There are a lot of different methods of brewing your coffee when you are at home. One of the favorites of many is brewing it using a classic drip machine. However, more specialized methods like pour-overs have been gaining favor in recent years. Likewise, the French Press has similarly grown in popularity among coffee enthusiasts. Below, you find out more about how to make a special type of coffee like a professional in some easy steps.
Before starting, you want to be aware of how important weighing your coffee is to your results. You will get a lot better results when you weigh your ground coffee than with using measuring cups or spoons. Ideally, you want to invest in a digital scale when you are trying to get the most accurate results. However, you could also use measuring spoons if that’s more up your alley. Typically, as a general rule of thumb, you’ll want to use 15 grams (equivalent to 1 tablespoon) of ground coffee per 8 ounces. Therefore, if you are aiming to brew (4) cups of coffee, you’ll need 60 grams ( 4 tablespoons) of said ground coffee.
1. How To Do Pour Overs
The best and simplest method of brewing a good cup of Joe is with a pour-over. This is the best method for brewing a cup that extracts all of the flavors in your quality coffee.
– Bring the kettle to a boil
If you are using whole beans, you’ll want to get a burr grinder that can grind all of the beans consistently. You need the consistency to be right because it’s the only way you’ll get an even pour-over. You want them to be ground in a size similar to granulated table salt.
– Put a filter on the brewer and rinse
You want to place your filter on the brewer. However, it needs to be rinsed. This is true even if you have unbleached filters. This will remove any of the excess residues on the filter and it can warm up the brewing device to ensure that your coffee is kept at an even temperature. You can toss out the water used for this afterward.
– Add grounds to the filter
Once you’ve rinsed the filter, you’ll want to add the measured coffee grounds into the filter. The grounds should be evenly leveled. From there, you can begin to pour the properly heated water onto the grounds. You’ll want the water to be anywhere from 195 degrees Farenheight to 205 degrees Farenheight. Be certain you are slowly pouring and twisting the coffee device so you are getting even coverage. Try to start in the middle and work in an expanding circle covering all of the grounds. You’ll want to end your pouring once the coffee begins to drip. This is called the “bloom” pour which helps the coffee relieve gas.
– Continue Pouring
From there, you can continue pouring the remaining water you have into the kettle. The entire process should take around 4 minutes. Once it’s done, you can remove the filter and serve your coffee.
2. Using a French Press
If you want to caffeinate like someone from Europe, it’s time to bust out the French Press.
– Get a kettle boiling
You want to bring the water to a boil in a kettle.
– Grind the beans
If you are planning on grinding whole beans as you should, you’ll want to grind them consistently in size. Ideally, you want to keep them in a similar size as a breadcrumb. You want them much more coarse than what you would use for a pour-over technique.
– Add the grinds to your French Press
Once you’ve ground the beans, add them to the French Press where they’ll be ready to brew.
– Add the water
Once the water is at the right temperature sitting anywhere from 195-degree Farenheight to 205-degree’s Farenheight, you’ll be ready to add it to the Press. Once you do, continue to stir the ground beans in the French Press. Once all of the water is added, you’ll wait 4 minutes. This is typically how long it takes for the coffee to brew. From there, you can press down on the French Press which will separate the brewed grounded coffee from the coffee.
– Serve it
At this point, you can pour the results into a coffee cup ready for enjoyment.
3. Drip
Nothing beats a drip coffee machine if you enjoy delicious tasting coffee. Depending on the machine you have, you can make as many as 12 cups at once.
– Using whole beans
If you are planning on using whole beans for your drip coffee machine, you’ll want to grind them to the size of table salt. From there, you can transfer all of the grounded coffee to the filter basket. You can then place the basket into the machine.
– Pour the water
From there, you’ll want to pour filtered water into the back of the machine and turn the machine “on.”
– Done brewing
Once the machine has fully brewed your coffee, you can shut it off if it doesn’t automatically do this. Always turn it off because you could end up burning your coffee.
– Clean your machine
You’ll want to maintain your machine by cleaning it thoroughly regularly. This can keep your machine from having too much residue build-up. The best way to clean it is by using a combination of water and vinegar.