Ask HN: Coffee Drinkers, How Do You Brew?

Aeropress. Electric kettle (bought for $5 from CL). Kurps Blade grinder. (Burr grinder would be better, but too big for my kitchen). Heat milk on stove top. Froth with aero latte. Enjoy.

Let me preface my response by saying I am a fairly snobby coffee drinker. I only really get beans or espresso drinks from coffee shops such as Intelligentsia, Ritual Roasters, Heart, Stumptown etc.. I've found that the likes of starbucks and most coffee you find at an average grocery store is roasted poorly, burnt, or roasted so dark you loose all flavor. That being said here's my recommendations for a great cup.

1. Use fresh beans. Whatever beans I buy I notice the quality of taste really starts to diminish about two or three weeks after roast. I'll sometimes still use beans up to a month old but nothing after that. 2. Grind Immediately before brewing. The moment you grind your coffee will start to lose flavor and oils. 3. Get a scale and use the right proportions of water to beans. Using a scale has been the single biggest factor in getting a consistently great cup whatever brew method I use.

I generally use a 6 cup chemex to brew, a bur grinder to grind immediately before brewing, a Bonita gooseneck kettle to pour the water, and a escali scale to measure both beans and water. STEPS 1. Measure 48 Grams of unground beans 2. Boil 000 Grams of water(1 Liter) in an electric kettle. 3. Grind beans 4. Use boiled water to wet the chemex filter 5. Pour out water from the chemex being careful not to loose the wet filter 6. Grind beans and put them in the filter 7. Tare your scale to zero 8. Pour 100 grams of water in a circular motion starting at the center of your grinds. 9. Wait 90 seconds for the grounds to "bloom" 10. Pour more water till you reach 710 grams total. 11. Wait for all water to pass through the filter and enjoy.

Ideally I'd like to control the temperature precisely but the electric kettle I have gets it very close. You'll notice I don't measure brew time, the way I've learned is the vary the grind in order to achieve the right extraction. If it comes out weak use a finer grind, if it comes out bitter use a more corse grind. If you want to use brew time as a reference however that amount should take 5 minutes total including the bloom and creates about 3 8oz glasses.

If you want to vary and make a smaller amount the ratio I use here is 14.79 Grams of water per Gram of unground coffee. This is the same ratio that Intelligentsia recommends for their chemex.

Enjoy!

Hey Sandeep!

Try the pourover method for coffee: http://lifehacker.com/5907612/make-your-own-pour+over-coffee...

You might have to buy some filters and a holder for it: http://www.amazon.com/Cilio-Porcelain-Coffee-Filter-Holder/d...

If you want to try and get a taste of what it's like, I _highly_ recommend Houndstooth Coffee or Patika Coffee. They both do excellent pourover coffee.

In general, with any sort of coffee, beans are at maximum flavor anywhere from 1-3 days after roasting. Grind right before you brew and with the pourover method, go slowly.

I haven't made Aeropress myself yet but had a great cup at Heart in Portland and really enjoyed it. I like the hybrid approach between full immersion and filtered brewing. You get the fuller flavor of a french press without the residue that ruins your last sips.

I do the drip filter with the condensed sweetened milk and usually pour it over ice afterwards(Vietnamese iced coffee)