Common sense would dictate that watery coffee would be just that–like coffee, but weaker. However, watery coffee is disgusting. It’s like there is some magic threshold of coffeeness below which it’s gross, but above which it becomes tasty. Why is watery coffee so bad?
From my watching of the Food Network, weak coffee tastes bad because it only uses the outermost part of the bean, which has a bad taste. The good stuff is deep inside.
I disagree. Where personal preferences are concerned I think a bell curve best fits the range of possible reactions. Meaning a “just right” flavor in the middle and nastiness on either side - i.e. either too strong or too weak.
Coffee has several components - the water, the coffee itself, fineness of grind, amount of coffee, temperature of water for extraction, etc. It’s possible to make “strong” coffee that is pretty weak, because the water isn’t hot enough. Drip coffee makers are notorious for this. Fresh roasted, fresh ground, just boiled water poured through a Melitta - makes for a competent cup on a consistent basis.
???
And how do they grind coffee selectively, such that the outer bean is separated from the inner bean?