Published In
Iscience
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-2-2024
Subjects
Granular electrification
Abstract
Summary: Coffee grinding generates electrostatically charged particles, causing clumping, spark discharge, and beyond. When brewing, the particle aggregates affect liquid-solid surface accessibility, leading to variable extraction quality. Here, we study four charge mitigation strategies. De-electrification is readily achieved by adding small amounts of water to whole beans or by bombarding the grounds with ions produced from a high-voltage ionizer. While these techniques helped reduce visible mess, only water inclusion was found to impact coffee extracts prepared as espresso. Wetting whole beans with less than 0.05 mL/g resulted in a marked shift in particle size distribution, by preventing clump formation and preventing fine particles from sticking to the grinder. This particle size shift results in at least a 15% higher coffee concentration for espresso extracts prepared from darker roasts. These findings encourage the widespread implementation of water use to de-electrify coffee during grinding with the benefit of increased coffee extraction efficiency.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2024 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1016/j.isci.2024.110639
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42502
Citation Details
Harper, J. M., Bumbaugh, R. E., & Hendon, C. H. (2024). Strategies to mitigate electrostatic charging during coffee grinding. IScience, 27(9), 110639.