Espresso Machine
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Turn on the espresso machine so it has time to warm up.
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Weigh your coffee beans on a kitchen scale.
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An espresso shot contains around 1 oz of brewed liquid and is made from 7 to 9 grams of ground coffee.
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A double shot, or a doppio, is prepared with 14-18 grams of grounds.
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Grind your espresso beans finely. The ground coffee should be about the size of table salt.
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Fill your portafilter with the coffee grounds, and make sure you distribute it evenly to avoid channelling.
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Lightly tap the sides of the portafilter to achieve perfect distribution or use a distribution tool.
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Tamp it with about 30 pounds of pressure.
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Insert the portafilter into the brew head of the espresso machine and press the brew button.
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If the variables above are correct, you will get your fix in 20-30 seconds.
Moka Pot / Stovetop
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Fill the base chamber with cold water up to the level of the valve. Insert the filter.
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Completely fill the filter with ground coffee, but do not pack it down.
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Make sure the filter and rubber gasket are in place. Screw the two chambers tightly together.
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Place the moka pot on the stove. Warning: keep the heat low.
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Remove pot from heat just when coffee starts to gurgle, before it starts to rise and bubble. You will be sure to extract only the best parts of the coffee.
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Mix the coffee with a spoon before pouring into cups.
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Rinse the coffee maker with hot water and let dry thoroughly before screwing chambers back together.
AeroPress
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Heat your water to 175-180 °F. If you do not have a variable temperature kettle or a thermometer, boil the water and let it sit for about two minutes.
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Place the paper filter inside the cap and rinse it with hot water. This way, you eliminate the filter’s papery taste, and you seal it inside the cap.
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Use a scale to measure about 16-17g of beans. Grind the coffee slightly coarser than filter.
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Place your cap on the AeroPress and dump the grounds in. Add half of the water.
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Give it a few stirs and let the grounds bloom for 30 seconds. This allows the trapped gas to be released from the coffee and it helps the extraction.
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Give it one or two more gentle stirs and fill the AeroPress almost to the top. Allow some room for the plunger.
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Insert the plunger in the brewing chamber (just enough to seal it), and place the AeroPress on a cup, with the cap down.
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Filter It, press down with steady pressure to the end.
French Press / Cafetiere
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Place the pot on a dry, flat surface. Hold the handle firmly, then pull out the plunger
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Add a heaping tablespoon (7-8 grams) of coffee to the pot per 200 ml (6.7 oz) of water
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Pour hot water—not quite boiling—into the pot, and gently stir
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Carefully reinsert the plunger into the pot, stopping just above the water and ground coffee (do not plunge yet), and let stand for 3-4 minutes
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Press the plunger down slowly, exerting steady pressure
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After each use, wash the pot with water and mild detergent, and dry thoroughly
Cold Brew
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Make sure your beans are coarsely ground. Beans that are ground to a sandy powder, like for drip coffee, can result in an over-infused coffee and make the strained coffee gritty and muddy. Your beans should look like coarse cornmeal, or even slightly rougher.
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Use filtered water, if possible. This is just good coffee advice in general. Your cup of coffee will have a cleaner, sweeter flavour if you use filtered water to make it.
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Steep for at least 12 hours. The coffee needs this full time to fully infuse the water. Straining too early can give you a weaker cup of coffee. Also be careful of over-steeping, which can start to extract some of those bitter flavours we’re hoping to avoid.
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Chill your cold brew with coffee ice cubes.
There is a wide acceptance that manual brewing methods allow for better quality control and a superior coffee experience. For many, it’s more fun and fascinating to have a hands-on approach with their brewing process rather than hitting a ‘brew’ button on a machine. The growing trend or movement for gourmet-type coffee making has resulted in a staggering range of gadgets and differing opinions.
Pour Over
Grind of Beans: medium-fine to coarse
Quantity of Coffee: 3 tablespoons of coffee (21g)
Brewing Time: 1-3 minutes
Flavour Profile: Smooth, round body
Produces a single cup of coffee
Easy to clean
Portable
Requires paper filters that match the cone
Chemex
Grind of Beans: medium-coarse
Ground Coffee: 6 tablespoons of coffee (42g)
Brewing Time: 4 minutes
Flavour Profile: balanced, cleaner, refined, floral, sweet notes and non-acidic
Different sizes yields up to 6 cups
Harder to clean and requires special brush
Portable but fragile
Requires Chemex paper filters
Syphon
Grind of Beans: Medium coarseness
Ground Coffee: 6 tablespoons of coffee (40g)
Brewing Time: 6 minutes
Flavour Profile: mellow and delicate flavours
Produces several cups of coffee
Finicky to clean
Delicate and hard to store. Not portable.
Requires candle or butane burner (unless it has an electric heater), metal or cloth filter.