August 22, 2025 Nicolas Di Stefano

What Is Coffee Blooming?

Key Takeaways:

What is Blooming Coffee? The process of carefully adding hot water to ground coffee. This releases trapped carbon dioxide and visibly bubbles as gases escape.
What Does Blooming Coffee Do? Prevents sourness by allowing CO2 to dissipate, enhances your coffee's flavour and aroma, and prepares the grounds for extraction.
How to Bloom Coffee? Simply pour hot water in a circular motion, just enough to evenly soak the grounds, and let it sit for 30-40 seconds until bubbles appear.

Does your coffee have a sour, unpleasant flavour? It may be because you haven’t bloomed your coffee. Allowing your coffee to bloom can significantly improve your coffee's taste and can make all the difference between a mediocre cup of coffee and an exceptional one.
Continue reading to find out more about what it means to let your coffee bloom, how to bloom coffee, and what it means if your coffee doesn’t bloom at all.

What is Blooming in Coffee?

Freshly roasted coffee contains carbon dioxide, which can make your coffee taste sour if not released. When your coffee blooms, the hot water releases carbon dioxide and causes the mixture to bubble up. As a result of the CO2 escaping, water is forced away from the coffee beans and is unable to savour the flavourful molecules in the grinds before entering your cup.

Why is Blooming Coffee Important?

Here’s why mastering coffee blooming is key to a balanced, well-rounded flavour.

Prevents Sourness: Releasing trapped carbon dioxide during the bloom allows this naturally sour-tasting gas to escape, leading to a cleaner, more balanced coffee.
Enhances Flavour & Aroma: The bloom intensifies the coffee's natural aroma and promotes a richer, more nuanced flavour profile through optimal extraction.
Signals Freshness: A strong, vigorous bloom is a clear indicator of freshly roasted coffee beans; minimal bloom suggests older, potentially stale beans.

Choosing quality filter coffee beans ensures a clean and aromatic cup, allowing those nuanced flavours to shine.

How To Bloom Coffee?

Coffee blooming is incredibly easy to do and anyone can do it. Any brewing technique, mainly the traditional drip machine and the pour-over method, can cause coffee to bloom. All you have to do is simply pour hot water – not boiling water – over your coffee grounds in a circular motion, starting in the centre and moving outward.

Do not completely submerge the coffee; only enough water should be added to evenly soak them. When the coffee and water have had a chance to interact for about 30 to 40 seconds, bubbles will start to appear. Now, your coffee is beginning to bloom!

What if My Coffee Doesn’t Bloom?

Pre-ground coffee has a higher chance of oxidation, which may prevent your coffee from blooming. By doing the following, you can lessen your chances of coffee not blooming:

Invest in fresh, organic coffee beans.
Keep the beans in an airtight bag or container with a one-way valve to preserve the CO2 and keep them fresh for longer.
Right before brewing, grind your coffee beans.

Having a coffee bloom is just one of many ways to judge the freshness and superiority of your beans, but it's important to remember that just because your coffee doesn’t bloom, doesn't always mean you'll get a poor cup of coffee.

Image: Our Primo Espresso Classico Coffee Beans are high-quality coffee beans packed full of flavour, that are perfect for blooming coffee.

Final Thoughts

Although the coffee bloom is not necessary, it is an important step in making sure that your coffee turns out flavourful and delicious. So, the next time you want to let your coffee bloom, be sure to let it bloom for at least 30 seconds for the best results.

By investing in fresh, high-quality coffee beans and taking just 30 seconds to let your coffee bloom, you’ll unlock richer aromas, smoother taste, and a more satisfying brew every time. At Primo Caffè, we believe great coffee is all about those details – and with the right beans and the right technique, every cup can be exceptional.

Additional Reading

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About the Author

Nicolas Di Stefano is a third-generation Master Roaster and Director of Primo Caffe. With decades of family tradition behind him, Nicolas combines time-honoured Italian roasting techniques with a passion for quality, delivering delicious coffee that Australians expect.