What brewing ratio should I use?
A brewing ratio of 6g of coffee for every 100mL of water is recommended. You can adjust this ratio to suit your preferred brew size. This not only ensures a balanced and strong brew, but also helps you get a good ratio between the amount of coffee and the value of your bag of beans. 6g is efficiently divided from a 250g packet with very little waste.
What equipment is worth investing in?
Aside from the grinder, of course, it’s best to invest in a scale (ideally with a timer), a pitcher, a V60 cone or other preferred method, and cleaning products. Home brewing should be easy and repeatable. All of these things help to achieve this result. Weighing your coffee and water is one of the easiest ways to get repeatable results at home. Look for a large, fast-flowing kettle for an immersion brewer and a narrow, slow-flowing kettle for a percolation brewer. You may need to try a few different brewers, but the V60 is versatile and filters are easy to find. Properly cleaning your equipment on a regular basis will allow you to continue brewing with ease. Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you.
Basic recipe for an immersion brewer:
Grind size: Between white sugar and sea salt. Adjust the grind size according to your taste preferences. Bitter flavors in your brew mean you should grind coarser. Too much acidity or a flat drink means you should grind finer.
Water temperature: 95°C or approximately 1 minute after boiling
Ingredients: 21g of coffee and 350mL of water
Process: Follow this process with any immersion brewer: French press, steep and release, etc.
Add the filter to the brewer, if applicable, and pour some hot water into the brewer to heat it, then discard this water.
Place the ground coffee in the brewer, add the entire amount of hot water and start the timer when the water first touches the coffee.
Stir the coffee mixture 10 times, back and forth, to encourage even extraction.
Leave it for 4 minutes.
Filter the drink according to the instructions for your brewer.
Serve the entire drink, do not leave any residue in contact with the coffee bed to avoid overextraction.
Basic recipe for a percolation brewer:
Grind size: Between white sugar and sea salt. Adjust the grind size according to your taste preferences. Bitter flavors in your brew mean you should grind coarser. Too much acidity or a flat drink means you should grind finer.
Water temperature: 95°C or about 1 minute after boiling. You may not have control over this with a machine brewer.
Ingredients: 15g of coffee and 250mL of water. It is important to consider the depth of the grinding bed, which is an essential parameter for an even extraction. Aim for a bed depth of approximately 2-5 cm.
Process: Follow this process with any percolation brewer: v60, machine brewer, etc.
Add a filter to the brewer, rinse it with hot water to avoid the unpleasant taste of the paper, then discard the used water.
Place the ground coffee in the filter and distribute it evenly inside the brewer.
If you chose a machine brewer, press the “brew” button. Otherwise, go ahead and get ready to start the timer when the water first touches the coffee.
Pour 50g of water, trying to moisten all the coffee inside, shake it to make sure all the coffee is moistened.
After 45 seconds, add half of the remaining water, 100g in this case.
Once the water drains to a level slightly above the grinding bed, add the rest of the water.
Wait for the water to drain completely before discarding the used filter and grounds, and note the drain time.
Time: Your target brewing time should be between 2.5 and 3 minutes. A smaller brew should brew faster and vice versa for a larger brew. You may find that for larger machine brewers, you can brew coffee with longer brew times of 5-6 minutes without experiencing bitter aftertastes. The easiest way to adjust the brewing time is by the size of the grind.