finer; too slow/bitter = coarser._
Edit: Pour duration was wrong, thanks for pointing that out @pszemysuaf. Fixed now!
Thanks. Short attention span, quickly scanned the video for the recipe to try out the technique but the overlay was lacking some details.
@godil496 well, I worked for a while to make a 15min video. I think it wouldn't kill you to give up 15min. 🥰
@@LanceHedrick It was a great watch, thank you for the video😄
@BennyBanano1 10g/sec flow means you should run the main pour in ~20 seconds, not 40sec. Otherwise, an awesome effort mate! Cheers
Thanks @BennyBenano1 I watched the full video but I'm new to the pour over game so a reference text is very useful!
This actually changed the way I brew coffee each morning. I can only describe the result as "less harsh". It softens everything bad but leaves all the good in it. Thanks for the tip!
Just made a cup of pourover and sat down to see Lance uploaded a video about making better pourovers..... Guess I'm doubling my caffeine intake this morning
Literally me
It was the first cup you needed to be able to follow all the scientific rationale 🙂
Ha. Same.
Same here! I'm on my third pour over today now because of this video 😊
I just drank 2, saw this vid, making my third, bye bye sleep
Just a thought for us US 110v people.
When your kettle gets to 70C/160F pour some of your brew water into a steaming pitcher, (how much you want to use for your bloom) When your kettle is up to temp your bloom water will be around 50C. Adjust the temp you pour off into a separate vessel accordingly. Or if it’s too cold when you want to brew, pour some of your kettle water into your steaming pitcher.
Yes, this works perfectly for 110v. I only have one Fellow Stagg electric kettle and an old stovetop gooseneck kettle with built-in thermometer. I heated my Stagg up to 70C/160F then poured my bloom water into my stovetop gooseneck. Then I continued to heat up the Stagg to 95C/203F. Started my pourover/bloom with the stovetop kettle at about 55C for about 1 minute. Then finished the pourover with my Stagg at the 90C+ temp. Lance is definitely on to something. I noticed a better flavor profile. It brought out the cherry and dark chocolate better in my Onyx Costa Rica Francesca Chacon roast, than my previous brew method which was at the 95C/203F temperature all the way through. I used the Next Level Pulsar (Gagne's awesome invention) and kept the release valve open during the Samo bloom. Then closed the valve and did an immersion and finished with percolation (steep and release). Still a lot of great things to experiment with to see what kind of cups I can produce. Cannot wait to dive further down this rabbit hole!
I simply poured the bloom when the water hit 160 and then let the kettle continue to come up to temp during the 2 min bloom.
But this way, I don’t get to buy a second kettle, sad for me and the kettle industry
@@kaypee1972 True. We should all do our part to keep all those folks employed :)
I can never say no to pour over videos from Lance
I just never say no to pourover 😂
Best. Ad. Transition. Ever.
Dope 😅
wow... it really works. In the past I have tried cooler temperatures to taste more of the delicate notes, but that ends up being under extracted overall. But this method makes the final coffee tastes so much better. From my unscientific experiments, this works better with lighters roasts.
Thank you!
This low temperature blooming technique was used by 2022 World Brewer’s cup champion Shih-Yuan Hsu（Sherry）. It does bring out different flavors. Thank you, Lance for sharing it so more of us are motivated to try it at home
This is a fun one my dude!
After hanging with Samo that week and watching his lecture on aromatics being percieved higher in low temp brews, I have been exclusively brewing with lower temps. The aromatics have for sure improved and I have seen much cleaner finishes. Though this is a great answer to that as well! Gonna go get sick off caffeine because of you, you scumbag.
For pour overs, you're doing the whole brew at lower temps, what's lower temp for you? I just started getting more into pour overs recently, do you compensate for the lower temperature? I think you can make up for the lower extraction from lower temperature by doing more pours (like 5 smaller ones), also I noticed your brew water can have a huge effect on how effective it is at extracting. I was using tap water which is pretty hard here and was using a higher temperature for pour overs (with 1 bloom + 2 pours) and it was working out fine. I accidentally got some Dark Roast Profile Third Wave Water and decided to try it (with light roast pour over!) using the same temperature It was turning out bitter and over extracted, I was thinking the dark roast profile was just bad for my coffee at first, but then I tried lowering brew temps a good 10F and it was good again! So seems like it's just more efficient at extracting. I remember I had a similar experience for espresso with the espresso formula, using half strength works better for me otherwise it seems too easy to over-extract.
Tried a both 60° and 70° bloom of 2min on a washed Myanmar coffee from my local specialty coffee.
Rest of the brew with boiling water.
The results were truly great, way better balance of both acidity and sweetness. A lot more flavour in general too !
Thank you for sharing Lance !
Lance, Lance, Lance! I took your method and adopted it to the cupping style “french press/cowboy coffee. I did a 1:17 where I started with 20g of coffee with a medium-medium fine ground and 100ml at 60C water in a largish vessel and then poured the remaining 240ml of the 340ml at 100C water. let it steep for 4-5 minutes before breaking the crust and another 12 minutes of steeping before pouring it in a mug. The taste was divine. The mouth feel, after taste, and notes were very lively.
That was the best transition to an ad roll I have ever seen. Well done!
You can boost the effect by using a dispersion shower like the gabi Master B or the Hario drip assist, for the blooming. Lower agitation works great if you want those VOCs to reach the cup
This is by far, the best hack I have read/watched a video of. I have not gone nuts and experiment with different blooming times. I kept it simple and followed your recipe with the 2 min bloom, and I got a say that I have been having very nice balanced/round cups of coffee. Truly grateful for this @LanceHedrick . Also, perks to the guy who recommended to just pour some water into a milk pitcher in order to not have to wait that long. It is a nice hack, a little inconsistent, but IMO it works out perfectly fine when you are brewing at 6am in the morning.
Blessings to you, bro Lance!
I tried a 60c bloom for 2:30 before pouring the 92c steady pour for the rest.
I used a very fresh roasted washed Colombian coffee.
I poured out the bloom drippings before finishing the pour.
It's unbelievable how SWEET this cup is! It seriously tastes like I've added liquid sugar to it.
WOW! Excellent flavor IMO
Thanks for the encouragement to try the low temp bloom! It's gonna be my go to... till something even more awesome is found out hahahah
I've seriously never tasted a sweeter cup of black coffee ever.
Beginner in doing pour over's here. ;)
I gave this method a try last night (I normally to 4:6method)... wow. what a difference! I used a light roast from Peru, it described "milk chocolate, the juicy citrus and the sweetness of blueberries", never really got that out of it, until i tried this method. I used 56C bloom, which took about 2.5min since the boiler wasn't yet hot enough for the 2nd pour ;) Then did the rest with 96C. (used: 1:16 / coarse grind).
Thank you for sharing! Love your video's, keep them coming!
Just tried this with a pacamara natural heavily processed that I’ve been struggling with and it was great! More balanced and even sweeter than the control. Definitely try it out!
Medium grind (25 clicks on comandante)
Origami with cone filters
15g : 250g
65C and 97C
2:15 tbt
Hey Lance - thank you for this great step-by-step video.
Here are the steps as I understand it for the chilled bloom pourover recipe:
1. Set kettle temperature to 50°C
2. Weigh out 15g of coffee grounds
3. Bloom with 45g of 50°C water (3x coffee weight)
4. Let bloom for 2 minutes
5. At 2 minute mark, pour water to target weight of 250g with 96°C water
6. Give one swirl at the end to ensure flat bed
So in summary, the chilled bloom recipe is:
- 15g coffee
- Chilled Bloom: 50°C water, 45g, 2 min
- Pour to 250g total weight with 96°C water
Blooming colder is a definitely great way of getting a better tasting cup on unevenly roasted & blended coffee or for beans that have sat for a bit longer. Especially if those coffees are on the lighter side of medium and could benefit from higher water temperatures to extract well; the overall perceived bitterness or toastiness may be less noticeable. I've been doing this for some time with pleasant results. Great videa Lance, you always think outside' the box!
I have done cold blooms in my aeropress for a while now...and while it felt so wrong because it goes against most things taught, the results are amazing. I use frozen beans as well.
Always go for taste!
How cold do you go, and how long do you bloom for?
I just tried this using Black and White's The Natural and it was incredible. Tasted exactly like it smelled!
Just tried this right now!! It tastes great and much more style. After trying a few different ratios and recipes and settled on my main one. But this…. This is it! Immediate difference and a big fan
Tried this with the Clever and it worked well.
22g coffee (dark roast espresso blend)
100g bloom for 2 minutes
250g brew for 1:30
Noticeably better taste and all that.
Came to the comments to see if anyone had tried it with the Clever! Definitely going to give it a go.
If you wouldn't mind, I have some questions. Did you flush the bloom after or did you pour the rest of the water on top of the bloom water in the Clever? Especially for espresso blends (which are mostly dark), how hot do you brew espresso blends, how long are you letting the coffee steep? I just ask because I have some problems with bitterness in my coffee with espresso blends in my Hario Switch. I am assuming you are keeping it short since you use more coffee than usual?
I wish I remembered for sure @@d1oftwins , but I suspect I did flush the bloom if that was in the video. I will try it again to be sure in the next day or so.
I was using an espresso blend if memory serves me well, so it worked well with those parameters.
@@ClarkVangilder Oh dear, I tried it today. I poured 60C warm water in the Hario Switch as "cold" bloom. At 1:45 I released the bloom and left the valve open. At 2:00 I started to pour the hot water. Ratio was 27g/450ml.
The difference was night and day. It tasted well rounded and balanced, no hint of astringent bitterness just that kinds that are tasty and pleasant. It's probably the first time I understand what "sweet" tasting coffee is. I am impressed. 🤯
Hello from France ! I tried this with 40°C for the bloom and it's very interesting how different it tastes. Much more herbal, it feels like you taste a aromatic smell. I tried with a medium dark roast looking forward to try it with a light roast ! Very good video, thank you Lance.
I cannot adequately express in words how much I loved the transition into the ad. *slow clap*
Very effective! I’ve had a nice coffee that I felt was just a touch too far into the fermenty side of things for my taste - this bloom almost completely eliminated that element of the cup, fantastic!
In practice, I’ve been heating my kettle to full temp and then pouring enough to bloom into a smaller little glass cup with a spout. Seems to cool the water to the right temp fairly quickly (30 seconds or so? I checked with a thermometer the first time and it came down to about 65°C quickly) and the spout lets me pour well enough for the bloom. Then my kettle is hot and ready to go following my bloom (I’ve been blooming for 1 min lately).
Thanks for sharing Lance! This method was quite effective.
Ok I am never going back to how did pour overs before this! Each cup I’ve had since incorporating the samo bloom has much more flavorful and nuanced! Game changer!
Wow… thank you Lance for flagging that up!
The « who was the first? » debate is useless to me as long as it’s taught by a passionate teacher.
In any case this really makes a difference for me and I’m glad you made me try the cooler bloom.
I’m experiencing the best pour over I’ve ever made :-)
The transition to the sponsor ad was just... * chef's kiss *
Have had two cups this morning so far with the SAMO bloom.
Origami with V60 papers
Kubomi swirled both. I did a 19:300 and 12:200 cup with some Ethiopian Sidamo.
-60°C Bloom (50g and 36g respectively)
-92°C single pour
At the end of each pour I stirred up the slurry with a stirring wand to increase flow and (purposefully) left with a faster finish time and a domed bed. Cups are definitely perceived heavier/juicier with less clarity (could be grinder fines, totally fine for me). I’m trying not to have a biased take on the different bloom, but I think I like them more, and it leans towards the experience of a long 8min+ Aeropress steep.
To make better brew times, one could theoretically have two kettles set at bloom and brew temps. Would love to see an Instagram reel/TH-cam short to see.
Other theory for espresso: dual tank temps for pulling shots, with a preinfusion at 60 and brew temp as applies to the coffee. Thanks for the information.
Loved this! My Ethiopian got heaps more chocolate at 70C bloom. Thanks LH 🙌
I tried the Samo bloom this morning with a really interestingly processed Colombian orange wush wush from Coffea Circulor--used 60C for the bloom and the results were absolutely undrinkable haha. The front note had a kind of astringent pungency that reminded me of eating dish soap. However, the taste on the back end was sweet, and floral.
Ended up giving the cup to my wife (at her insistence we not waste the beans) who uses half-and-half and it was far more palatable.
Will definitely try this with something less exotic and see how the results differ.
Thanks for the experiment!
That result is not from the cold bloom lol. The VOCs maintained are maybe a 5% bump. It can be detected but not overwhelming
Holy smokes, I thought I was the only one to try doing this. I of course did not think of all the Sciencey stuff, but the idea did pop into my mind and I tried it. Not something I do much but once in a while when I'm feeling creative I try it. Now I will have to try it again just like this.
Im really enjoying the start of 2024. You're knocking these out the park there Lance. Thank you for you❤
Tried this with the washed Colombian fellow drop from 3 or 4 weeks ago. I’ve been struggling with this coffee as the extraction was taking about 5 minutes. Surprisingly still tasted good but a lot of body and the florals and aromatics were muted. The sago bloom made this brew perfect. Kept the beautiful chocolates in the body but brought out all the grape acidity and floral aromatics it was lacking. Still a 5 min brew but don’t really give a damn. It was amazing. Grinding with a orphan apex on minus 4 clicks. Bloom was at 145 f and brewed at 205 f on a stagg x brewer. FANTASTIC!!
Thanks for the video, Lance! I recently had a similar experience with the French press... After adding the water, I immediately put a small cup on top as a lid. After 4 minutes I wanted to break the crust and wait another 4 minutes before pressing down the plunger... then I noticed that the water vapor condensing under the cup smelled sensationally good... and tasted - yes, I tasted it. Since then, I've always brewed French Press coffee with a funnel-shaped lid to channel the condensed water vapor into the drink. I have the feeling that the coffee tastes much better now... but I have no idea whether I could manage a blind tasting ;-)
Oh, that's neat! Would be really cool to do a formal study with this technique.
I’ve tried it for the last few cups I’ve made and I am definitely a believer! More flavorful, vibrant cups and a lot of the harshness isn’t there. Love it
I have just tried it with my decaf (already late here in Europe). I must say it is very promising. Decafs that I usually get are not super light roasts, rather closer to solid mediums therefore even if I brewed it like with 90 degrees water it still gave me plenty of bitterness with occasional fruit notes if I am lucky, but that was good enough for me providing it is not "real" coffee. But with this method, I feel a lot less bitterness and more pronounced fruit notes. HOWEVER, the most interesting thing for me was that when I finally hit that bloomed puck with hot water I had a MASSIVE PUNCH of sweetest cherry aromas evaporating from that coffee into my face, and, unfortunately, disappearing forever. I am wondering, if you actually need a second bloom with that "colder" water to actually try to wash that off and dilute into the brew before hitting it with a hot one? I will try it next time
The natural path here is brewing with cold water 😂
The cup is fantastic. More aromatic, very clean cup, no bitterness at all. Brewed using ssp mp at 900-1000 micron. I use 2 kettle, boil 1, then pour into an empty kettle, then add room temp water til it reach 60C
Ok, I have watched many videos and tried a lot of things. But this had the most profound effect on my coffee. Coming from the beer world I really dig aromatics and this technique has really helped me improve that, I now have way more perceived aromatics than before. This is even more profound in freshly bought coffees. I do this technique in an aeropress and the amount of off gassing is so much reduced. This and my new grinder (df64 gen2) has finally giving me the cups I wanted.
This saved a bag of beans for me. I picked up this washed Guatemalan medium-light roast, and I just couldn’t make it taste good (let alone great…) after using several different recipes and brewers. Bitter and zero characteristics.
Used a 60c bloom (lowest my kettle can get while still knowing the temp) and then off boil for the rest of a normal recipe. I didn’t think it would make that big of a difference, but it truly made the roast sparkle as best as it can. Great finish. No astringency. The roast has virtually no acidity, but this made the nutty flavors pop. I’m excited to snag a better fruity roast and see what really comes out.
Brewed trying the Samo Bloom. It does add fruitiness, also weakens the brew as noted from Lance. I used V60, @ 1:15.3, 20g Heart’s Halo Eth. 60g bloom at 125°F rest at 208° F. Went one click finer on my Encore. I might go another click or two finer. But the results are quite intriguing.
Brewed a Natural from Costa Rica today and it was a heavily floral aromatic brew. Lacked body, but maybe because I was at 27 clicks on my Comandante. The bed wasn’t flat after swirling too, so things to note for next time.
Defo wasn’t as funky of a coffee using this method, but defo pulled out a cherry blossom floral like taste.
Lacking the sweet strawberry note I had before when blooming at higher temp…and also lacked a honey finish which I was experiencing before too.
Will adjust variables for next time and see how we do.
Total brew time was 3:20
Cold water blooms work wonders for espresso! As a runner, astringent coffee triggers my acid reflux, making my morning runs a challenge. But thanks to a friend's recommendation, I tried this technique cold water blooms in my morning espresso. And let me tell you, since I've started using cold water blooms, my espressos have become noticeably smoother and more flavorful. It's interesting how the flow rate can vary depending on the bean at times slower which was very much unexpected. I've been on a journey of experimentation, playing around with different water amounts, temperatures, and bloom durations. And now, as my pre-run drink, I've found the perfect combination: tepid room temperature water, poured about 1.2 ounces using puck paper and metal puck screen. Sometimes pouring water just over the puck paper or over the puck screen. It's a game-changer that not only keeps my acid reflux at bay but also fuels me up for an enjoyable and caffeinated run.
This was a great experiment! I tried the following recipe and couldn’t believe my taste buds:
20g of Colombian Geisha (double anaerobic washed) by the La Macarena Farm in the Cauca region with 340ml water
70C/158F of 60mL Bloom
100C/212F of the remaining 340ml
Thank you for sharing!
I enjoy the science side of these things, and I also appreciate that you give credit to others and don't overstate your claims.
I like this! I did 50 C then my kettle got up to 93 C right as the 2 minutes were up. Need to grind a little coarser next time, I had a bit of stalling. I was able to drink the cup right away too, which was my favorite part. Usually I have to wait a few minutes (because the coffee is too hot).
I just did a cup with a colombian honey, wonderful surprise, a bit acidic but better profile. On the other hand, I did a fermented mexican and OH NO, yes you get the strong prominent cocoa smell on your cup, but the fermented funkyness just went to another level. I double checked repeating the normal process for the mexican and we came back to balanced-town. So yeah, there is something to say about the samo bloom changing the profile of the cup. I am doing more experimentation, but it is by no means a be-all end-thing.
I just got a v60 yesterday, tried your 2 minute bloom recipe and used only used pretty warm water for the bloom because that was a little more convenient and I thought bloom temp wouldn't mske that big of a difference, then sit down to drink my delicious cup only to stumble across this video lol
I am not sure if I am in pure placebo land right now but for the last few days I have brewed with this method exclusively and have been really enjoying the coffee and perceive less bitterness overall.
This actually came at a nice time for me as I had a coffee that I wasn't overjoyed with but now I am finding nice acidity with this method.
Again, this could be the Lance-effect but so far really enjoying the method!
Smooth transition into the sponsor, really smooth!
Thanks!
Thank you so much!
Recipe worked great with Gatina AA from Prodigal! Super clean with more pronounced flavor notes!
what was your grind size?
Tried this with my aeropress a couple years ago for a competition. It worked very well with that particular coffee that year.
I’ve been practicing samo bloom for a month now. And often times it taste sweeter and produce pleasant aroma for the coffee. (I use clever dripper and aeropress)
1. Samo bloom with water twice the coffee weight for 30-60 seconds.
2. And then immersed the coffee with water up to to 1:10-11 ratio (including the blooming) for 2-3 minutes (for aeropress) and 3-5 minutes (for clever dripper, and dont forget to close lid). Drip into server.
3. Sometimes in clever dripper, i tried to percolate with water the same weight as the coffee ground after step 2, because i’m afraid that it not extract well. but there’s no significant change in my opinion. So you could skip this. But Try and see what you guys think
4. After that i pour into a glass and add hot water or ice until the prefered ratio.
The great part about this is you could make ice and hot coffee at the same batch. Also the taste almost never dissapoints.
What you guys think?
Well, I went 17 grams, 270 recipe in the larger V2 filter. 65C for the 3x bloom, then 91C finishing temp. The coffee is my home roasted Ethiopian Misty Valley Yerg.
The result was a bit more balanced and sweeter cup. YMMV.
Great video, and I'm definitely going to give this a try tomorrow. I have to admit, however, that I noticed your shirt about halfway through the video and got hit with a distracting nostalgiabomb. I had to go back and rewatch the second half of it as a result. We spent nine wonderful years in Central AR -- Benton, specifically. During that time, we were introduced to Onyx. We moved back to Florida but still really enjoy the nostalgia Onyx brings us. We have identified two local coffee shops that feature it, with one of them only being half an hour from our house. It's worth the drive when we want a shot of nostalgia with our espresso.
Dude you are so hilarious, I loved your impression of the character in "Let's get our boiling water and... 😠 punch them out of the grounds!", watched it so many times 😂
Also the Squarespace one was great again, and of course the interpretive dancing 😆 Brilliant! Please keep doing this!
And also thank you for coining a new term. I think the coffee world will really benefit from people experimenting with this, and also from Samo getting more exposure!
I'd love to see experiments with different variations of cold(er) bloom, hot first pour, temp drop second half and/or immersion, etc etc ...
Excellent. I was looking for an excuse to have another coffee.
My wife is like... Why are you having coffee just before dinner?
Me.... Lance told me to.
Wife... OK
Bliss
Tried room temperature bloom and it was weirdly quite good! Needs more experimentation with some lighter roasts but will have to wait till the weekend.
👍Lance
Just tried this out: 20g:300g with a light roasted Kenyan mixed SL28, SL34 and Batian varieties, 50g bloom at 50C with a stir, then 150g and 100g pours with off-boiling water. One of the sweetest cups I’ve had from this coffee without any bitterness or astringency, but couldn’t taste the flavour notes until it cooled right down. Definitely an interesting way to play with the bloom, I’ll keep at it!
Your squarespace ad transitions have been on point Lance 👌.
More on topic, I'm excited to give this a try! I just got some new coffees in today and I'm going to have to have a tasting this weekend to compare different bloom temps to see if I notice a difference from temp to temp (going to try 50⁰ and 70⁰ against my usual 94⁰), as well as the workflow difference. At least that's my interpretive dance interpretation of yours I'll be playing with 😁.
As always love the nerdiness, the deep dives, and the fun ideas. Keep up the great work!
The translation made me feel violated
Ahhh, the power of 220V 😎 Kettle's boiling in half the time compared to the US! Also, missed opportunity to dance the Samba Bloom 💃🏼
Maybe that’s why my best pourovers were with the ceramic v60 without pre heating…
Just want to validate this. Once I started trying to aggressively pre-heat my brewers, I noticed an immediate negative change to my coffee. More bitter and muddy cups compared to before (still fine enough cups though).
@@EarthRyno exactly the same here
Thanks for this tip!!
Thank you, what a wonderful method to brew coffee. For anyone reading this, you gotta try it
It's 7:30 pm at the time of seeing this. Can't wait to try tomorrow.
Also want to try this in my Flair 58. I figure you could partially fill the brew chamber with 60-70C water, press it through for a bloom. Then with the brew chamber "closed," fill the chamber with 90C water, lift the lever to fill the chamber and finally completing the shot by pressing at 9 bar.
And?
That segue to the sponsor. Bravo. That was a good one.
Tried this today with a Costa Rican coffee and i have to say it is delicious. I am going to have to try it with a burundi that i was having issues dialing in. Although being here in the states my bloom was 2 minutes 30 seconds as that is how long it took my kettle to get up to 95 degrees from 55.
I tried this using the Kasuya method and I’m losing a bit of acidity compared to blooming at 95-98°C, but I’m getting more white chocolate in the finish so the overall body is improved. I think this might be because the initial bloom phase is used to bring out a lot of the brighter notes but by lowering temperature we’re not extracting as much?
I’d reserve the cool bloom for a bigger funky bodied coffees like naturals or fermented processes. Thanks for the demo.
Tried this Samo method and YES, flavor changed for better, more floral notes from the coffee I brewed. Overall I've been using the 4:6 pourover method at 95C. Today I did the first pour at 70C and waited about 70 sec while the water heated to 95C for the last 3 pours. When I finished the cup was about 4C cooler than pouring all for at 95C. But with only 1 kettle this is an annoyance I do not like. Maybe I'll clutter my kitchen with a second Fellow kettle (diff color) for Christmas? Meanwhile, I'll try brewing all four pours at lower temp, 92C or 90C but doubt I'll go below 90C. The 70C first pour was flavorful enough I am actually considering a second kettle! Thanks!!
Man, this is pure magic. Excessive acidity is gone, instead of it came clean descriptors. And all this on water with zero tds, I wonder what will happen at 60. Tomorrow will find out. Thak you, man
Just used this method. Absolutely love it. Fantastic! Thanks for all you do Lance!
So the one pour with a stir works really well for me. Quick and easy and tasty
I did in fact brew something tasty today Lance, why thank you. Can you do a video on why the Mocca Master makes such darn good coffee? It just rocks
Bought steel balls waay back from Aliexpress but never use them bacause they're really messy to deal with.
Now I'm sure this I could do even right after when I wake up 😊 Thanks always Lance
Thanks you very much for all your work there !
For the Samo bloom, a transcript of the recipe could be :
Overview :
* 15gr coffee
* 250gr water
Recipe :
1. Start timer & bloom with 45gr of water at 50° or 60° or 70°C
2. Replace kettle and get 95°C water during blooming phase
3. Pour remaining water until 250gr at a flow rate of 10gr/s
4. Make a swirl at the end
5. Total brewing time should be ? Maybe around 2min45 and 3min30
Edit: it is the 121 method explained here th-cam.com/video/rAdgJNK0csc/w-d-xo.html
Is there any way to adapt method to aeropress, it could be also produce great cup.
You dont need to reset the kettle temp, just take it out of the base and then put it back (set for 95). At least, in my timemore kettle, it works automatically.
@@3dus I've a classic Hario kettle without temp control, I guess that it is more easy to let the water being hot, pooring ~30gr in a jar with a kitchen thermometer, adding room temp water until it reach 60°C, then you have both semi hot carafe and your hot kettle ready for extraction!
didnt he say 2 minutes bloom ?
Congrats on 200k!
Wood and black on a espresso machine looks amazing, now we get lance in brown and black in a vid. Looking good brother, keept he 🔥 content coming 🤌🤌🤌
Another banger, Lance. I'm going to put my science hat on tomorrow am.
Im more of an aeropress guy than a pour over. The inventor of aeropress says to use a much lower temperature than traditional. I have played around with most temps from 170 to 205 and can definitely taste the difference. I found 185 to be just right for me. I will definitely try this low temp bloom and then go to a hotter water for the bulk. I typically only bloom till the gas is gone and then stir in the rest of my water. Now that I have the xl version I dont bloom at all. There is room to put all the water on in one pour. Yes the grounds do fluff and degas but there is plenty of room in the xl for this expansion. Sorry for rambling about aeropress on a pour over video but the point was is the use of much cooler water for the aeropress. Thats the fun of coffee. If all coffee had one recipe and it was perfect every time it would be nice to drink but not fun to experiment with. Every morning my mind is trying to think of a new way to brew my morning mug of coffee. Now after watching this I have to go make more. Dang the bad luck.
After trying the lower bloom temp in my AP I can say that it didn’t change my flavor profile enough for me to detect. I have been doing a lot more pour overs and can say with certainty that my pour over coffee is superior to my AP. That was hard to say. Im an AP coffee nerd for sure. But after getting my Pour over game going with the proper grind I was blown away with how great it tasted. More rich and less bitter. Not that my AP was ever bitter. But this PO is the smoothest coffee ever. Cant see taking a PO into the woods with me but I see the light. Damm you Lance. Im eventually going to need a second kitchen. My wife already complains about all my coffee gear taking up too much counter space.
Just dreaming of my new coffee kitchen.
I loved the way you introduced squarespace 😂
This reminds me of something I tried a ways back where I used a small ice cube as part of my bloom water mass. I ended up forgetting about that experiment when my workplace transitioned back from remote to in-office, and ADHD kicked in. I may need to bring that back out.
James and Lance both uploaded a new video within an hour if each other!
What a day to be alive! Santa, have you come early? 🎅
Although a different technique, I don't blume. Straight in with 100g pours. For the same reason, I want those flavours straight into my cup. 2 x 100g or 3 x 80g is my typical pour structure depending on the coffee and brewer.
Really fascinating video, though, what we're realising is that the high quality coffee were drinking now can be made in multiple ways and there's no right or wrong.
Love your work.
Thanks for another great video 😊
Just tried repeating your recipe with a lovely washed Tanzanian from Pharmacie Roasters in the UK - it's been a really lovely bright coffee with lots off zing from the hibiscus notes. The cool bloom totally changed it - much lighter and more tea like with and intense sweetness. I got an extraction yield of 20.33 % - Can't wait to try some other coffees.
I just tried this with beans from Peru roasted at a local roaster. It tastes delicious
Very new to the world of pour overs and have been trying to get a better cup out of medium to darker roast (light roasts seems good) this technique seems to be key as a way to control the extraction to keep the bitter under control well worth trying seems to work great
Really enjoying this method for a darker blend I picked up. Thanks!
TALES COFFEE applies a very similar method, in their words "protecting the grain", performing a bloom with noticeably colder water, and then proceeding with standard temperatures. Very good material as always Lance!
What is the videos title? As of now, I haven't found that video, unfortunately.
@@hendrikm9569 "How a Cold Water Bloom Could Change Everything | Pour Over Theories", check it out.
@@hendrikm9569
"How a Cold Water Bloom Could Change Everything | Pour Over Theories"
th-cam.com/video/rUD-fTULT_w/w-d-xo.html
Thank you :)
Super interesting approach, will try to test that out. Tetsu Kasuya had a similar approach in his Hario Switch recipe, but with the temperature change reversed. He starts with the 90C and then gets down to 70C. Of course Switch is a hugely different brewer, but the idea to get the most of the desired flavours and discard the less pleasant ones is the same. Would be fun to see those two recipes compared/merged together.
I think merging would actually be very interesting to try and I just might try it later today with 20g beans: 60c bloom (to 50g), 93c first pour with valve open (to 120g), 70c second pour with valve closed (to 280g)
@@chrisjohns2734my exact thoughts as well. Will try it out tomorrow. Please let us know what you find...
@@MrKekn I actually tried it today with a very light Ethiopia and it was... Not great. As both the drawdown (too slow!) and drinking temperature (too warm!) were affected. I'll try it again with 75c bloom but perhaps, as Lance said in the video, it's not the best approach for all coffees. Was certainly an interesting experiment though!
I'll give this a try tomorrow morning! Very interesting. :)
It’s nice to see that Aram behind you. I’ve had mine for years and much prefer it over an electric machine. The texture!!! They recently came out with a gauge for it too! I know it doesn’t have burrs but I’d really love if you could make a video on it. Thank ya!
Hey lance, good once over on samo's findings. On the topic of improvements, you may want to consider changing the colour on the text in the top left corner where there's the brewing recipe. The yellow faces into the background white and you can see the text at that point. Otherwise, looking sharp as always. Keep up the good fight. Best
I believe this is also why americano just taste slightly different than long black even after stirring.
Long black has higher concentration of voc, as the coffee is pressed immediately into water, which traps the voc instead of letting it evaporates as is the case with americano.
May I say your ad integration is extremely effective. You should consider pursuing it further. Never thought I'd say that about advertising...
It's funny and interesting that quite time ago I studied some cooking basics and I remember the importance of low temperature while making an awesome broth, because when you exceed 80ish degrees (I can't remember exactly the proper temperature) you can lose some flavours and volatile aroma.
Remembering this I think I tried to apply this theory while making some brew, but as we can say in Spanish "dando palos de ciego" ... Of course it was a weird brew because I didn't have the time nor the patience to do more experiments.
But after this video I'll definitely try it again!
Thanks Lance, always helping us think critically, evolve our methods, and chase that 'perfect' cup!
oh damn, but that make a lot of sense, gonna experiment with Decent profile tomorrow 😮
Awesome vid as always, thanks for this nice Tuesday gift! I'll be trying this out right now
Thanks Lance!
Continued testing this with the Clever and boosted the cold bloom temp so that the kettle could get up to 200-205 by the end of a 2-minute bloom. Decide to test a cold bloom of 160 degrees with a brew at 200.
Cold bloom: 22g coffee, 80g water, 2:15
Brew: 270g water, 1:30
RESULT = another great cup of coffee.
I’ve done the same as above starting from a lower temperature (130) but it takes 3 minutes for the kettle to get up to 200-205. I couldn’t tell the difference because this also results in a great cup of coffee. My hunch is that this method is extremely tolerant to time, but given that you’re NOT giving the VOC’s enough energy to escape, I suppose it is unsurprising that the good stuff sticks around.
Ran out of Chemex filter paper, otherwise I’d report on that as well.