What you'll need:
- Filtered Water
- Whole coffee beans
- Kettle
- Scale
- A Pourover such as a V60
- Filter Papers
- A Carafe or vessel to brew into
- An adjustable burr coffee grinder
BREW GUIDES
How we brew our coffee makes a huge impact on the taste of the cup and a little understanding goes a long way to helping us really bring out the most in each coffee whilst satisfying those individual personal preferences.
We hope the following guides help you get the most out of your coffee at home or wherever you brew.
- POUR OVER
- FRENCH PRESS
- AEROPRESS
There are many different types of brewers with slightly different designs – V60, Kalita Wave and the Chemex just to name a few, but the basic concept and approach remains the same no matter which device you’re brewing with. We personally love the plastic version of the 2 Cup V60, they're almost unbreakable, extremely affordable and insulate heat better than any other material.
Step 1.
Firstly decide how much coffee you wish to brew.
We recommend using a brew ratio of 17:1. This means we are using 17 parts of water per 1 part of roasted coffee to brew with.
So for a single serve of 15g of roasted coffee we will brew with 255ml of water (15 x 17). Brewing for 2? Simply double this to 30g and 510ml.
2. Pre-heat & rinse.
Boil your filtered water.
Insert the paper filter and place your brewer onto a carafe or mug.
Rinse the paper well to remove the paper residues and to pre-heat your set-up.
3. Set up.
Place your set-up onto the scales and tare.
Weigh out your desired amount of coffee & grind at a medium-coarse setting into a small vessel. Pour the target amount of coffee into the pourover and re-tare your scales.
**When increasing your brew size, grind coarser to adjust for the increased resistance to water flow that more coffee has.**
4. Bloom.
Your brewing water should be between 95 - 99 degrees or around 30 seconds off the boil.
Start your timer and begin to pour by pre-wetting the coffee pouring in circular motion with 3x your coffee ground weight.
Then gently "swirl" the pourover around 2-3 times to help promote all the coffee getting wet.
Allow to sit until your timer hits 0:45.
5. The Main Pour.
At 0:45 begin the main pour by continuing to pour in a circular motion.
Pour nice and slowly stopping when the water is about 1cm from the top of your brewer if needed and then continuing to pour until your scales hit the final brew water weight.
When you reach this, swirl the brewer twice in a gentle circular way to even out the flow of water through the coffee, preventing what we know as 'channeling'.
6. The Result.
When all of the water has filtered through the coffee, note the total brew time and remove from your vessel. The more coffee you use the longer you should expect this brew time to be.
If using 15g of coffee then this will be about 3:00 (add about 30s for each 15g more you use to brew).
If your time is longer than this coarsen your grind setting. If it's too quick, then use a finer setting.
Give the brew a quick stir to even it out and pour into your favourite cup or mug, allow to cool then taste!
How much coffee do you want to brew?
Firstly decide how much coffee you wish to brew.
We recommend using a brew ratio of 17:1. This means we are using 17 parts of water per 1 part of coffee to brew with.
For a small one cup French Press a recipe of 15g to 255ml of water is perfect.
Pre-heat.
Boil your water before pouring in a small amount to pre-heat your French press. After a minute or two, plus a couple of swirls, empty out the water from the French press.
Set up.
Grind your coffee, a medium coarse setting is ideal, then pour your freshly ground coffee into your pre-heated French press before placing your French press onto your scales.
Brew.
Your brewing water should be between 95-99 degrees, about 30 secs off the boil is usually ideal. Start your timer and begin to pour. Pour the water all at once before stirring the entire contents to agitate the grounds. This aids in a consistent extraction. Place the filter assembly on top and let it brew for 4:00 mins.
Plunge & Pour.
Once your timer reaches 4:00 it's time to plunge. We recommend only plunging halfway down to avoid disturbing the grounds, that settled at the bottom, leading to a much cleaner tasting cup of coffee. Gently pour out your brewed coffee, being careful not to tilt the french press too aggressively and pouring out the slurry at the bottom, as you do not want this making its way into your cup.
The Result.
Unlike a method such as pourover we have the same contact time with coffee to water regardless of grind size so it's important to 'dial in' our grinder to a french press via taste.
If you have well roasted, freshly ground coffee and good water and still experience an overpowering, dry or overly bitter cup then grind coarser. If your coffee is quite dull, flat, and lacking body, then grind finer and/or make sure your water is at least 95 degrees. The ideal grind setting for a french press should give a cup that has a full, round body with a lush mouthfeel and good balance between sweetness and acidity. This setting would stay the same for smaller or larger brews but may change with different coffees, especially those of differing roast styles.
Step 1.
Set brewer in standard position on a server.
Don't rinse or preheat the brewer (it doesn't make any difference).
Water temp: 97c or just off boil
Grinde size: medium fine
Step 2.
Start a timer, add 200ml water, aiming to wet all the coffee during pouring.
3. Brew.
Then immediately place plunger on top of brewer, about 1cm in. This creates a vacuum to stop coffee from dripping through. Wait 2 minutes.
4. Flip.
Holding the brewer and plunger, gently swirl the brewer. Wait 30 seconds.
5. Press.
Press gently all the way, it should take around 30 seconds.
6. The Result.
Drink and enjoy! Brew tips: If you have well roasted freshly ground coffee and good water and still experience an overpowering, dry or overly bitter cup then grind coarser. If your coffee is quite dull, flat, and lacking body, then grind finer and/or make sure your water is at least 95 degrees. The ideal grind setting for an aeropress should give a cup that has a full, round body and a good balance between sweetness and acidity.
7. Clean.
Unscrew the filter cap over a bin and empty the spent grounds. A good clean with warm water is usually sufficient after each brew but if you notice any buildup or odour then best to put it through the dishwasher (the aeropress is 100% dishwasher safe) or wash with a little detergent.
