There are so many different ways to brew coffee, so we thought we start by giving some tips about brewing with a method that most people have access to at home and use daily - an electric coffee brewer.
Advantages: very flexible, not much equipment is needed and can brew many cups at a time.
Disadvantages: not as much control as manual brewing, most coffee makers cannot set temperature, but should be between 92 and 96°c. Many coffee makers also have a tendency to only shower out water in the middle of the coffee bed (which contributes to a hole/pit that you can see after brewing) where the coffee has been over-extracted, creating bitter notes. At the same time as the coffee on the sides, closest to the filter is not fully brewed and can give under-extracted notes, i.e. sour and flat. An uneven brewing in other words.
Don't panic, this can easily be counteracted by lightly shaking the filter holder and stirring it carefully with a spoon during brewing, which we explain a little further down.
Great tools to use with your coffee maker to bring out the best flavors in your cup:
- Scale for measuring water and coffee (works fine with a regular kitchen scale).
- 30 grams of good quality coffee beans
- Coffee grinder, grinding your coffee just before brewing makes a very big difference to the result, the coffee loses about 60% of its aromas already after 15 minutes after being ground. A grinder also gives you a lot of leeway as you can adjust the grind and get more or less out of certain flavors.
- Spoon, gently mixing the coffee and water during brewing gives a more even extraction.
Let's do this!
When we start to brew a new coffee, we use as a standard recipe: 1 part coffee to 16 parts water (this can of course be adjusted according to one's own taste preferences, but a good start).
30 grams of coffee to 480 grams of water gives a suitable amount for 2 people.
1. Start by thoroughly rinsing the coffee filter under running water, preferably boiling but also works with warm running water directly from the tap, this way you rinse the filter from unwanted paper tastes.
Many coffee makers also have a lot of water left in their system from the last brew, which you can get out by brewing some water through and in that way also rinsing the filter.
2. Measure out 30 grams of coffee beans and grind them medium fine (i.e. slightly coarser than a normal pre-ground coffee you buy in the store).
3. Measure out 480 grams of fresh water and pour it into the coffee maker's tank. Or up to level 4 on a Moccamaster which corresponds to almost 480 grams of water.
4. Pour your freshly ground coffee into the soaked filter. Shake the filter holder a little to even out the coffee bed.
5. Then start the coffee maker!
6. Mix coffee and water with a spoon.
Our goal now is to get as much out of the coffee as possible, so get ready with a spoon and when about as much hot water has covered the coffee as there is coffee in the filter, you can start to gently stir the spoon and mix the coffee and water. Try to be consistent in your movement pattern and how much you move the spoon around, should not take longer than 10 seconds.
7. Lightly shake the filter holder. Finish brewing by lightly shaking the filter holder to even out the coffee bed, this way you get the water to flow evenly through all the coffee.
8. Switch off the coffee maker. When all the water has been drained from the tank and it has stopped flowing, you can switch off your coffee maker, as the heating plate under the pot does not improve the taste of your freshly brewed coffee and the coffee should be enjoyed immediately for best experience.
9. The coffee bed should be flat as in the picture below when brewing is complete, then you know that all the water you have poured has flowed through the entire coffee bed and hopefully achieved an even extraction.
10. Now enjoy your coffee, but also take the opportunity to evaluate what you have in your cup.
- If the coffee is too strong and bitter - try pouring some water directly into your cup. Did it get better? Next time brew with a little more water. Does it still taste bitter? Try grinding something coarser next time.
- Does it not taste much and is too sour? Try grinding something finer next time or reduce the coffee/water ratio.
Don't forget that you should only change one parameter at the time to know what it was that made a difference to the end result. We recommend always starting by changing the grind ratio.
An older coffee can sometimes be perceived as a bit flat and should be ground slightly finer as it has lost a lot of carbon dioxide and water will flow through faster. While a freshly roasted coffee can also feel flat and should be waited to drink for a few days or a week as it contains too much carbon dioxide which makes it difficult for the water to reach each individual coffee particle. If you, like us, have a hard time waiting, you can grind the freshly roasted beans and wait a minute before brewing for some of the carbon dioxide to release.
- Paper and pen, as a fun thing, it can be good to write down how you brewed, i.e. what degree of grinding, water to coffee ratio, how was the result and what flavors you felt. This makes it easier to change your parameters for the next time you brew while improving your flavor repertoire.
But most importantly - Have fun and enjoy!