REFRACTOMETER

The refractometer is a device that measures the angle of refraction of light from a liquid. That is, how much that light deviates when it passes through the liquid. The refractometer emits a beam of light against the liquid sample (in this case coffee) that is placed on the prism. That light beam bounces and what the refractometer does is detect where the light bounce falls to compare it with the parameter set as zero (it is recommended to use 100% demineralized water to set it). By comparing these two measurements, he calculates the refractive index (how much light was bent as it passed through the liquid) and with this he determines the amount of total soluble solids (TDS) and expresses it as a percentage. This data is the concentration of the liquid (in this case the concentration of the brewed coffee).

The TDS data from the refractometer can be used to calculate the extraction manually (see formulas in this publication) or can be entered into the Coffee Tools application, created by the manufacturer of the VST company refractometer, along with the others. data relevant to brewed coffee (weight of ground coffee, and weight of beverage or weight of poured water). The Coffee Tools app…

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