Day 11 — A Gentle Introduction to Crafting Coffee

I’ve never been a huge fan of coffee growing up. I always wondered why adults liked sipping on that vile bitter substance so early in the morning.

Later in my teens, I started drinking coffee more frequently, especially during work. For the longest time coffee was just something to keep me chugging through the day. Only in recent years, I have come to realize how complex and delicious coffee can be.

After spending lots of money at hipster cafes and trying all sorts of coffee around the world prepared in a myriad of ways, I’ve decided to note down the some points on how to enjoy coffee without burning a hole in your pocket; by brewing it yourself.

There are two main components to good coffee, the coffee beans and the brew method.

Let’s start with the beans.
As coffee is literally just beans in water, the beans play the biggest role in the end product. Bad brewing technique may ruin good beans, but the best technique won’t do anything to mask really bad beans.

So, what makes a good coffee bean?
There are two main things you can control when purchasing coffee beans.

1. Freshness

When buying beans, the freshness is determined by the roast date. The fresher the coffee, the more flavors you will be able to extract from it. This does not necessarily mean that you have to get super fresh coffee beans, as brewing coffee that is less than a week old tends to release a huge amount of carbon dioxide and might be hard to brew.

Another thing to note is that coffee beans that are pre-grounded start going stale way faster than whole beans. As a general rule of thumb, if you can help it, grind the beans right before brewing as you start losing flavor within the hour.

2. Origin

Beans can generally be purchased in two varieties. Single Origin (Straight) or Blended. My general recommendation is to go for Single Origin Coffees until you find a specific taste profile you like and then try out blends that uses that origin as the base until you find something you truly like. The following map highlights the general flavor profile of coffee from various regions.

Taken from https://www.myrecipes.com/extracrispy/a-beginners-guide-to-coffee-flavor-profiles-of-the-world

For the next part of the equation, we have the brew method. For beginners, I would recommend the following 2 methods.

1. French Press

Bodum Chambord French Press

To brew with the french press might be the easiest and most consistent method. The main downside being the long brew time and messy cleanup.

All you need is to grind the beans, pour hot water and wait. There are no other techniques involved. Pressing is generally optional and I only do it a little before pouring to filter the coffee grounds.

The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 15g Coffee grounds (consistency of coarse sea salt)
• 250ml Boiling water
• 1 French Press

Steps (Takes 8min):

1. Add the coffee grounds to the french press
2. Pour 250ml of boiling water
3. Start timer
4. Wait 30s (for the grounds to get wet and bloom)
5. Gently stir the top to make sure all the grounds are properly wet and have the chance to sink
6. Wait for 8min on the timer
7. Press the filter in and serve

The important thing is to try not to agitate the grounds too much during brewing and pouring. This method accentuates the flavor of the beans and is best used with good beans.

2. Hario V60

On the other end of the spectrum is the Hario V60 dripper. This device is much harder to brew coffee in but you have the most control over the outcome of your brew, and best of all, cleaning it up is really easy. It’s my favorite method of preparing coffee because you can control how bitter and/or sour your coffee is and the filter paper ensures that it will always be clean and smooth.

Ingredients:

• 15g Coffee grounds (consistency of sand)
• 250ml Boiling water
• 1 V60 Dripper
• V60 Filter paper (I recommend the original ones from Hario)
• Weighing scale or carafe with markings

Steps (Takes 3min):

1. Add the filter paper to the dripper and place it above your cup
2. Wet the dripper with the hot water (the hot water will warm up the cup)
3. Remove the hot water
4. Add the grounds to the now wet filter paper (level it by shaking it a little)
5. Start timer
6. Add 30g of water (Double the weight of the grounds)
7. Shake the dripper to get the grounds wet for 30s
8. Add water in a circular motion until the total weight is 150g (60% of total water). Your main aim is to get it to this weight at 1min 15s
9. Wait for 1min 30s on the timer
10. Add water in a circular motion until the total weight is 250g (100% of total water). Your main aim is to get it to this weight at 2min
11. If done correctly, all the water should pass through the filter by the 3min mark

The important thing to note is that if the water takes too long to pass through the bed of coffee, it will over-extract and the coffee will generally taste unpleasant. If the water passes too fast, it will under extract and usually be too sour or mild. The easiest way to fix this is to tune the grind size to taste.

I hope that gave you a few ideas on how to get started on crafting your own coffee and hope you explore the wonderful myriad of flavors that coffee have to offer.

This article is part of the HENNGE Advent Calendar 2019. An Advent calendar is a special calendar used for counting down the days till Christmas. HENNGE Advent Calendar 2019 presents one article by one HENNGE member per day for 25 days until Christmas, 2019