Welcome to Rogue’s blog. Some posts will be more scientifically researched, while others may just reference my personal experience that I want to share to help you brew and enjoy better coffee.
This guide serves as a basic introduction to brewing coffee, of all kinds, by different brew methods (e.g. filter coffee, espresso, bialetti, aeropress, etc.). I will highlight here general principles to get you started in the world of specialty coffee and that you can apply to any (most?) brew methods. For more information on a specific brew method, please refer to the Brew Methods blog.
What's the deal
Roasted coffee is a porous seed. During the roasting process, energy builds up in the seed and it expands. The roasting process has also been conducted in a careful, intentional way, to ensure that flavor compounds are developed and not burned off.
Now comes your role as the barista. Yes, you’re a barista, too. Your job as the barista is to ensure appropriate extraction of these flavor compounds from the coffee particles during the brewing process. As such, you are trying to find the sweet spot between under- and over- extraction while conducting the most even extraction as possible. Your sensory is the compass here- brew according to what you think tastes good, and how to adjust according to where you want to go is something with which I can help you.
Basic Tools
Specialty coffee is often roasted lighter, making it more difficult to extract and requiring more precise preparation. Here are the basic tools you will need. Fancier gear won’t necessarily help you brew better (hint: better sensory skills and better water will), but a small upfront investment will get you a long way.
- Your brewing device of choice (e.g. espresso machine, V60 filter, etc.)
- Adjustable grinder
- Coffee scale with precision of 0.1 grams
- For espresso: basic tamper
- For filter: temperature controlled gooseneck kettle
- Filtered water
You will use these tools to weigh out a specific amount of coffee, grind it according to a specific grind setting, and weigh a specific amount of water at a specific temperature.
Brewing Guidelines - Finding that sweet spot
Each coffee will have a specific conditions under which it tastes the best for you, called "dialing-in" the coffee. Variables include (but are not limited to) grind size, dosage, water temperature, and method of extraction. Outputs include (but are not limited to) time of extraction (contact time of water with the coffee bed), concentration, and of course, taste. You’ll know if you missed the mark by using the following sensory guidelines:
- Under extraction can taste sour, bland, concentrated, and sometimes even salty. If we have achieved an under extraction, we want to improve extraction on the next go
- Over extraction can taste bitter, flat, watery, and maybe powdery. To fix this, you’ll want to worsen extraction on the next try
- Poor extraction, often due to channeling, where water finds pockets in the coffee bed thereby over extracting some parts and under extracting others, can taste astringent, drying, sour and bitter at the same time, and typically lacking sweetness. To fix this, sometimes you need to just make the brew again, keeping all variables the same, but with more care to ensure an even extraction across the coffee bed
- Justttt right will taste balanced, sweet, and juicy
Once you identify what you’re tasting, you can start to move the brew in the direction you want:
- Improve extraction by:
- Decreasing grind size (finer coffee particles)
- Increase water quantity
- Decrease dose
- Increase water temperature
- Worsen extraction by:
- Increase grind size (courser coffee particles)
- Decrease water quantity
- Increase dose
- Decrease water temperature
- Even extraction by:
- Ensuring coffee bed is as flat/level as possible with equal distribution of grounds in the bed
- Water is added to the coffee bed as even as possible
- Coffee has rested appropriately after roast date (guidance on Rogue Coffee bags!)
That's a lot of variables and things to pay attention to. Sometimes your sensory can be misleading (acidity and bitterness can be confused by some tastebuds) and often it is unclear which variable to change and when. I recommend changing one variable at once, and in the following order of impact:
- Water quantity
- Grind setting
- Dose
- Water temperature
- Other variables, such as bloom time for filter coffee or pre-infusion for espresso, pour method, etc.
Pro tip: If you’re experienced and looking to change one thing to elevate your brewing and your flavor outputs, change your water! More on that in another blog and plenty of resources online!
Troubleshooting different coffees
As mentioned before, each coffee requires specific brewing parameters, especially specialty coffees. Once you’ve mastered the basics, here are some quick tips on how to adjust based on different types of coffee:
Darker- vs. lighter roasted
Darker roasts are easier to extract, because they are more porous and more brittle. Thus, you might find yourself using a lower water temperature, increasing the dose or grinding courser. Use the tips in the worsen extraction section. Rogue Coffees tend to be lighter roasted, so if you are used to brewing a very dark roast, you may need to make large adjustments before you can fine tune.
Natural- vs. washed processed coffee
Naturally processed coffees have a more damaged cell structure, making them more porous. You may find the tips in worsen extraction section helpful, treating the coffee as easier to extract and also as more delicate. Washed coffees- I find you can really “push” the limits on to "pull" the most out of the coffee, thus follow tips in the improve extraction section.
Fresh off roast date vs. older roast date
Freshly roasted coffee that has not rested very long after roasting will degas very strongly once brewed because they have retained more gases due to their shorter resting period. Released gases produce pockets in the coffee bed, leading to a poor extraction, channeling, and make the coffee behave more erratically. Refer to the section even extraction but ultimately a longer resting period will allow the coffee to degas and flavors to develop. One trick you can try is grinding fresh coffee 15 minutes to 1 hour ahead of brewing so that the ground coffee degasses more before it comes in contact with water. On the flip side, older off roast coffee can taste flat and lacking liveliness, kind of like an over extraction, so you can try following the worsen extraction tips.
Espresso vs. filter coffee
Espressos tend to be roasted longer or hotter to tone down their acidity and typically the selection of the bean variety/ origin/ processing is selected specifically for this brew method. Espresso takes a magnifying glass to any flavor in the coffee and for filter coffee you tend to want more vibrancy. Thus, ensure the roasted coffee is being used for its intended purpose. Rogue Coffee bags will indicate whether it is an espresso- or filter roast.
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There are many ways to brew and enjoy coffee- like I said, follow your personal taste preferences! Though I hope these general guidelines and tips help to get you started. There are many resources online that we can tap into these days- I really like YouTube to solve my brewing challenges. Here are a few of my favorites:
Barista Hustle espresso compass - dialing-in troubleshooting guide - applicable also for filter coffee dynamics
James Hoffman - YouTuber and coffee expert
Lance Hedrick - YouTuber and coffee expert
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Stay Curious,
Jania @ Rogue Coffee