Brew Metheds

Auto Drip Brewing: Convenient, Consistent, Clean and Social.  

Variables: 

• How lazy you are with your coffee scoops. 
• Water Quality
• Grind Size. 
• Time between grind and brew.  

While we attempt to make coffee as accessible as possible, I stillI feel like I shouldn't have to describe this:  Put filter paper in the basket, coffee in filter paper, fill the water chamber.  Press a little, usually red, switch.  Argue with someone because your mind is not functioning for 5 mins then get after it. 

The cup is typically super clean as little sediment makes it through the paper filters.  Quality of the cup will depend on the quality of the machine.  Got your $50 mr coffee? - well that's not going to do a delicate Kona justice mainly because the brewing surfaces are plastic and water temp is limited..  Try to go with a quality stainless steel machine of epicness that will give you a great cup. 

For the nerds

• Grind size:  Medium
• Coffee ratio to cups of coffee: 

What's a good machine to buy?

Leaving coffee on one of those heated plates will turn our epic coffee into paint stripper flavored nastiness pretty quick.  So if drip coffee is your jam, go with a thermal carafe.  

 

French Press: Fatter Body and Mouthfeel.  Says French in the name so…

Variables: 

• How lazy you are with your coffee scoops. 
• Water Quality
• Grind Size. 
• Time between grind and brew. 

Boil water - scoop in coffee.  Wait 3 mins.  Plunge and drink.  Relish in your European sophistication that scoffs at auto brewer's you little snob, you…

This method doesn't have a filter paper which leads to more sediment and coffee oils in the cup.  That, in turn, increases mouth feel and body vs a pour over or auto brewer.  So if you like a bit more fatness in your cup, this might be your jam.  I love the ease of this method:  easy to make, easy to clean, easy to get a good cup, easy to play around with.  It's pretty quick to go from tired, I just woke up, to, I'm psyched for a surf. .  Coffee too bitter? Steep grounds less.  Coffee too weak?  Throw a tantrum like an entitled little rich boy or seep the coffee for longer. 

For the nerds

• Coffee Ground size
• Coffee to water ratio
• Water temp

Good Equipment

Anything really.  It's hard to mess this one up. 

Espresso:  Shots, Milk foam epicness, Crema….Italy!!!

Variables: 

Too many to list.  

There is fascination with the process of an espresso at home.  It's a luxury for sure but a good set up these days can be as low as $500 bucks so the price of these guys is not as preventative as it once was.   It's also a  nice routine…it's convenient to be able to get an espresso shot, americano, and the whole milk world right there on your countertop.   

There is a fair amount of flapping about with grind size, brew temp, brew time etc and when you change beans you gotta go back to the drawing board with grind size and brew time but once you got your machine dialed to your beans, there is some gold at the end of that rainbow.  

The method involves using a machine to force hot water through finely ground coffee beans at high pressure. This produces a concentrated, flavorful coffee with a thick crema (foam) on top. 

Not that many people drink straight espressos, so for the purpose of my blurb.  Here is how I'd compare say an 8 oz pour over with an 8 oz americano :  The american will be way more bold with heaps more oil, a fuller body with some crema sticking around.  The americano would satisfy the guy that's looking for a strong coffee.  It would also be fair to say that some of the delicate tones of a fruity coffee will be lost in an espresso shot. If the americano was a Mike Tyson, the pour over would be more Bruce Lee. 

Cold brew: Smooth as silk, 

This method involves steeping ground coffee beans in cold water for several hours, often overnight. The resulting coffee is less acidic and has a smoother, sweeter flavor than coffee brewed using hot water.  A great option as a caffeine vehicle on hot days.  

Pour over: Wagamama coffee for snobs like me

Variables: 

• How lazy you are with your coffee scoops. 
• Water Quality
• Grind Size. 
• Time between grind and brew.  

This is basically what happens when the artisans rewrite the 70s automate everything movement.   From microwave ovens back to gas stove tops…Back to 12 inch records, classic cars.  I'm not here to argue with them, if you want to get the clearest representation of what a coffee bean has to offer, this is your calling.  Mind you, if you're going skinny GMO free oat milk with non sugar fairtrade caramel syrup over bird safe ice then, well, um, yeah, you're just wasting your time. But whatevs, you do you.  We typically use this method in our labs when we are doing product quality control. The question we try to answer is:  How will this taste in your kitchen.  Pour overs give a good indication of that.  

So here we are pouring hot water over ground coffee beans that are contained in a cone-shaped filter. The water passes through the grounds and into a carafe or cup, producing a brewed coffee.   Team coffee elitist that we like as much as we like Putin will get all up in your face about three different pours to bloom the coffee and blah blah.  There is something to it for sure, but it's really more a case of how much time do you have to improve the cup 0.000000001%.  Yeah, I thought so.  

For the nerds

• Coffee Ground size
• Coffee to water ratio
• Water temp

Pro tip

Well more of an entry level tip:  don't use a plastic cone.  Glass / steel / ceramic

 

Moka Pot.  Stove Top Espresso.  Feels traditional somehow - thick fuller bodied. 

Variables: 

• How lazy you are with your coffee scoops. 
• Water Quality
• Grind Size. 
• Time between grind and brew. 

I think this has the heaviest mouth feel of the most common coffee brews.  I like it when I'm doing a dark roast with cream.  You get this insanely strong sediment that just feels fat and like, you can eat it with a folk kinda thing. It's like the opposite to a pour over.  If a pour over was a Beethoven violin solo, a moka pot would be Bob Marley bass line. 

The coffee maker has three chambers: a bottom chamber filled with water, a middle chamber filled with ground coffee, and a top chamber where the brewed coffee collects. As the water in the bottom chamber heats up, it creates pressure that forces the water up through the coffee and into the top chamber.   It gets hot so don't be dumb when handling the pot post brew.  

For the nerds

• Coffee Ground size
• Coffee to water ratio
• Water temp

	Fatness	Grind size	Snob Level	Laziness	Soundtrack
Moka Pot	Heaps fat	Fine	Quite Confident	Not hungover	Frank Sinatra, my way
Espresso	Creama	Fine	Possibly dons a pocket protector	30 min jog	St Germain, Tourist
Auto Brew	Meh	Medium	0 fucks given	Not moving today	Beastie boys, Get it together
French Press		Course	So sophisticated bro	30 min flat walk	Sunday afternoon, the kinks
Pour Over	anorexic	Medium	No one likes you	Climb Everest	Sex pistols, God Save the queen