How immersion works

Immersion is the oldest idea in brewing: all the water meets all the coffee, and time does the work. The physics is what makes it kind. As the brew concentrates, the gap between what the water holds and what the coffee offers shrinks — so extraction sprints at first, then decelerates toward a plateau. The brew is self-limiting: an extra minute in a French press changes very little, while an extra thirty seconds of contact in a V60 is a different cup.

That plateau is why immersion is where everyone should learn to taste. The method stops mattering so much, and the coffee starts.