What is the difference between the terms percolation and brewing in English?

Question

Percolation and brewing seem used quite interchangeably in English, in many contexts, but not all. For example, I can often see "percolation time" in technical documents or Wikipedia entries, but often hear "brewing time" as well.

Is there any usage guidelines for these words in the English coffee world?

The problem is that percolation and brewing are not just about coffee: Both terms are generic. Percolation sounds more technical and focusing on liquid getting through a filter. Brewing seems focusing more on "solid into hot water", without involving necessarily a filter. This lets me think the words usage can be made quite accurate.

Please note that the scope is "restricted" to English, as percolation is a Latin word, and it seems usage differs in English.

Answer 1

Brewing is a part of every coffee preparation method: it's the time when the water (or steam) is in contact with the grounds. It is a generic term.

Percolation however, would only be used when making percolator coffee. You would not talk about percolation time when making espresso, for example. I would not use it as a generic term.

Answer 2

In the world of coffee, the two terms are basically interchangeable - as long as you are talking about water passing through coffee, and that it is also being passed through some sort of filtration.

Percolation by definition is the extraction of a substance by passing water through it. Your brew time would be the time that your water is in contact with your coffee grounds. I wouldn't ever say my French press's percolation time is 4 minutes, because you never really filter it. But you could talk about any other non full-immersion brew method with either term, even espresso! Espresso is after all filtered, and water percolates through it.

Answer 3

To me a percolator is a just a mechanism. You have a heater at the bottom, a tube, and a check value. The water enters the tube and some of the water is vaporized and it pushes the hot water to the top. They have no pump. That style of coffee maker is called a percolator. From there the term got used a lot ways.

Answer 4

In an academic article (in English language and authored by two Italian authors) espresso preparation is divided into these three steps:

• Grinding of the roasted coffee
• Coffee powder dosing and tamping
• Brewing (more correctly Percolation)

In the rest of the document, percolation is preferred. According to this, Eric's first hypothesis in his question about technical documents seems correct.

Answer 5

'Percolation' refers to any brewing process where constantly moving water passes through a bed of coffee in a filter. This water can pass through once (pour over, Chemex, batch brew etc) or multiple times (traditional percolator). Espresso is technically a percolation method.

When coffee is left to steep in water it is known as immersion or infusion brewing. (French Press, cupping, Aero Press, Cold Brew).

'Brewing' is the term we use to describe the entire process AND the period where extraction of soluble occur.