BREWING
————————————————————————————————————————-
Basics To Improve General Home Brewing
-
This is an article I put together covering every aspect of starting your pour over coffee journey that I though could be relevant.
-
If you’re going to take your home coffee experience to the next level, you’re not going to do it with just any coffee. The most surefire way to brew great coffee at home is to start with great coffee beans. Do some research to find the best roasters in your area and buy from a reputable company that sources their product ethically and transparently. Even if you don’t choose Strata’s coffee, do the research and choose well!
-
Deterioration speeds up when coffee is exposed to oxygen, roasted beans’ sworn enemy. Oxidation contributes significantly to flavor degradation, and it doesn’t take much to render the coffee stale. Ambient air contains 19 to 21 percent oxygen, and it only takes 70 cubic centimeters of ambient air to make a pound of coffee stale (a one pound bag contains around 1000 cubic centimeters of space).
Airtight packages with one way degassing valve work for the most part, but if there is even four percent oxygen inside the package, it’s only a matter of time until you’ve got stale coffee. So, if the packaging doesn't have a “roasted on” date on it, don't bother buying it—you’ll have no way of knowing how long it’s been sitting on the shelf.
-
The most important ingredient in a high-quality cup of coffee is also maybe the most overlooked component. Hot water is a super solvent that extracts flavors and oils out of coffee grounds. While these flavors and oils are crucial, they only account for 1.25 percent of what's in your morning cup.
In other words, a properly extracted cup of coffee is 98.75 percent water, so if the water you're brewing with isn't any good, your coffee won't be either. If your tap water has any odors or tastes of chlorine, lime, or rust, your coffee will, too. Instead, use only purified water (or as close to purified as you can get, even if you’re just using bottled water or a Brita filter)
-
Scoops, measuring spoons, and eyeballing it are usually good enough to brew a passable cup of coffee, but for a reliable and repeatable cup, knowing a coffee's precise weight is best. A scale removes all of the guesswork and need to decode special instructions (for example, “a heaping scoop” might actually be 14.3 grams).
Coffee can vary in density depending on the bean size, origin, variety, and roast profile, so using a scale is the best means to normalize a brew recipe. A scale is also the best tool to enable brew ratio experimentation; whether you want to brew the industry standard of one part coffee to 18 parts water, or really wake your taste buds up with a 1:13 ratio, measuring doses with a scale will make your experimentation infinitely easier.
-
It's also important to buy whole bean coffee instead of pre-ground. While grinding may add a few moments to your morning routine, it’s worth it. All of the coffee's natural flavors are locked in the bean's essential oils, and once the coffee is ground, the oils evaporate pretty quickly. You want those precious oils in your mug, not evaporated into your cupboard’s atmosphere.
-
Now that you’re grinding your own beans at home, you’ll need the right grinder. A really great conical burr grinder is easily the biggest investment when setting up your professional-level home brewing station, but it's also the best investment you'll make. There are a number of reasons that burr grinders outweigh their blade counterparts, but the most important differences spring from a burr grinder’s consistency and adjustability. A blade grinder simply cannot match a burr grinder's ability to adjust its grind from espresso (very fine) to French press (very coarse), enabling you to match your grind to your brew method to deliver consistently ground coffee. A consistent grind can’t be underestimated, as it’s the only way to produce consistent extraction. If money is tight, you can always buy a manual burr grinder—they're a fraction of the cost, they’re transportable, and using one is a great arm workout!
-
If you really want to unlock the flavor in your beans, invest in a pourover setup. Whether you go with a Hario V60, Chemex, Kalita Wave, a Clever Dripper, or a French press, brewing with a pourover device gives you absolute control over nearly every aspect of the brewing process. It also gives you the ability to experiment with water temperature, grind particle size, and water-to-coffee ratios. Brewing your morning cup by hand also ensures a more even extraction of oils than an automatic brewer can.
After buying better coffee, taking total control of your brewing process is the best option for taking your skills to a whole new level.
If you’re not ready to take the pourover plunge and go fully manual, the rest of these tips are just as applicable to automatic machines: Get fresh, quality beans and brew with hot, pure water. If you want to dip your toe into the pourover realm, you can use your automatic brewer as an improvised pourover apparatus. Simply lift the lid, put the filter in place, pour the grounds into the filter, then pour the water over the grounds. It’s not ideal, but it works!
-
Stagg EKG kettle : The industry standard
Cosori C0108-NK Kettle: A great moderate budget starter kettle
Bodum Electric Kettle: Another budget option
-
Skerton Hand Grinder: My first hand grinder I used for years and a great starting point if a bit hard on the forearms.
Bodum Bistro Burr Grinder: A entry level grinder, but you’ll need an upgrade eventually
Baratza Encore: Industry standard for beginners
Fellow Ode: The pretty one. A good but pricy grinder for those who are extremely aesthetically inclined.
-
When you’re just starting a food scale that can read grams to the tenth and a phone timer will be plenty but here are the upgrades beyond that:
Basic Coffee Scale : a good starting point that is reasonably accurate
TIMEMORE black mirror basic scale : The best of the intermediate scales out there at a reasonable price
Acaia Coffee Scale: Top of the line, cafe standard scale
Hario v60
-
The V60 is an amazing and extremely versatile brewer. The response to changes makes it great for beginners but also a great tool for the very advanced who deeply understand coffee. The V60 is responsive to numerous variables—more, in fact, than many other drippers on the market. This is because of three design factors:
1. The cone shape (60º angle): this allows the water to flow to the center, extending the contact time.
2. A large single hole: this enables the brewer to alter the flavor by altering the speed of the water flow.
3. Spiral ribs: these rise all the way to the top and allow the air to escape, thereby maximising the expansion of the coffee grounds.
So going back to the variables, the two most important ones you can play with are grind size and water flow. If you slowly add water, the result will be a full bodied coffee, but if you add water more quickly, it will end up with a weaker extraction and a lighter-bodied coffee.
The grind size can also affect the body. If you have a small grind size (about the size of table salt), the water won’t pass through as easily. This means that:
* Constant water flow + small grind size = medium bodied coffee
* Slow water flow + small grind size = full bodied coffee
* Constant water flow + medium grind size = light bodied coffee
* Slow water flow + medium grind size = light bodied coffee
With this dripper, feel free to play as long as you follow the basic steps, then you can choose any combination you want.
To prepare your set up:
1. Boil high-quality water until it’s between 90º to 96ºC (if you don’t have a thermometer, wait 30-45 seconds).
2. Fold the filter (bleached or natural) along the seams.
3. Rinse the filter thoroughly, taking particular care if it’s a natural filter. Rinsing helps to not only remove the papery taste but also heat the V60 and the server. If they aren’t heated, the water’s temperature will dramatically decrease and the coffee won’t be properly extracted.
4. Grind your fresh coffee beans, and you’re ready to go.
-
You’ll need:
- 15 or 30 grams of ground coffee (ground right before brewing for best results)
- A scale that measures grams
- A kettle
- A spoon
- A v60 pour over dripper, any material is ok for this one
- Filters
- A timer or your phone
- A mug or two
—
Basic recipes for one and two cups:
One cup: 15g of coffee and 250g of water
Two cups: 30g and 500g of water
1. Boil your water.
2. Rinse your coffee filter and preheat your mug with the boiled water.
4. Add all of your ground coffee to the filter and use the spoon to make a small well in the middle of the coffee bed.
6. Pour water on your coffee beans (use twice the amount of water of your coffee beans used. For example, 30g of water if 15g of coffee was used)
7. Pick up your V60 and swirl it gently to make sure all the coffee grounds are evenly wetted, and let the coffee bloom for 30 to 45 seconds.
9. Pour 60% of total brew water to the v60. For one cup, this will be a 150g pour. *Pour slow, this should take about 30 seconds.
10. Let the coffee sit for a few seconds, so some of the water can run through.
12. Slowly pour the remaining water on top. For one cup, this will be the remaining amount left to get to a total of 250g of water.
13. Stir your v60 with a spoon from left to right.
15. After the water has come down to about half-way, swirl or stir one last time.
16. Let the brew finish and throw out the filter.
17. Enjoy your coffee!
-
First off, yes, this is a process and can seem overwhelming. If you feel extremely overwhelmed look up some YouTube videos to see some demonstrations. These help put things into perspective. It really isn’t that scary. Though it can seem tedious, learning about the pour over has led many people to have greater appreciation for truly fantastic coffee.
Now for the tips!
*For lighter roasted coffees, use water just off the boil, but for darker roasts wait 20-25 seconds to begin so the water is at a slightly lower temperature. We do this because beans that are roasted darker and longer tend to be more soluble, or more easy to make coffee with. By using cooler water we can easily prevent over extraction.
* Stirring is really important. By stirring through your coffee brew, you force the left over coffee particles to sink to the bottom. This way, you will get the best extraction time. If any of the bigger chunks of coffee beans are still on the sides of your v60, you have under-extracted your coffee.
* The end swirl should not be forgotten. By using a spoon to stir the sides of the v60 and swirling for the last time, will give you a flat coffee bed at the bottom of your v60. The flat bottom ensures the best extraction possible.
* After blooming for 45 seconds, make sure you are slowly pouring your coffee on top. By doing this too aggressively, you might create air pockets in the coffee bean bed where the water can easily run through. This will result in an under-extracted coffee.
* If your coffee tastes off the first thing to change is your grind size!
* start from a medium grind size first. Now, this might seem a bit too coarse, but it will get you started. Next up is turning that switch to a finer setting on your coffee grinder. Taste the coffee each time before turning that knob to a finer setting.
* If you feel like you have made the coffee worse than the one before it, you have found the right grind size. Turn that knob back one setting, and you are good to go.
-
Elika Liftee’s V60 method:
15 grams coffee ground medium-fine.
-10 on a Baratza Encore
-Just under 1 on a Fellow Ode
-20 Clicks on a Comandante C40
250 grams of water at 210 degrees
Ceramic V60
Filters for V60
Stir Stick
Decanter
Recipe:
1st. Pour 50g bloom and use stir stick to ensure complete saturation
2nd. At 30 seconds pour to 150 grams.
3rd. At 1:30 pour to 250 grams
Average ideal extraction time: 2:30
The reason this is considered intermediate is because of the recipes flexibility. It’s a great baseline for anyone who knows coffee well because to get best results requires the commitment to take then tweak and modify as needed depending on the coffee you are brewing.
-
You’ll need:
V60 Brewer
Filters
20 grams of Coffee ground to medium fine or 720 microns
340 grams of water at 210F or just off boil
Base Recipe:
*spin means pick up and move your brewer in a gentle but noticeable circular motion to create even saturation and keep brewer from getting choked*
Dose 20g of coffee into brewer
shake level and be ready to pour every 30 sec
bloom 50g, spin
pour 50g, spin
pour 120g, spin
pour 120g, spin
Total water used, 340g
Recipes general concepts:
1:17 coffee to water ratio, use boiling water, pour every 30sec, ideal for 15-25g of coffee
For the bloom, pour a bit more water than double the dry mass of grounds( for example if using 15g of coffee use 35-40g of water on your bloom)
spin
Duplicate that pour
spin
Divide the remaining brew water into two and pour aggressively just behind center, spin
Total Brew Time: 2:30-3:30
-
Grind 20 grams of medium fine
*16 Clicks on a Baratza Encore
Heat water to 205
-
Set up your pour over, wet and rinse filter, dose coffee
Start timer as you begin first pour to 40g
-Bloom to 40 seconds
-Pour to 80 at 40 seconds
-Pour to 120 at 1 minute
-Pour to 180 at 1:20
-Pour to 240 at 1:40
-Pour to 300 at 2 minutes
-Drain time 2:45-3:15
-
25G Coffee, ground almost like table salt
16 on a Baratza Encore
250g water 205°F
200g of Ice
Pre wet your filter and rinse your decanter with cool water
Put Ice into your decanter to brew directly over it
Dose Coffee and level the brew bed of the V60 with a gentle shake
Start timer and Bloom to 60g
0:45 - pour to 170g
1:20 - pour all the way to 250g
Looking for a drain time of about 2:30
Strain your coffee, shake in a cocktail shaker with fresh ice if desired, pour into a glass with more fresh ice, this helps to delay dilution.
-
Stir sticks make a huge difference. Use them to ensure an even bloom.
Vary water temperature based on your coffee and flow rate. Hotter water for more dense or lighter roasted coffees will help with more extraction of oils. Cooler water will slow down flow rate and can help with softer beans or darker roasts to prevent over extraction.
Pre wet your filter always.
Gooseneck Kettles are awesome for this and will help immensely with your control over the pour rate.
Watch out for your filter! Don’t let it get caught too deeply in the grooves and make sure it’s maintaining its cone shape.
Lastly, if your grind is too fine it can lead to choking. If that happens, you need to grind more coarsely. Choking is where the water basically stops draining through because it can’t make it through the coffee.
-
French Press
-
The French Press is a full immersion brewing device with a metal mesh filter. This guarantees one thing in particular, a viscous brew with a fuller body and increased texture due to more oils remaining in the final brew and also fewer coffee particles. The ability to control all the variables in a French Press such as water temperature, grind and brew time allows for refinement of brewing methods according to personal preference. Most importantly if you brew correctly you can expect to enjoy the more nuanced aroma and flavors of each coffee you brew.
-
You’ll Need:
One clean 8 cup French Press - If you have a smaller on just divide the recipe accordingly
56 grams or about 8 tablespoons of coffee
Hot water, 10-20 seconds off of the boil (ABOUT 205°F)
Wooden spoon or stir stick
Timer or phone timer
Mugs
Scale (you can go without on this method if you don’t have a scale)
Grinder, for best results grind your coffee right before making your French Press
-Measure and grind
Measure out 56g (about 8 Tablespoons) of coffee and grind it as coarse as breadcrumbs.
-Add water
Now that your French Press is warmed up, discard the hot water and add coffee into the empty press. Start your count-up timer as soon as you add hot water. Fill it up halfway to the top saturating all the grounds, making sure that there are no dry spots.
-Stir
At 1:00, use a wooden spoon or spatula to break the top layer we call the crust. We prefer to use wood and not metal so you don’t accidentally crack the glass. Give it a good stir.
-Add more water
Now, fill it all the way to the top with water. Put the top on and allow the coffee to brew without pressing it down.
-Press
At 4:00, you are ready to press. Firmly push the press all the way down.
-Serve and enjoy
-
1 part coffee to 6 parts water or about 120g of coffee to 32 ounces of coffee
Using a standard 8 Cup French Press
The Recipe:
-Add 5-5.5 ounces of coarse ground coffee, ground for French Press, to the bottom of the French Press.
-Gently pour cool or room temp water over the grounds until the press is three quarters full
-Stir together to make sure that all coffee is saturated
-Pour the rest of your water in the press to fill the press to max capacity
-After about 30 minutes, stir once more to break up and reincorporate the crust that has formed on top
-Let the coffee sit for 8-12 hours at room temperature, you can brew for up to 16 hours but that tends to be too long and creates a very over extracted, stringent, and viscous concentrate
Press the plunger and strain into covered jar or vessel to store your cold brew in a refrigerated space.
You now have a cold brew concentrate!
What you can do with the concentrate!
Mix 1 part coffee with 1 part water when making an iced coffee.
You can mix 3-3.5 ounces of concentrate with 5-6 ounces of milk to make an iced latte.
Use the same ratio of 1 part coffee to 2 parts water to make a glass of cold brew.
-
Serve it all and serve it as soon as you’re done brewing!
Pour your brewed coffee into a carafe or mugs to serve immediately to avoid over extraction. If the coffee sits on the grounds too long, it continues to extract and will become bitter.
Warm up the press
Warm up your empty French Press by rinsing it with very hot water. This helps maintain the temperature while brewing for best extraction.
-
Drip Coffee Maker
-
There’s not really a one size fits all recipe here so, these are our top five tips to keeping your morning cup of coffee going strong.
1. Start with a good medium-grind coffee. Buy exceptionally good coffee. Use a medium grind and know that the closer you grind your beans to the time of brewing, the better the cup.
2. Filter your water. Use filtered water. The water you use can greatly affect the taste of your coffee. Coffee is about 98-99% water, and if you water is gross, chances are your coffee will be too.
3. Be patient. Refrain from setting up your coffee too early. We know it’s tempting to everything the night before, but the flavor of your coffee will be better if you hold out until morning.
4. Turn down the heat. Turn off the heat when done brewing. The longer your coffee stays on the burner, the less wonderful it will taste.
5. Clean your machine! Clean your machine once a month. Either check with the manufacturer’s instructions or you can brew a full pot of cleaning mixture: one part vinegar to two parts water. Then brew a full pot of just hot water, two if you’re feeling frisky, to finish the cleaning. Doing this regularly will work wonders and help keep your machine clean and happy.
-
Here are the top 3 from the SCA ratings and a place to buy them:
Fellow - Stagg (X)
-
This beautifully made brewer that has become one of my most preferred brewers. The steel vacuum insulated body keeps the temperature stable, which will help you achieve consistent extraction.
Due to its flat bottom shape with steep slope, this brewer has relatively deep ground bed depth which enables you to brew consistently on variable doses up to 25 grams maximum.
Its unique hole pattern, especially in the outermost area, ensures even flow; also it helps prevent choking.
Once you know the basics I think this is a great brewer to have on hand as a way to brew with a metal brewer, as opposed to buying a metal Kalita or V60.
-
First off, I consider this brewer intermediate only mostly because it’s a bit niche, it’s got odd filters that are exclusive to it, and it’s not great with all coffees. Lastly, it can’t really brew more than 20g of ground coffee at a time very well, so it’s limited in its capacity as well. That said, I love it and do use it regularly, so I do believe it’s a very useful piece of gear for those that love doing pour overs.
You’ll Need
Stagg [X] Pour-Over Dripper
Stagg [X] Filters
Temperature control kettle, a gooseneck helps
Mug
Scale
Timer
Grinder
20 grams of light/medium roasted coffee, ground medium
340 grams water at 205-207°F
The Recipe
Place the paper filter in the dripper, place the dripper on your mug (or a carafe), and pre-wet the filter. Dispose of the water after it has all run through.
2. Add 20 grams of ground coffee to the dripper and shake the dripper gently to level out the coffee bed and evenly distribute the grounds.
For the first pour (The Bloom), pour 60 grams of water in small concentric circles moving from the center to the outside of the coffee bed. Avoid pouring on the walls of the filter and focus on pouring directly onto the grinds. After pouring, lift the dripper and give it a gentle swirl, then return it to the carafe. This agitation will help to insure that all of the coffee grounds are exposed to water.
For our second pour, we're going bigger. At 40 seconds, add a 100 gram pour, to reach a 160 gram total, in the same fashion as the first. When finished, lift the dripper and gently swirl. This agitation is going to serve the same purpose as before while also preventing any of those pesky grounds from getting stuck to the sides of the filter.
Be sure to not let the bed dry out. While there is still a small pool of water on the coffee bed, start the first of three more "pulse" pours of 60 grams each. Each consecutive pour happens right before the bed goes completely dry.
At the end of the third and final pulse pour (the total weight should be 340 grams), lift the dripper (don't swirl, just lift!) and set it back on your mug or the carafe. This will cause a sediment effect and even out the coffee bed much the way that we did with the shaking of the dry grounds. The purpose behind this final agitation of the coffee slurry is to promote an even flow through the bed on the final draw down and eliminate any pockets or "craters" in the coffee bed, which would cause the coffee to extract unevenly and potentially affect taste.
This is a technical but great recipe that is from the Fellow brewing team.
-
This brewer is not a must for everyone’s coffee set up but I do think it’s a great piece of coffee gear and one that brings out a lot of sweetness and body in coffees that might be lacking it in cooler brew methods. The metal design holds heat really well and does great with less dense coffees as well as natural and honey processed coffees.
The 4:6 method works great with this brewer, just watch your grind size on your first try. This brewer, because of it’s heat retention, tends to brew a bit faster than a glass or ceramic brewer.
-
20g Coffee Ground Medium, 19-20 clicks on the Baratza Encore
300g Water 205°F
You’re looking to have about 95-98% of the water drain through the coffee after each pour BEFORE your next pour begins. This recipe is designed to highlight sweetness and fruit notes in a way that a standard V60 or Kalita Wave approach will not.
Credit to Elika Liftee for the development of this style and recipe.
Bloom - 40g
30 seconds - 80g
50 seconds - 120g
1:10 pour to 180g
1:30 pour to 240g
1:50 pour to 300g
Looking for approximately 2:15-2:30 drain time
-
Aeropress
-
The AeroPress is a manual coffeemaker invented by Alan Adler, founder of AeroPress, Inc. It consists of a cylindrical chamber, and a plunger with an airtight silicone seal, similar to a syringe. Ground coffee beans and water are steeped inside, then forced through a filter by pressing the plunger through the chamber.
This brewer is extremely versatile and there’s even an espresso attachment you can get for it. It’s right up there with the V60 for versatility and has a low floor for entry but also an extremely high ceiling. This is a great method to start learning about because of its uniqueness and versatility.
-
You’ll Need:
Aeropress
Aeropress filters
-11 grams of coffee ground on the fine side of medium.
-200 grams of water at 210 F
-Mug or Decanter
*decrease temperature to 200-205 F range for dark roasts*
The Recipe:
Set brewer in standard position on a server. Don't rinse or preheat the brewer (it doesn't make any difference).
Start a timer, add 200mL water, aiming to wet all the coffee during pouring.
Then immediately place the plunger on top of the brewer, about 1cm in. This creates a vacuum to stop the coffee from dripping through.
Wait 2 minutes.
Holding the brewer and the plunger, gently swirl the brewer.
Wait 30 seconds.
Press gently all the way, it takes about 30 seconds.
Drink and enjoy!
-
You’ll need:
Aeropress
Filters
15 grams of coffee
250 grams of water heated to 207F
Mug or Decanter
Stir stick
Scale
Timer
The Recipe:
15 grams of coffee ground on the finer side of medium
Heat water to 207F
Set up aeropress and wet filter
Dose coffee
240 ml. of water poured over 25 seconds
Steep to 45 seconds
Stir back and forth 6-10 times
1:20 plunge
Stop when you hear the hiss
Aerate and pour awesomeness
-
This recipe is designed to prevent over extraction of darker roasted coffees.
You’ll need:
Aeropresss
Filters
15g Coffee ground on the finer side of medium, 8-10 clicks on a Baratza Encore
200g Water 205°F
-
The Recipe:
Dose your coffee into the Aeropress
Start timer and add all water
Stir until 30s
Apply Plunger
Plunge at 1:30 slowly for 30s until you just hear the beginning of a hissing sound
Finish by 2 minutes
-
-This simple brew method comes with lots of tips because there can be a lot of nuance and detail with this seemingly simple method. So, we picked a few that we thought would be helpful and maybe inspire some more personal research.
-Inventor Alan Adler’s most crucial advice for Aeropress users is to press gently for the most delicious coffee. Pressing gently provides the quickest pressing, and the fastest pressing is the sweetest. In comparison, pressing too hard compresses the ground beans, which slows the flow of water and yields a more bitter brew.
-You’ll notice after you add the hot water to your Aeropress that it will start dripping through, but this isn’t supposed to be a drip coffee maker. We want that water forced through under pressure for the best extraction.
-To stop the drip, insert the plunger into the body. This creates back pressure, which prevents the flow of water. Alternatively, you can avoid the drip by brewing with the inverted Aeropress method.
-Now that high-quality coffee beans are commonplace, coffee enthusiasts are increasingly aware of the importance of water quality when it comes to brewing coffee. This should come as no surprise because coffee is mostly water! To get the best tasting brew from your Aeropress, make sure to use filtered water rather than take it straight from the tap.
-So, you’ve chosen your beans. As with any coffee maker, grind size matters for the Aeropress, so take the time to dial it in. You want to aim for a medium-fine grind that’s finer than for a typical filter coffee but coarser than for espresso.
-If your grind is too fine, the coffee will be over-extracted, resulting in a bitter brew. Conversely, if the grind is too coarse, it will under-extract, yielding a weak and watery cup.
-While it might be tempting to try and squeeze every bit of flavor out of your ground coffee, you’re doing yourself no favors by pressing the plunger to the bitter end. You’re likely over-extracting and making the coffee more bitter.
-To avoid this, make sure to listen carefully as you plunge. The best-tasting brew is ready when the Aeropress emits a hissing sound
-If you fill the Aeropress container to the top with hot water, it will overflow when you add the filter and lid. Not only will this ruin your coffee, but you can scald yourself on the hot water. Burnt hands and no coffee is not how you want to start your day!
-Instead, use less water in your Aeropress to brew a concentrated coffee shot, then dilute it with warm water afterward to your designed brew strength.
-
Includes: AeroPress Chamber & plunger, micro-filters, filter stand, & filter cap, funnel, stirring stick, and scooper
This is an attachment that is available through Fellow Brewing Company. I haven’t used it so I’m leaving the description up to them.
“Prismo is a pressure-actuated valve designed to be used with the AeroPress® Coffee Maker. This attachment allows for a build-up of pressure to brew espresso-style coffee and creates a no-drip seal for recipes that normally require inverting your AeroPress®.”
There’s tons of info on it out there and I chose to include it because it is very useful to those that love their Aeropress and it’s been positively reviewed by many in the coffee industry. Feel free to shoot me an email if you’d be curious for a few recipes or some more info on it, as I can always learn more and brush up on it.
-Tyler
Chemex
-
Equal parts brilliance and common sense, the Chemex remains a staple in every coffee enthusiast's arsenal. Its design has endured, unchanged (wood handle, leather cord, tapered glass and all), since its invention in 1941 by Peter Schlumbohm. Schlumbohm’s designs were characterized as “a synthesis of logic and madness,” and we're inclined to agree.
Coffee from a Chemex is very similar to that from a drip, but there’s more room for error. To guarantee the best results, grind your beans more coarsely than you would for a ceramic drip, and offer extra attention to the pour rate. It’s also a higher volume brewer which is great for those who don’t want to take the time to brew multiple single cups of coffee.
If you embrace the level of care needed this method yields a delicate and nuanced coffee, with plenty left over to share with friends.
-
The Chemex is a fantastic and forgiving brewer for those just getting into pour overs. Below is a four cup recipe that is great to sit down and share with a friend.
You’ll need:
55g Coffee, ground medium-coarse, like table salt (22 on Baratza Encore)
900g water 205°F
Timer
Chemex and Filters
The Recipe
Rinse your Chemex and wet your filter
Bloom - pour 110g of water slowly to evenly soak the coffee grounds
at 45 seconds - pour to 300g total
1:30 - pour to 500g total
2:30 - Pour to 700g
3:15 - pour to 900g
You might need two kettles or to have extra hot water on the stove to refill your kettle after the first 500g of pouring because this is a huge recipe.
-
You’ll need:
Chemex Coffeemaker
1 Chemex filter
35g (5.5 Tbsp) coffee, coarse grind
525g (2 cups) water, just off boil
Kitchen scale
The recipe:
Unfold the Chemex filter so that three layers cover the spout. Preheat your Chemex and filter with hot water, ensuring a seal between the paper and glass. Then discard the water into your waiting mugs to preheat them.
Tip your 35 grams (around 5.5 tablespoons) of coarsly ground coffee (about the consistency of kosher sea salt) into the filter and give it a gentle shake to level the grounds. If you’re using a scale, now’s the time to tare it.
Starting the timer, pour just enough water to saturate the grounds.
Give the grounds a gentle stir to ensure there are no clumps, and let it bloom for 30 seconds.
Half a minute in, begin the main pour in a slow, circular movement until the water nears the top of the Chemex. Allow the water level to lower, then add the remaining water until you reach 525g.
Let the coffee finish draining. The entire brew process should clock in around 4 minutes.
Enjoy a delicious cup of coffee with a friend. Don’t spill!
-
-We recommend starting with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio when brewing with the Chemex. In other words, for every 1 gram of coffee, add 15 grams of water, which converts to about 3 tablespoon of coffee for every 1 cup of water. Experiment from there to find the perfect ratio for you.
-Coffee becomes bitter when it is over-extracted; that is, when too much of the organic content in the bean is pulled into the hot water. Check your ground coffee: does it have a lot of coffee powder, or ‘fines’? If so, it’s possible they are extracting faster than the rest and making your coffee bitter. Consider using a burr grinder to achieve a more uniform grind size.
-If brewing took longer than 4 minutes, try coarsening the grind a bit.
-The ideal water temperature is around 200-207° F which you can achieve by bringing the water to a boil and then letting it sit for twenty seconds to one minute. Boiling-hot water can scorch the coffee, while tepid water will under-extract. The lighter roast the coffee, the higher temperature water you should use to help extract the coffee more evenly.
-
Kalita Wave
-
The Kalita Wave is a favorite of mine. Its flat bottom design promotes an even extraction and its stainless steel construction means it’s lightweight, retains heat, and it’s durable enough for years of use. I brew a lot of single-cup coffees using the Kalita Wave and it’s great for a consistent, clear, sweet cup.
-
You’ll Need:
A kettle
A Kalita Wave 185
A Kalita wave filter
25g coffee (ground medium, preferably right before brewing)
Timer
Scale
450g of water at 205F or just off boil
A heat proof decanter
Mugs
A grinder, if available
Step 1: Weigh and grind your coffee
Use your scale to weigh out your 25 grams of coffee (if you don’t have a scale, a level tablespoon holds around 5 grams of coffee). Grind your coffee until it’s about the size of table salt—likely somewhere around the middle of your grinder’s settings range.
Step 2: Rinse your filter and preheat your vessel
Place the filter in the Kalita Wave dripper, then place the dripper on the brewing vessel and pour enough water over the filter to get the whole thing wet. Once it drips through, you can discard the rinse water. If you’d like to preheat your cup with more warm water, go ahead and do that now.
Step 3: Begin brewing
Place your brewer and vessel on the scale, add your coffee, and tare the scale to zero. Start your timer, then, using a spiral motion, pour 50g of water over the grounds to saturate them—this initial pour should happen within the first 10 seconds. At this point, allow the coffee to “bloom” until the 45 second mark. During the bloom, fresh coffee is releasing stored gases from the roasting process, so the grounds should rise up and bubble a bit.
Step 4: Continue pouring
At the 45 second mark, begin pouring water in 50 gram increments, continuing the spiral motion, allowing water to drip through between each pour. The goal should be to finish the final pour and reach the target total water mass of 415g at 3:00.
Step 5: Drip through and serve
Once you’ve reached your 415g water mass, allow the remaining water in the brewer to drip through. If your coffee is ground correctly, this should take about 30 seconds, with your total brew time coming to 3:30. Once all of the water has made its way through the coffee, remove the brewer from the brewing vessel, stir your coffee, pour it into your favorite mug, and enjoy!
-
You’ll Need:
* Kalita Wave Dripper
* Kalita Wave Filters
* Coffee Grinder
* Digital Scale
* Kettle
* Coffee
* Timer
* Water
The recipe:
Pre-heat the Kalita Wave and rinse the filter by pouring hot water over both with a mug or range server underneath. This reduces the potential for a paper flavor in the coffee and preheats the brewer.
Using a scale, place a small vessel on top, then tare before adding the whole beans. For a single serving, we'll be measuring out 20 grams of coffee.
Pour the measured whole beans into the grinder. Grind to medium size.
Empty the hot water from the vessel before adding the ground coffee. Place your setup on the scale, then tare.
Slowly pour 40 grams of water to bloom - objective of bloom is to saturate as much of the coffee bed as possible. From here, we are going to pour in concentric circles, or spirals. Start the timer, waiting 45 seconds before moving on.
At 45 seconds, add 80 grams of hot water until the scale reads 120 grams. Wait until the timer hits 1 minute 45 seconds before moving forward.
At 1 minute 45 seconds, add 130 grams of hot water until the scale reads 250 grams. Wait until the timer hits 2 minutes before moving forward.
At 2 minutes, add hot water until the scale reads 320 grams. You should finish pouring around 2 minutes 30 seconds. It will drip for another minute or so.
Remove the brewer, swirl, let cool and enjoy!
-
This recipe was written with Central or South American ,medium roasted coffees in mind
25g Coffee : 400g Water 205°F
Bloom - 50g
30 seconds heavy central pour to 160g
45 seconds spiral pour to 220g
1:05 pour to 280g
1:30 pour to 340g
1:55 pour to 400g
3:00 minute drain time give or take 15 seconds
-