Brew Guides

Brewing Coffee

There are many ways to make great coffee. The keys to brewing well are simple, but sometimes hard to execute consistently.

We've included our favourites in the guides below as well as a couple links to some other great methods we’ve enjoyed.

Basics.

ONE - Proper equipment. A burr grinder, scale & long neck kettle go a long way towards helping create great cups. Grinding and dosing properly can make all the difference.

TWO -Keep it simple. Consistent repeatable movements with everything from pouring to agitating the slurry can help to insure good extraction every time.

THREE - This is a relatively new concept. But the mineral content of your water will change the flavour. You can read more from the link below to decide if this matters to you.

FOUR - It’s just coffee.

Alternative french press method from Jim Seven
A great method that creates a clean cup.

Everything Aeropress from the Coffee Chronicler

Alternative V60 pour over method

Water chemistry with regard to coffee
A nice summary on water chemistry.

Brewing coffee is both science and art, play a little to get the taste you like

Equipment:

o Hario V60

o Filters

o Burr Grinder

o Scale

o Kettle

o Timer

o Filtered water

o Something to stir

o Decanter

o BxA Coffee

While individually brewing a cup using this method certainly requires more work than just pushing a button on your drip machine, you’ll be rewarded with something more complex and true to the individual nature of each coffee.

And a little attention to the details goes a long way here, a scale is really important, and measuring the ingredients is also really important. We use 20 grams of coffee and 310 grams of water; you can adjust that using a simple 15.5:1 (water:coffee) ratio.

An important step in creating good coffee is consistent method. Always try for repeatable movements so each brew is the same.

ONE -Fill your kettle with more water then you’ll need for brewing, you will use the additional water to rise the paper
TWO –While the water is hearing up you can weigh out and grind your coffee. The grins should be the consistency of sand. If you are are using a Baratza Encore start at number 14 and adjust from there.
THREE –Fold the seam on the filter, this will ensure it sits properly in the V60. Open the filter up, put it in the V60 and place it on top of the serving container (brewing vessel?)
FOUR –Once the water has boiled, rinse the filer. This will remove any papery tastes and heat up the V60 and serving container. Wait about 30 seconds for your server to heat, then discard the rinse water.
FIVE –Add the ground coffee to the rinsed filter and give the V60 a gentle shake to level out the coffee bed for a more even initial pour
SIX –Begin pouring 40-60g’s of water into the coffee in the bed’s center, in a circular motion. Work your way outward and avoid pouring down the sides of the filter. Agitate gently with a spoon or paddle to insure all the grounds are covered evenly and integrate coffee on the bottom and side of the bed. This causes the coffee to de-gas or “bloom”. A solid bloom will ensure even extraction and degassing.
SEVEN –After allowing the grounds to saturate for 30 seconds, return to pouring in expanding circular motions. You’ll be pouring quickly, aiming to finish the pour around 15 seconds later between the 45 second and 1 minute mark.
EIGHT –After finishing your pour, stir the slurry in a circular (clockwise looking down) gently. The aim here is that the circular spin with continue all the way through the dra down.
NINE –The brew should finish between 2:15-2:30.