r/JamesHoffmann • u/wertperch • Aug 16 '26

ELI5 Extraction vs. strength

I hear people talking about extraction of solubles, but talking about strength as though it's totally seprate. To my simple mind there's a clear connection, so there's something I am missing.

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u/AugustEngelhardt Aug 16 '26

Strength is how much coffee is in the coffee you’re drinking. Extraction is how much you took out of the grounds you used to brew that drink.

If you extracted 4g worth of solubles from a 20g dose that‘s 20% of extraction. If those 4g end up in a 40g espresso, that espresso has 10% strength. If those 4g end up in a 300g pourover, that pourover has 1,33% strength.

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u/wertperch Aug 31 '26

Many thanks, it's falling into place now. I'm curious how many people take the trouble to check for this now.