Met a guy at a local cafe who tested beans with a ph meter

I was at Brew Lab in Portland last Saturday grabbing a pour over when this older dude next to me pulls out a pocket ph meter and dips it into his espresso shot. He told me he's been tracking acidity levels for 11 years because he thinks most roasters overdo the brightness. I asked him what his target was and he said 5.2 ph exactly has anyone else run into people who treat coffee like a chemistry lab?

3 comments

3 Comments

morgan_martinez23d ago

That 5.2 target seems arbitrary when different beans have totally different acid profiles (like, chlorogenic vs citric).

robinf5122d ago

Numbers still help as a starting point though lol.

leo_fisher23d ago

My buddy tried chasing that 5.2 number with some Kenyan beans and ended up with a cup that tasted like sour lemonade (not in a good way). Turns out his roast was way too light for how much citric acid was in there to begin with. Now he just goes by taste instead of numbers and gets way better results.