With little to no events going on right now, perhaps it is the perfect time to master your morning coffee with these pour over coffee brewing tips. The Chemex pour over is the choice here at the office but for those preferring a single cup might want to check out the Hario V60 or Kalita Wave. Maybe brew with some 53×11 Organic Coffee to to fuel the day.
Want to go beyond these simple tips? Check out the full line-up or brewing guides at Stumptown Coffee.
Use The Proper Grind
There are three main elements in the question of grind: when, how and what size. Grinding right before you brew is important because fresh coffee begins to oxidize and age faster as soon as you grind it.
Grinding your coffee on the correct setting is also key – the size of your grind particles affects extraction, so getting this dialed in for your method is important. We have a basic guide to grind here.
If all else fails, you don’t have a good grinder at home, or you can’t seem to get yours dialed in properly, ask your barista at a your local specialty coffee shop to grind it for you for your method. Be specific about which type of brew device you are using.
Perfect Your Pour
The first pour is known as the bloom pour. The bloom pour saturates all of the grounds and will help later with an even extraction. Pour about twice the amount of water to coffee and stir gently. This should take between 30-45 seconds.
You should pour in slow and steady spirals to keep things even. A gooseneck kettle really helps you with precision – avoid the light spots, go toward the dark.
Use Clean Water
Don’t use water to make coffee that you wouldn’t drink. Clean water = clean coffee. You’ll want your water to be at around 205 degrees or about 30 seconds off the boil.
Ratio Test
Using a consistent water to coffee ratio will help you with your dose. Then you can adjust for taste. As a general rule, we suggest about a 1:17, coffee to water weight ratio. In other words, for the Chemex we use 42 grams of coffee and about 700 grams of water.
Images courtesy of Stumptown Coffeee.