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As the company who distributes the Technivorm coffee makers in Canada, we talk to a lot of people about the virtues and benefits of the exceptionally well made Dutch brewers. Lately though, I am getting calls from people who complain that their coffee is not hot enough, which is something that frankly surprises me. Having said that, lets chat a bit about the brewing process and perhaps I can assist in helping to understand what is actually going on in regards to temperature both during and after the brew process.
Today I did a brew-off between the KBT 741 and the CD Moccamaster. I wanted to see how both compared in terms of brew temperature and final coffee temperature as well as taste profile. At the end of the process there was very little difference between the two.
Please note, that these temperature measurements were conducted with an industrial Fluke meter and temperature probe. A home thermometer will not yield accurate results.
Brew Time B. Temp at Arm B. Temp Basket Final Temp
KBT 741 6 min 200 F 195 F 179 F
CD 6 min 200 F 195 F 179 F
In both machines I used regular tap water, and an oxygenated paper filter. I used 6 scoops of fresh Guatemala Trapichitos in accordance to Technivorm's instructions. After brewing the final temp in the carafe for both units (1 minute after the brew completed) was the same, 179 F, which actually surprised me, as I had surmised that the hot plate on the CD would make more of a difference. When comparing the taste of the two brews, I actually found the KBT to offer up a bit more complexity than did the CD. To finish my little experiment, I did another brew in the KBT but this time I brewed with a Swiss Gold filter and I had the carafe preheated to 135 F (in the first brew-off the KBT carafe was at 63.5 F). Testing the final coffee temperature after one minute like the last brew-off, I found that the coffee temperature was 181 F, an increase of 2 degrees F from that of a cold carafe. For those who like to drink their coffee very hot, which by the way mutes the flavours and complexity of the coffee, pre-heating the carafe does make a difference. Regarding the taste comparison between the coffee brewed with the gold filter, I noticed a significant difference. The nuances of the gold filtered coffee were much more apparent, the coffee possessed more complexity and more sweetness and fruit. The difference was actually more significant than I expected.
On a final note, I brewed the exact same amount of coffee in the Cusinart brewer we have at the shop and found the following results: The overall brew time was 8 minutes and the brew temperature never got above 183 F (17 degrees F lower than the Technivorms) with the coffee at the bottom of the basket at 163 F (28 degrees lower than the Technivorms). The final coffee temperature measured one minute after the completion of the brew was 173 degrees F (6 degrees F less than the Technivorms). The biggest difference is in the taste, as the coffee is under extracted and comparatively flavourless compared to the coffee brewed in the Technivorm.
After all of this, I get to remind myself why it is that Transcend Coffee will only sell the Technivorm coffee brewer.
