Whether you cold brew, french press, pour over, or prefer a classic drip, the routine of making coffee is a comforting process. The familiarity of the steps is almost as satisfying as the delicious final product. If you’re still looking to achieve that ultimate coffee experience, or wanting to try a new method of brewing, we have several coffee brewing guides for you to try.
Drip Brew Method
- Grind your coffee beans. Aim for a medium coarseness that looks like table salt. You’ll want to use 1.5-2 Tbsp of grounds per cup, depending on how mild or strong you like your coffee.
- Place filter and add grounds. Place your paper or reusable filter into the basket. Add your fresh grounds into the filter.
- Add water to the reservoir. We recommend using filtered water. The water you use to brew your drip can greatly affect the taste.
- Drip away! Turn on your machine and enjoy the aroma. The smell of drip coffee brewing in your kitchen is fantastic!
- Turn off the warmer. After the coffee is done brewing, turn off the heating element. It can be tempting to leave some coffee warming in the pot, but the longer it sits on the burner the less tasty it will be.
Pro Tip! Clean your machine once a month with a mix of one part vinegar and two parts water. Finish by brewing a full pot of water. Also, wait to grind those beans until morning! It can be tempting to do it the night before and have your machine ready to go when you awake, but your coffee will be fresher and tastier if you do it right before you brew.
Espresso Brewing Method
- Grind and weigh the coffee. Use espresso roast coffee and grind it to a fine coarseness that looks like powdered sugar. You will want 9 grams for a single espresso shot and 18 grams for a double.
- Pack and tamp the coffee grounds. Place the ground espresso into the basket (portafilter). Using your tamper, press evenly and firmly until grounds are fully compressed. The goal is for the grounds to be as straight and even as possible for the best espresso shot. To achieve this, it can help to place the portafilter on a kitchen towel before tamping.
- Pull your shot. Place the portafilter into the machine. Pull your shot. A well-pulled shot will last for around 25-30 seconds. It should have a nice, deep espresso flavor and foamy crema at the end.
Pro Tip! If the espresso is watery, use a finer grind on your beans—or slightly more grounds. If the shot takes longer than 30 seconds, try fewer grounds or a slightly coarser grind. You may need to experiment to find the best ratios for your machine.
Brewing French Press Coffee
- Preheat your french press. Do this by adding some hot water and swirling it around until the French Press is warm to the touch. Discard the water. Preheating your French Press will keep the temperature of your brew from fluctuating (as hot water meets the cold vessel). This makes a better brew and keeps your coffee from cooling too quickly.
- Grind your coffee beans. You’re aiming for a coarse to medium-coarse grind that looks like rough sand or sea salt for French Press coffee brewing.
- Measure/weigh your coffee grounds. This step will largely depend on the size of your Press and the amount of coffee you wish to make. 1 cup of coffee made in a 3 cup French Press will use between 4-6 Tbsp of grounds (22-35 grams) depending on how mild or strong you like your coffee.
- Measure/weigh your water and heat it. Keeping with the 1 cup in a 3 cup Press method, you will need 12 oz of water heated to 205 degrees Fahrenheit. A kettle is perfect for this step.
- Add grounds and hot water. Add your grounds to the bottom of the Press then pour the hot water over them in one pour. Using a non-metal utensil (to avoid breaking the glass vessel), gently stir so that all of the grounds are thoroughly submerged in the water. Place the lid on and set your timer for 4 minutes.
- Press and pour. Slowly press the plunger all the way down. Pour your coffee into your cup and enjoy! If you make more than what you intend to drink right away, decant the rest so that it does not over-extract and become bitter.
Pro-Tip! To ensure a great cup of coffee from your French Press, it’s important that you keep it clean to remove all coffee oils. Aim to disassemble it and thoroughly clean it.
Pour Over Brewing Method
- Boil and cool your water. Bring 500 grams of water to a boil and then cool.
- Rinse your paper filter. If using a #2 paper filter, we recommend rinsing it to remove the papery taste.
- Place Dripper. Set your dripper on top of your mug or carafe.
- Weigh and grind coffee beans. Weigh 30 grams of fresh-roasted coffee beans, and grind to medium-fine coarseness (between powdered sugar and table salt in appearance). Add to the filter and make sure the coffee “bed” is level.
- Bloom your grounds. Add just enough water (in a circular motion) to your grounds to saturate them—without allowing water to flow through the filter. Let sit for 30-40 seconds while coffee de-gases.
- Pour remaining water over grounds. Keep the liquid level in the dripper ½ to ¾ full. Avoid pouring around the edges of the coffee bed. Total pour/brew time should be about 3:30 to 4:00 minutes.
Pro-Tip! Do not fill dripper or brew basket more than ½-⅓ full of ground coffee. This will ensure correct water/coffee contact.
Cold Brew Concentrate Coffee Method
- Weigh and grind your coffee beans. For 1 cup of coffee, 85 grams of coffee should be ground to coarse or medium-coarse (rough sand to table salt in appearance). Pre-ground coffee from the grocery store will be too fine for cold brew!
- Place filter and add grounds. If using a cold brew maker, place your metal filter inside the cold brew maker. Add grounds, making sure to brush any grounds off of the top lip. A funnel (such as that from an Aeropress) also works great for this step. If using a mason jar, simply place grounds at the bottom of the jar.
- Add cold water. The coffee:water ratio for cold brew concentrate is 1:5. Add filtered water to your cold brew maker or mason jar as per your amount of coffee. If there is no filter (you are using a mason jar) then give the contents a good stir to combine.
- Set your timer and steep. Start experimenting with 14-20 hours of brew time, with 16 hours as a good starting point for your first batch. Place in your fridge to steep.
- Filter into a new jar. Using a coffee filter or cheesecloth (for mason jars) strain your brew into a clean jar. For cold brew makers, simply remove the filter.
- Dilute and enjoy! Add milk or water at a ratio of 1:1 until you reach desired flavor/strength, pour over some ice cubes, and enjoy. Store leftover concentrate in the fridge.
Pro-Tip! Filtered or purified water is best for the cold brew coffee method.