You have good beans in the house, but somehow it never tastes quite the same at home as at the coffee bar around the corner? The difference is rarely in the beans. It is in the brewing. With these 5 steps you brew a filter coffee that does your beans justice, every time.
What do you need?
- Freshly ground coffee (coarse, roughly as coarse as sea salt)
- A filter holder or pour-over (V60, Chemex or a simple filter basket)
- Water just below boiling point (96°C)
- A kitchen scale (not required, but it helps enormously)
Step 1: use the right ratio
Count on 60 grams of coffee per litre of water, which is roughly 1 to 16.5. Too little coffee gives a watery cup, too much makes it bitter and heavy.
Step 2: grind your coffee fresh, and coarse
Grind just before brewing. Coffee starts losing flavour within minutes of grinding. For filter coffee you grind coarser than for espresso: think coarse sea salt.
Step 3: let the water come to just below boiling
Boiling water scorches the coffee and brings out bitter flavours. After boiling, let the water rest for about 30 seconds before you start pouring.
Step 4: bloom first
Pour a small amount of water first (twice the weight of the coffee) over the grounds and wait 30 seconds. You see the bed of coffee bloom and bubble up. That is the CO2 escaping. It makes the rest of the water draw through the coffee more evenly.
Step 5: pour calmly, in small circles
Pour the rest of the water in small, calm circles, from the inside out. A total brew time of 3 to 4 minutes is ideal. Pouring too fast gives a flat taste, too slow a bitter one.
Whichever beans you use: our Filter Beans are roasted specifically for this, and these steps get the most out of them. If you have no grinder at home, the Filter Ground comes ready at the right coarseness. Do you brew a different way, with a French press for instance, let us know through the contact form and we will write a guide on that too.