Favorite Brew Method
Im curious to know what everyone's Favorite brew method would be? Lets say for this conversation we leave out Espresso. Lets stick with other methods. Drip, French Press, Vacuum, Balance Brew, Turkish, Perculator, boiling coffee with egg yokes, whatever. Just curious what different types of brew methods us professionals are using out there. Follow up question, if you have a shop, do you use that method in your shop? As I bring this discussion up I am brewing myself a cup of Tanzanian Peaberry, Bring about 10oz of fresh cool water to about 180
degrees in a cast iron tea pot & pour the water through 2tbsp finely ground coffee in a paper filter straight into a hot heavy mug. Unadulterated & pure. I normally only brew myself coffee 1 cup at a time but if I was brewing more than 1 cup, then I prefer the Vacuum Brewer (I have a Bodum Santos for that) or the Balance Brewer (same basic principal of the Vacuum Brewer but looks cool!)
Mitch
Bella Caffe
degrees in a cast iron tea pot & pour the water through 2tbsp finely ground coffee in a paper filter straight into a hot heavy mug. Unadulterated & pure. I normally only brew myself coffee 1 cup at a time but if I was brewing more than 1 cup, then I prefer the Vacuum Brewer (I have a Bodum Santos for that) or the Balance Brewer (same basic principal of the Vacuum Brewer but looks cool!)
Mitch
Bella Caffe
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by David Robson on
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Clover.
I'm an espresso guy but I did have my first Clover today and wow...I was really, very surprised.
Best non-espresso coffee I have had.
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Permalink Reply by Jason Haeger on
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Try using the same brew parameters in a French Press. Also known as the "Clover Method", it gives a little more insight into what it takes to get to the results. (usually it's an offensively high dose.. "offensively" being my own addition)
David Robson said:Clover.
I'm an espresso guy but I did have my first Clover today and wow...I was really, very surprised.
Best non-espresso coffee I have had.
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That is simply not true. Or maybe it depends on the altitude at which you are brewing. Water boils here at 208 (not 212), so your 95c assumption may be true at sea level. I don't know. I do know that I can brew at significantly lower temps in my Hario TCA-2 if so desired. That having been said, why would any coffee purist want anything other than a light roast? (the torch is lit.. kerosene buckets standing by ;o) )
I haven't had an opportunity to try the Eva Solo, but I would be curious to try it.
Kayakman said:Somebody mentioned that the vac-pot is temp adjustable. How can this be true if take 95 c water to hold the water in the upper chamber? With such high temperatures it seems better for lighter roasts.
Nobody else mentioned the CafeSolo? If you haven't tried you might want to.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Dodson on
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I keep my digital thermometer in the upper part of my Vac-pot during the brew process. I exclusively use Vac-pot, so I've gotten very familiar with it. The water coming up is about 202-204 (don't ask why).. I hold the Vac-pot between an inch and 3 inches over the heat surface, controlling the temperature.. I can keep it between 202-207 with ease.
Kayakman said:the water in the top of the vac-pot never comes to a full boil, its hold stead at around 95 c, anything lower and it will drop into the lower chamber. I am not sure if with some vac-pots you might be able to reach slightly higher or lower temps, like the advanced system at Blue Bottle. If anybody knows if this is true, please enlighten us.
Not every coffee culture likes light roasted coffee, no matter how hard you try to have a passion for the flavor of the bean. In central Europe, most places serve dark roasted Italian blends, we are lucky to get people to even try medium and medium dark roast. Any light roast would send them heading for the door never to return as they would find it way to acidic no matter how much flavor of the bean you might find in the brew.
Jason Haeger said:That is simply not true. Or maybe it depends on the altitude at which you are brewing. Water boils here at 208 (not 212), so your 95c assumption may be true at sea level. I don't know. I do know that I can brew at significantly lower temps in my Hario TCA-2 if so desired. That having been said, why would any coffee purist want anything other than a light roast? (the torch is lit.. kerosene buckets standing by ;o) )
I haven't had an opportunity to try the Eva Solo, but I would be curious to try it.
Kayakman said:Somebody mentioned that the vac-pot is temp adjustable. How can this be true if take 95 c water to hold the water in the upper chamber? With such high temperatures it seems better for lighter roasts.
Nobody else mentioned the CafeSolo? If you haven't tried you might want to.
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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on
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Wouldn't the reason that it is 202-204 be that the water in the bottom chamber boiled in an atmosphere of increased pressure and not in open air? In my head, a vac-pot works like this:
-Air and water in bottom chamber
-Water heated to near boil
-Bottom chamber is sealed by addition of top chamber
-Boiling water and the addition of heat increases the pressure in the bottom chamber
-Increased pressure causes the water to travel up
If it wasn't for the increase in pressure the water wouldn't rise as water, it would rise as steam... correct or no? Another way to look at it, it loses temperature as it travels up the "tube."
Yeah? No? Just looking for clearer minds on this.
-bry
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I have a friend who will never let his water come to a boil before he brews. He claims that once water has been boiled, "it's just not the same." Have you guys ever heard anything like that?
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Yes, and your friend is right.
Chris Dodson said:I have a friend who will never let his water come to a boil before he brews. He claims that once water has been boiled, "it's just not the same." Have you guys ever heard anything like that?
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Graham on
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My homebrew method (only Americanos at work) started as a way to mimic a French Press, because I was too poor at the time to actually buy a French Press. I think of it as enlightened hobo coffee:
I heat my water in a small saucepan to about 195 degrees. I grind my coffee (usually a medium-to-dark Indonesian of some sort) to about drip-brew grind. I stir the coffee into the water and wait 4 minutes. While waiting, I pour about 2oz. of Half and Half into my trusty Thermos vacuum tumbler. When it's steeped, I stir again and pour the divine nectar through the cone-shaped gold tone filter that originally came with my automatic drip machine. You really want to be sitting down when you take your first sip because your knees might give out from the shock and sheer pleasure of what is going on in your mouth. My favorite part is the 'crema' that forms at the top. It's full of those sweet, luscious oils we all love so much, and powdery little bits of coffee. I've always preferred a little sediment in my coffee. It adds nice texture. When I drink a cup of coffee that is pure liquid only, I feel like I've been deprived of something.
I'd like to try some of the other total immersion methods, but I'm such a creature of habit. The only variation is what kind of beans I select. My current favorite is a Monsoon Malabar I got from one of the local roasters. What a fun coffee to cup! It's like an intriguing puzzle or a game for me to pick out what I'm tasting. I would like to try some other 'monsooned' coffees.
I'm done rambling now. Thanks.
-Jenn
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Okay so, I'm fairly certain that water will go up to the top part of a vac-pot without boiling. Does anyone have knowledge on this? Vac-pot has always been my #1, I'm just wondering.. Ya know...
Jason Haeger said:Yes, and your friend is right.
Chris Dodson said:I have a friend who will never let his water come to a boil before he brews. He claims that once water has been boiled, "it's just not the same." Have you guys ever heard anything like that?
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Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I liked this coffee so much that I never did buy a French Press. Not quite enough sediment left in the cup.
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The water doesn't need to boil to go north, per se, but some water vapor is necessary to keep the pressure in the lower chamber.
So let's say that some water does boil, but the average temperature does not reach boiling. Your friend would approve. (I'm guessing that answers your question more easily)
Chris Dodson said:Okay so, I'm fairly certain that water will go up to the top part of a vac-pot without boiling. Does anyone have knowledge on this? Vac-pot has always been my #1, I'm just wondering.. Ya know...
Jason Haeger said:Yes, and your friend is right.
Chris Dodson said:I have a friend who will never let his water come to a boil before he brews. He claims that once water has been boiled, "it's just not the same." Have you guys ever heard anything like that?
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Permalink Reply by Brady on
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Not to be contentious... but I was just able to send all the water in my 8-cup Yama north and keep it there without the lower chamber water ever going above 190 F (87 C). Only a couple of very tiny bubbles. Upper chamber water temp never topped 165 F (74 C). Darn near sea level here too.
This is why my first few vac-pot batches never came out very good... I was connecting the two chambers too soon and getting warmish water up north too quickly.
BTW... if you want to check the lower chamber water temp, do a run without the filter in place and stuff the thermometer stem down the tube. You can estimate temp pretty accurately by watching the size and bubbles, then apply your learnings to a real batch.
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