Brew Guide
The quality of coffee and the attention to detail while roasting can make or break a cup of coffee. But making coffee correctly can hugely impact the enjoyment of your morning cup. These measurements are suggestions as we expect you will add more or less coffee so your morning coffee is exactly to your liking.
For the best cup of coffee, use filtered water at roughly 200 degree temp, a high quality burr grinder, and each method below will emphasize strengths and weaknesses of the coffee. After you have made your coffee, dump the grind in the compost for maximum sustainability.
Drip Coffee Maker
With the traditional drip coffee maker, use 2 tbs of coffee (medium fine grind) per 8 oz cup of water. Be aware that most drip makers measure cups on the water reservoir as 6 oz. Options to consider are unbleached paper cones or reusable metal filter baskets. This method is simple and automated. Most drip coffee makers struggle to get the water hot enough. A few exceptions are the BonaVita and Technivorm brewers.
French Press
Making coffee in a French Press is flexible, simple, and relatively easy. Use 2 tbs of coffee (coarse grind) for every 8 oz of 200° water. Initially add about 8 oz of water to let the coffee bloom. After 30 seconds, add the remaining coffee and put the screen in at the top to hold in the heat. For a sweeter cup, push down the plunger after 2 1/2 minutes. For fuller flavor, stir the grind at 4 minutes and plunge after 6 minutes of steeping. The French Press is simple, portable, and allows you to produce hot water from a kettle. Weaknesses are that it’s hard to clean, and produces coffee that has fines (sludgey) in the bottom of your cup.
Chemex
The Chemex is one of the top 100 inventions of the 20th century. Use 2 tbs of coffee (coarse grind) for every 8 oz of 200° water. A 32 oz Chemex takes roughly 6 minutes of pouring hot water every 30 seconds over the grind slurry. The standard filter is either brown or unbleached white. Reusable filters are also available (they do change the flavor profile). Pre wetting the filter produces a less paper taste. The Chemex is simple,easy to clean, it allows you to use 200° water, and it’s mobile. The main weakness is for the person standing over the Chemex for 6 minutes because it drips through the filter so slowly.
Infusion Dripper
Infusion Drippers use 16 oz of water at 200° with 4 TBS of ground (medium coarse grind) coffee. This is a single cup brewer which is easy to use and flexible for manipulating the flavor of your coffee. Bloom your coffee with 50 g of water. After 30 seconds, fill the dripper with an appropriate amount of water to match the size of your cup. For a sweeter cup, open the valve after 2 minutes. For fuller flavor, infuse longer. Drippers are easy to clean and you can easily dump the grind in the compost. The big weakness is overflowing your cup with too much water added to the dripper.
Pour Over
The Pour Over method is one of our favorites. To produce a 12oz cup, use 24g of coffee (medium grind) and place in filter. Put filter and filter holder on top of cup and then on a gram scale. Tare your scale to 0. With 200° water in a gooseneck kettle, apply 50g of water over grind in a swirling method. After 30 seconds, add 100g water every 30-45 seconds until your scale reads 410g total. Your goal is to have all the water through your grind bed in 3 minutes and 30 seconds. This method gives you the greatest potential for unique flavors in your cup. The weaknesses are needing a gram scale and gooseneck kettle and doing the pour over correctly.
Espresso Machine
At home espresso machines became popular in the 1990’s. The key to a good shot of espresso is controlling the time to produce your 2oz shot. Ideally, your shot should be finished between 20-24 seconds. The timing is controlled by the size of your grind (24g finely ground) and pressure (30lbs of so) when you tamp the grind in your porta-filter. Once you do some practicing with a timer, you should be able to pull good shots of espresso consistently. Espresso machines produce a shot of coffee that can be used in a large variety of coffee drinks. A home espresso machine can struggle to get the water to 201° and can produce inconsistent results. The upfront costs including a good burr grinder can be high.
Aeropress
Alan Adler introduced the Aeropress in 2005. The Aeropress is a versatile and fun piece of home brewing equipment. Although it comes with a little bit of a learning curve, it’s worth the time to learn how to brew a great cup of coffee with such a fun device. To help you in your homebrew journey, here are four methods to try.
French Press Method: 16g of coffee with a medium-fine grind, 250g of water at 200°, 2:30 minutes of brew time
Wet one coffee filter and place them in the filter tray - set aside. With the Aeropress inverted, add the 16g of coffee followed by the 250g of hot water. Stir the water and coffee together for 10 seconds. Place the filter basket on the Aeropress and twist it into place. Steep for 2 minutes. Flip the Aeropress over a cup and plunge for a total of 30 seconds, being sure you plunge all of the way to compact grinds.
Pour Over Method: 16g of coffee with a medium-coarse grind, 250g of water at 200°, 2:30 - 2:45 minutes of brew time
Wet two coffee filters and place them in the filter tray - set aside. With the Aeropress inverted, add the 16g of coffee followed slowly by 50g of hot water. Allow the coffee to bloom for 30 seconds. Add the remaining water and stir. Steep for 1:30 - 1:45 minutes. Flip the Aeropress over a cup and plunge for a total of 30 seconds, being sure to stop the plunger as soon as you hear a hissing noise from the Aeropress.
Espresso Method: 16g of coffee with fine grind, 75g of water at 200°, 0:30 - 0:45 seconds of brew time
Wet two coffee filters and place them in the filter tray - set aside. With the Aeropress inverted, add the 16g of coffee followed by 75g of hot water and stir. Wait 30 secnds then flip the Aeropress over a cup and plunge all of the way to compact grinds.
Inverted Method: 16g of coffee with medium-fine grind, 250g of water at 200°, 2:00 minutes of brew time
Wet two coffee filters and place them in the filter tray - set aside. With the Aeropress inverted, add the 16g of coffee followed slowly by 50g of hot water. Allow the coffee grind to bloom for 30 seconds. Add the remaining water and stir. Steep for 1:00 minute. Cap the Aeropress with the filter tray and allow the coffee to degas. Flip the Aeropress over a cup and plunge for a total of 30 seconds, being sure to stop the plunger as soon as you hear a hissing noise from the Aeropress.
If you would like a printable PDF version of the Aeropress recipes please click here.