Coffeehouse-quality brewing
People often have their first great experience with coffee at a good coffeehouse - and wonder why their home coffee machine doesn't produce the same flavor. The simple answer lies in the fact that cafes pay several thousands of dollars for a machine that will brew to exacting standards. Every time. The temperature and duration of the brew are critical components of the process, in addition to the appropriate grind and equipment.
Back to the basics
But you don't need fancy machines to do the job - you can do it the manual way, too. All you need is a top quality gold or paper filter (we find Swiss Gold to be a good choice), an insulated container for keeping your water at about 200F while you brew your coffee, and about four minutes. By following the instructions in this tutorial, you too will be able to reproduce that coffeehouse experience - or maybe even surpass it. Indeed, the coffee we brewed while creating this very tutorial was some of the best we have ever had!
If you have further questions, give us a call at 1-800-600-0033 or email Casey at casey @ morecoffee.com!
Check out MoreCoffee!'s Swiss Gold Filter selection by clicking here.
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Setting everything up :
You will of course need a filter. As was mentioned, we find Swiss Gold filters to be a superior quality product. We also find that a small timer helps quite a bit as you want to complete the brewing process in about four minutes.
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Pouring in the coffee
The grind is very important. You want to grind your coffee about the same as you would for a normal drip pot of coffee. Proper strength is important, as well. A good guideline is to use about 7 grams (.25 ounces) of coffee per 5 ounces of water. In order to achieve a proper 4 minute extraction, you will probably want to make about 25 ounces of coffee. Alternatively, you can grind slightly finer to slow down the brewing process and use slightly less coffee and water. You may want to experiment with different grind levels and strengths to find what you like best.
A note about the grind: A good burr grinder will yield the best results as the bits of coffee will be more consistent with less powder. Powder in the grind can clog up the flow of coffee and cause plenty of frustration.
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Add your filter to the container:
In this tutorial, we used an insulated carafe to catch the brewing coffee. You can use anything into which your gold filter will fit, however an insulated container ensures that your coffee stays hot during the process. You may want to pre-heat your container, as well.
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Adding water:
You need to use very hot water in this step. We find that by storing the water in a pre-heated thermos, we are able to maintain the 200F temperature needed throughout the entire brewing process. As was mentioned, you want the entire process, from start to finish, to take around 4 minutes.
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While you wait...:
It is probably best to re-seal your thermos while you wait for the water you have poured into the top of the gold filter to drip down through the bed of coffee grounds. By doing so, the temperature of the water is kept above 195F (the absolute minimum temperature you want).
If you find that the process is going to take longer than 4 minutes, you can stir the bed of coffee grounds with a warm spoon, or shake the gold filter so that the remaining water passes through quickly. |
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Removing the filter:
When you have completed the brew cycle, simply remove the gold filter and your coffee is ready to drink. |
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Enjoy!
We like to pre-heat our cup to ensure that the coffee stays hot as it is poured. The final cup is rich and full flavored - and smooth. By using the direct-pour brewing method, you will get professional quality results at a fraction of the cost. |
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