Author: David Kelley
One of life's great pleasures: a homemade cup of craft coffee
There are hundreds of automatic coffee makers available in the market, but coffee enthusiasts do not just want to put caffeine in their system; they want to enjoy the experience of making a fresh cup of coffee – the smell of the beverage, the consistency, the flavor, and most importantly, the fun of participation in the process. For such people, time and technique used to brew coffee are important, and they keep working towards bettering their craft of home-brewed coffee with personalization and experimentation.
A little extra time and work are required to make coffee manually, but it is worth it for its offerings of quality control and superior experience. The variety of coffee-making techniques being shared on the internet is large as the beverage is gaining more and more popularity every day (although it is already the most popular beverage globally). This popularity is creating demand for more refined techniques as coffee enthusiasts prefer a hands-on approach to home-brew coffee and are becoming less interested in the automatic approach.
Below are some methods you can try to produce a splendid drink with coffee at home.
The French Press Method
Invented in 1929, the French press method gives you consistent and excellent quality coffee. It involves soaking, seeping, and straining coffee in hot water in a press pot. The flavor of the essential oils, antioxidants, and caffeine are well preserved with this method, and the natural taste of the coffee stays intact. The most popular brand of press pots is Bodum.
The process coarsely grinds the beans, and the drink takes less than 4 minutes to get ready. The press pot is portable and comes in different sizes, the biggest preparing up to 8 cups of coffee in a single go. It is easy to clean and requires no filters.
Siphon
Siphon was invented in the 1840s in Germany that uses a vacuum to prepare the drink. It comprises two vessels (Upper and lower) and is made up of transparent glass. You need to add coffee grounds to the upper vessel and water in the lower one. The siphon's electric burner gets the water boiled, and the vapor pressure forces it upwards which immersing the coffee. After the water cools down, the brewed coffee comes down into the lower vessel through a filter. It requires a medium-coarse ground roasted coffee and produces a cup with a mild taste.
Aero Press
The Aero Press was invented in 2005 by Alan Adler and is usually made of plastic. You have to put coffee grounds and hot water in its brew chamber, where it seeps for 2 minutes. A plunger is attached above the chamber that forces the coffee out of the brew chamber when you press it. A filter is attached underneath the gadget through which the coffee goes into the cup. It produces espresso-styled, full-bodied, and sweet flavored coffee and requires a medium-size roasted coffee grind.
Stovetop Moka Pot
Alfonso Bialetti, in 1933, invented the stovetop Moka pot that uses the steam of boiling water in its lower chamber to pass through the coffee grounds in its central chamber. The brewed coffee gets ready and sits in the highest chamber. The process takes 5 minutes to complete and produces a strong coffee with a bitter taste. Kabalo, Pedrini, and Bialetti are some of the most popular brands that manufacture stovetop Moka pots.
Coffee Cone or Pour-Over
One of the most simple, easy, cost-effective, and popular ways to brew coffee of high quality at home is the drip method using a coffee cone. Available in plastic, glass, ceramic, and steel, coffee cones are produced by Hario V60, Bee House, Kalita Wave, and Melitta. You have to place a paper filter in the cone and put coffee grounds in it. Pour hot water inside, and the immersed coffee will slowly drip, one drop at a time, into a cup or pot placed underneath.
The filter variety and the shape of the cone dictate the taste of the drink. The optimal grind of beans required for this process is medium to fine, and it takes 3 minutes to complete. It produces a cup with full body and a smooth flavor.
Chemex
Using a Chemex paper filter (30% heavier than other filters), Chemex is a glass flask that gives you a balanced, non-acidic, and sweet-tasting coffee in 4 minutes. Like the coffee cone described above Chemex is a pour-over coffee brewing method. It was designed by Dr. Peter Shlumbohm in 1941. The filter is placed on the mouth of the flask, and coffee grounds are placed on the filter. Hot water is poured on the grounds and the brew then slowly drips into the flask, just like in the coffee cone method.
Good quality beans make coffee that is superior in quality
No matter which method you prefer or pick, the tips mentioned below can help you make superior quality coffee to attain a coffee shop like experience at home:
- Coffee beans begin to lose their quality fast after grinding and roasting. Buy fresh roasted coffee beans like those provided by Two Bit Rush Coffee Roasters which are shipped on roasting day. Research the different flavors that different varieties and origins of the beans offer and pick the one that you favor. Do not grind the coffee until you are about to brew coffee.
- Store your unused beans in a cool, dry, dark place. Do not freeze your unused beans. Two Bit Rush Coffee Roasters' ships our roasted coffee beans in resealable black-out pouches with an integrated C02 vent, and these pouches are perfect for keeping your beans or ground coffee fresh.
- The shape and size of the coffee grounds affect its taste. The blade grinders' helicopter motion grinds the coffee in un-even shapes and sizes which is not ideal. It is far better to grind your roasted coffee beans in a burr grinder that uses abrasive surfaces to grind the beans into uniform-sized and shaped grounds.
- Use filtered water, free of the impurities and contaminants that tap water can contain to get the best flavor out of your coffee at home. The best water temperatures for preserving the optimum flavor of coffee are 195° to 205° F.
- Under or over extracting the flavor of your coffee can ruin it for you. Time the immersion to perfection to suit it as you like it.
- A change of just a few milligrams or milliliters of coffee or water can change the flavor of your home brewed coffee. It is best to weigh your grounds and water to mix a perfect ratio. You may download a free chart (in PDF format) with suggested coffee-to-water ratios from Two Bit Rush Coffee Roasters.
We all have different preferences for how we like our coffee, but what is common in all the coffee enthusiasts is the pure joy we experience from a well-brewed cup. Discovering new techniques to brew coffee allows us to potentially find a new favorite method. As coffee continues to climb in popularity, we can be sure new home coffee brewing techniques are coming in the future. We here at Two Bit Rush Coffee Roasters will keep you posted.
Be sure to shop Two Bit Rush Coffee Roasters' coffees. We offer a selection of single origin coffees, curated blends, and flavored coffees. Roasted daily and delivered fresh.
