Serious question, who else got burned by the 'rinsing beans' advice?

My buddy Mark swore up and down I should rinse my coffee beans before grinding them to 'remove chaff and dust.' Tried it last Tuesday with a bag from that roaster on Olive Street, and my French press turned into a muddy mess. Grinds clumped up and the brew was weak and sour. Has anyone else had that backfire on them?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_oscar12d ago

Jumped right into that mistake myself actually. I tried it with a light roast from a local shop and the water just kind of sat on top of the grounds, like the beans had formed a weird crust. The rinse probably stripped away some of the natural oils and fines that help with extraction, you know? And then the leftover moisture made everything stick together in clumps. It killed the bloom completely and my cup was flat with none of the bright fruit notes the roaster promised.

oscar74312d agoMost Upvoted

And yeah, that's the thing with rinsing beans, it sounds good in theory but the science doesn't really back it up. The moisture you add messes with the grind size distribution too, because the beans get a little tacky and won't break down evenly in your grinder. I read somewhere that the chaff and dust people talk about actually floats away when you brew anyway, so you're just making extra work for yourself. Plus those natural oils on the bean surface are part of what makes the coffee taste good, so washing them off is kind of counterintuitive if you ask me.