Brewing Methods
Hello everyone!
A few of our baristas here at Copper River Coffee & Tea in Central Illinois have been discussing the proper way to brew coffee for our French Press and Chemex.
A few of us use about three quarter ounce scoops of whole bean coffee (about the same as 3 tablespoons) per 16oz. of French Press coffee. A few others use about four scoops. I know that there is probably certain amounts to use based on the origin. Does anyone know what that is? Like can we recommend people try certain origins with a chemex rather than with a french press? And if so what are those origins that go best with each brew type. Or if they want a french press is it better to use less scoops or more scoops for certain origins? If someone has that knowledge to share it would be great or maybe atleast could point me in a direction of somewhere that would have that info easily accessible.
For our Chemex we grind about 2 quarter ounces (2 tablespoons) of whole bean coffee for every 6 oz. of Chemex brewed coffee. Is that ratio appropriate? Or does it also depend of the origin?
Thanks everyone!
A few of our baristas here at Copper River Coffee & Tea in Central Illinois have been discussing the proper way to brew coffee for our French Press and Chemex.
A few of us use about three quarter ounce scoops of whole bean coffee (about the same as 3 tablespoons) per 16oz. of French Press coffee. A few others use about four scoops. I know that there is probably certain amounts to use based on the origin. Does anyone know what that is? Like can we recommend people try certain origins with a chemex rather than with a french press? And if so what are those origins that go best with each brew type. Or if they want a french press is it better to use less scoops or more scoops for certain origins? If someone has that knowledge to share it would be great or maybe atleast could point me in a direction of somewhere that would have that info easily accessible.
For our Chemex we grind about 2 quarter ounces (2 tablespoons) of whole bean coffee for every 6 oz. of Chemex brewed coffee. Is that ratio appropriate? Or does it also depend of the origin?
Thanks everyone!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Phil Proteau on
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Wow, that's a big question, and one that is rather like the unraveling of a knitted sweater. You are pulling on more than one string, and the answer is a vast and open ended thing.
To understand the basics of brewing science, you could look for the next SCAA workshop or skill building class. They have a class on this very subject.
To understand what coffees from different parts of the world generally taste like, you will need to taste them.
You can, as a starting point, use something in the neighborhood of 2 grams (.7 oz) of coffee per 1 oz of water. Taste the coffee as see how it reacts at slightly different variations of these weights, on different grind setting, with different brewing times, with different amounts of stirring or agitation. Try all the possible combination. Then try it with different coffees.
There is no easy answer to this. It is a daunting task, and it can take a really long time. But this is how you will know. I wouldn't worry so much about the different origins at first, and concentrate on understanding under-extraction and over-extraction.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Sabol on
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I have to second Phil's point of view. It's all about experimentation.
As for the brewing methods I think each has it's pluses and minuses. French press makes a big cup. I personally like that but it can be kind of confusing if the coffee is complex. Chemex makes a cleaner cup. They're both good for what they're good for.
Changing doses/grind based on origin is pretty esoteric. You are going to constrained by many of the physical properties of your roasted coffee. Under/overextraction tend to behave the same no matter if you are using a single origin or blend. I think you will find that once you have a general sense of what it takes to make a good press or chemex of any coffee you will only have to nudge any specific coffee a bit to dial it in.
Just remember to have fun. Try not to get to fancy.
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Permalink Reply by Randy Harrell on
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always always always weigh the coffee...dont depend on scoops. at different roast profiles the beans weigh different amounts.
6 cup chemex - make sure you rinse the filter and make sure that the side with 3 layers is on the same side of the spout. try 34 g of medium fine (a little finer than drip, if you have a labeled grinder it would be the auto-drip setting) ground coffee to 380 g of water. weigh it! pour the hot water over the coffee only in the center. dont pour down the edges or the water will channel down the sides. first pour 30-50 g of water and let the coffee bloom and drip for a good 2 minutes or so. Then continue to pour the hot water in a circular motion in the center until you get to 380 g. chemex brewed coffee is delicious!
so...recap...34 g of coffee to 380 g of water
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Williamson on
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check out this helpful site. It is all about brew methods and has links to many other companies websites and what they recommend. Very helpful.
http://www.brewmethods.com/
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