Time to get brewing some tasty coffee! Coffee is my morning ritual and I would love for you to be able to experience it for yourself. There’s something meditative about taking the time, focus and energy to brew your own coffee by hand, that I believe is not achieved with the push of a button. Even better, it’s fun to learn and see results from your hand craft.
For those new to coffee that is not produced by a fully-automatic machine, I overview different ways to brew and enjoy specialty coffee and get you started with basic recipes and techniques. In this post I cover: filter coffee, espresso, Bialetti/ Moka pot and Aeropress. To improve your understanding of extraction and troubleshooting techniques, you can refer to the Intro to Brewing blog post.
Filter coffee
Filter coffee can be prepared in many ways, but encompasses any brew method where hot water passes over coffee grounds, relying on gravity rather than machine pressure. “Drip coffee” in the States, “pour-over,” “hand pour,” “batch brew,” “V60” are all types of filter coffee. Where I live, filter coffee unfortunately has a bad reputation, sometimes driven by the stigma/ status of historical preparation methods; however, modern filter coffee can taste like a completely different beverage than the days-old pot of over-roasted, over-extracted, diluted, brown liquid that sat in the center of the coffee table in grandmother’s outdated living room.
Specialty filter coffee tastes more like tea- a delicate beverage that can have flavors of fruits, florals, chocolate or caramel, with a sparkling acidity and intense sweetness. I like that I can enjoy a filter coffee over an extended period of time, rather than an espresso that disappears in 3 sips. I also find that the lower intensity body/texture of a filter coffee is easier on the stomach than the concentrated, heavy body of an espresso.
You can start preparing filter coffee at home with the basic tools described in Intro to Brewing. Different brewers include cone-shaped brewers (e.g. V60, Origami) and flat-bottom brewers (e.g. Kalita, Orea). Cone-shaped tend to highlight acidity, whereas flat-bottom brewers I find bring more sweetness out of the coffee. I love this diagram that describes why.
Rogue recipes will guide you on weight of coffee, water and pour method. Consistent across all recipes, you will want to wet the filter paper with hot water to a) remove the filter paper taste; and more importantly, b) heat to the brewer so that the coffee bed retains heat.
Also consistent among the recipes, is the bloom and how to pour. The bloom is an initial pour of water with the aim of wetting the entire bed of coffee as evenly as possible. The water amount used tends to be around 3x the weight of the coffee grounds and can vary in length from 30-45 seconds (nothing set in stone here- you are welcome to experiment with even longer bloom times!). The purpose is for the coffee grounds to degas, because the released gasses may otherwise lead to uneven extraction within the coffee bed.
My recommended pouring method is also consistent among the recipes, which is why I recommend a gooseneck kettle for best control. To conduct a circle center pour mentioned in the recipes, start pouring in the middle and then gently move the kettle spout in a spiral outward (almost to the edge but not on the edge of the coffee bed) and immediately moving back inward, followed by holding in the center for 1-2 seconds.
A single pour method includes a bloom, followed by a single circle center pour to the final weight. A multi-pour method includes the bloom, followed by multiple circle center pours. Between each pour, wait for the coffee bed to almost fully drain and begin the next pour right as the bed begins to dry out.
Total draw down time refers to the total time it takes for the water to fully drain through the coffee bed. You may adjust your grind size until your draw down time meets a specific time defined in the recipes, but be aware that height of pouring and how thick the stream of water from kettle will also impact draw down time.
To get started, as before I recommend YouTube and the numerous resources available online, but am also happy to discuss with you in person if you prefer.
Espresso
Espresso also requires some definition, as the broad availability of fully-automatic machines has influenced the understanding of espresso. Espresso is produced by forcing hot water through a coffee bed using high pressure. A traditional espresso has a 1:2 ratio of coffee to water, meaning the resulting beverage is quite small in volume, runs through in around 25 seconds and has a thick texture. Specialty coffee likes to push these boundaries though. You may see ratios of up to 1:3 coffee to water, and run through times less than 20 seconds and more than 30 seconds.
A well-brewed espresso should taste sweet, rich and balanced. Because the espresso brewing process forces more oils into the final beverage, the oils mask the bitterness of the roast, and is why Rogue roasts specifically for espresso and filter separately.
Similar to filter coffee, Rogue recipes will guide you on weight of coffee and water weight (somewhat equivalent to volume) out, which means you will weigh the amount of beverage coming out of the portafilter spouts into your cup, by placing the scale under your cup as the espresso runs. Time estimates will allow you to adjust grind size appropriately, but per the extraction principles in the Intro to Brewing blog, first adjust the amount of water passing over the puck.
In preparing your espresso, you will want to make sure the grounds are distributed as evenly as possible in the portafilter, by tapping the edges of the portafilter with your hand, or by first grinding into a dosing cup, giving it a shake to distribute the particles, and then tipping it into the portafilter. Distribution tools aren’t necessary, but are a good way to break clumps, as lighter roasted specialty coffee tends to require finer grind settings.
Special considerations for espresso:
- Tamper size: ensure your tamper fits your basket size appropriately. You don’t want it touching the walls or you may create a vacuum that suctions the edge of the espresso puck from the walls; you also don’t want it too small where you see a rim of untamped grounds on the edge
- Tamping form: tamp with your elbow pointed upward and aim for a flat surface, using your thumb, pointer finger and middle finger as guides on the rim of the portafilter and then pressing evenly. Tamping pressure should be firm, but not using weightlifting muscles- this isn’t a strength competition
- Channeling: refer to Intro to Brewing for more details on how to identify a poor extraction due to channeling. While the espresso is running through the machine, you may witness the liquid leaving the portafilter spouts as suddenly speeding up in tempo and sputtering from the spouts. If you experience channeling, try preparing a new espresso with more care, or possibly your coffee needs to rest longer off roast
- Water: use only filtered water in your espresso machine. This not only enhances the taste of your beverage, but is also essential for the long-term health of your machine
Bialetti or Moka pot
I cover Bialetti here because I feel it is a quintessential method of preparing coffee and many people own one, especially where I live in central Switzerland. It’s also a great device to have with you while underway- outside on the trail or on vacation. The beverage that Bialetti produces (in my opinion!) is somewhere between espresso and filter coffee, leaning toward espresso. It is similar to espresso in that you can produce a heavy-bodied, thick textured beverage, but it is not espresso in that it does not have a crema nor is produced under the same pressure as that from an espresso machine.
Bialetti can produce great coffee if brewed well! It does not need to have a burnt taste, with which people may associate it. Here again, I am not an expert and I refer you to James Hoffmann for more details on Bialetti and for my favorite Bialetti recipe:
Rogue coffees best suited for Bialetti are those labelled as espresso roasts. You are welcome to try a filter roast on Bialetti, but expect some fruity acidity and a very punchy beverage.
Aeropress
Aeropress is also a great tool for brewing specialty coffee and similar to Bialetti, I briefly cover it here because it is a relatively inexpensive way to begin brewing specialty coffee and is great to have with you when you are away from home! Aeropress is an immersion brew, producing a beverage somewhere between espresso and filter coffee, but I feel leaning toward filter. It is similar to filter in that it has a higher end-volume, but not a filter coffee in that it will not have as delicate, or tea-like of a body and contains more fine particles in the final beverage. I recommend Rogue coffees labelled as filter roast for Aeropress, but for a lower acidity filter coffee, you are welcome to try fruity or floral espresso roasts.
Like all brewing devices, there are many recipes and different ways to brew using an Aeropress- there are even Aeropress Championships for the best brews! Thus, again, I refer you to the great work already done by others (search YouTube for Aeropress Championships, or I really like Verve Coffee Aeropress recipes) and encourage you to try different methods to find the best one for you.
Here is my favorite recipe as a starting point that tends to work well with Rogue coffees:
- Grind size medium-fine (leaning toward espresso grind)
- Wet filter paper in cap to remove paper taste and to stick it to the cap
- Place plunger upside down and add 210g hot water
- Add 16g ground coffee and give it a stir
- Immerse for 1:50 to 2:10 minutes
- Add cap with filter paper, flip over, press into cup and enjoy!
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There is no best brew method or right/wrong way to prepare your coffee- just personal preferences! Try different methods, try different coffees, and most importantly have fun! I recommend keeping it simple though to start. Pick a brew method, minimize the equipment you purchase and while brewing, pick one variable to change at a time.
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Stay Curious,
Jania @ Rogue Coffee