Long ago I read somewhere that caffeine isnt the most soluble substance, at that therefore most caffeine was extracted during the latter part of the espresso shot (around the 20secs mark i think). hence ristretto being sweeter than espresso.
to me this was quiet puzzling, as i always considered caffeine to be very soluble, especially at around 93C. This was backed up by what I read in Illy and Viani, where they state that caffeine density is greatest during the earlier parts of the extraction (around pp300 for those that have the book i think)
So Im left a little confused. Is the mantra of caffeine extracted during the latter stages of espresso extraction wrong? or perhaps that it takes a certain volume of caffeine to become susceptible to the human tongue, and that volume being attained only after (lets say) 20secs.
cheers,
j
to me this was quiet puzzling, as i always considered caffeine to be very soluble, especially at around 93C. This was backed up by what I read in Illy and Viani, where they state that caffeine density is greatest during the earlier parts of the extraction (around pp300 for those that have the book i think)
So Im left a little confused. Is the mantra of caffeine extracted during the latter stages of espresso extraction wrong? or perhaps that it takes a certain volume of caffeine to become susceptible to the human tongue, and that volume being attained only after (lets say) 20secs.
cheers,
j
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