How to Find Your Perfect Coffee Brew Method
Coffee. Nectar from the gods. Widely available in all forms and permutations, it is at the same time very complex yet very simple. Some of us drink coffee for the caffeine jolt, for others, the act of drinking coffee is a multi- sensory experience, a complete feast for the eyes and nose.
To Begin: What is Coffee?
How do you expect something so simple to be so controversial? Even in the coffee world, there is much disagreement over its choice and its lingo. Is white coffee tastier than black coffee? What is a Single Origin? Why are Long Blacks different from Americanos? Why is a Flat White different from the Café au Lait?
It may seem daunting but fear not. Here’s a starter’s list on how to identify your own tribe, ranging from coffee snobs who drink only 6-day old fresh roasts to Bulletproof coffee freaks, to people who will probably face an early death with their choice of sweeteners.
Let’s dive deep to find your perfect brew.
The first question you should ask yourself is:
What Sort of Coffee Drinker Are You?
The Cafe-Hopping Instagrammer
The Cafe Hopping Instagrammer - A trip to a cafe is not complete without pictures of your OOTD and Flat White————————————————————————————————————————————
You’ll know these guys. The well-put together individual whose Instagram stories are rife with pictures of Flat Whites. A trip to a cafe is not complete without taking a bunch of photos. Cafes have a debt towards latte sipping Instagrammers ever since the advent of social media. Like any business, a high traffic footprint leads to increased sales and a healthy bottom line, which in turn sustains a healthy community of coffee aficionados. It's a circle of life. Furthermore, nothing draws attention to one's refined palette than a well executed flat lay photograph of coffee and brunch.
Preferred Brews: Anything espresso based. E.g. Flat White, Cappuccino, Latte, Macchiato.
Life Pro Tip (LPT): There is a reason why espresso based drinks are better drank outside of home and in coffee shops. Service not withstanding, a decent quality espresso machine can set you back upwards of $30,000. And that's not including costs for a quality grinder and miscellaneous maintenance. True espresso machines are highly finicky and needs to be set up and calibrated frequently.
Cheaper espresso machines with thermoblocks can take as little as five or ten minutes to warm up, but they tend to be built with lower quality materials such as aluminum. For an ideal extraction from a prosumer machine, it is best to wait about 35 minutes. Since they take so long to warm up, cafes leave them on 24/7.
TL: DR - Running espresso machines at home can be a costly investment. Save on electric utility costs by savouring your latte in a proper cafe.
2. The Mindful Hipster
Hitting all the right notes. Beard, check. Tattoos, check. Coffee, check.————————————————————————————————————————————
Although there is no scientific study correlating bearded men and tattoos with their love of the pour over, the Mindful Hipster equates his lifestyle choices to a higher purpose. Like choosing to practise Yoga, his choice of beverage and the method in procuring said beverage is a lifestyle statement. Brewing a pour over requires a certain level of presentness and mindfulness. The Mindful Hipster likes wearing his heart on his sleeves and is usually tattooed. Bonus points for sporting a moustache or beard.
Stereotypes aside, there’s a certain joy with slow brewing a Chemex or a Hario V60. Living in our highly automated world where everything is run with clockwork precision, brewing a pour over is laboriously analog and runs counter culture to the instant gratification nature of modern society. Herein lies its beauty.
Did you know that the iconic Chemex can be found in museums throughout the world? It is included in the permanent collection at the world renowned New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).
TL: DR - Slow is gold. Bonus analog points for ditching an electric grinder for a hand powered one.
Preferred Brews: Chemex, Hario V60, Kalita Wave
3. The Non-Fussed
Ever get the feeling like you’re playing catch up the minute your alarm rings in the morning? Perpetually 15 minutes behind, more than ever you'll need your cup of Joe but days like these, ain't nobody has the time for a hand crafted pour over.
The Clever Dripper is your best friend. Here’s how simple it actually is.
Its brewing method is a cross between an immersion and drip extraction, combining the best of both worlds. The Clever Dripper is extremely easy to master. All you need is freshly ground beans and hot water. Combine them into the brew vessel and let time do the rest. In the meantime, feel free to multi-task by brushing your teeth or getting a quick shower in. As you step out of the shower, you’re just in time to disengage the Clever Dripper into your travel mug, releasing freshly brewed coffee. In no more than 3-4 minutes, your brew is ready. At this point, you can put your shoes on.
I have taken little time to master the art from waking up to leaving the house, coffee in hand all in the span of 15 minutes. Now picture your colleagues, jaws agape, seeing how well put together you are as you stride into your morning meeting, coffee in hand.
TL: DR - Good. Fast. Cheap. A great product for a beginner’s foray into the world of home brewing.
4. The Classic
It is impossible to talk about the Moka Pot and its original iteration (the Moka Express) without first delving into a bit of Italian coffee history.
During the turn of the century, coffeeshops were seen as Third Places, the term coined for social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home ("first place") and the workplace ("second place").
Coffee was consumed in public rather than private spaces. In Ray Oldenburg’s book - The Great Good Place, he observes that neutral Third Places allow for people to exist and engage in civic discourse important for community building in a civil society. Public coffeehouses were the birthplaces of many ideological and political movements throughout Europe. The popularity of coffee took off at this point, with public coffeeshops mainly patronised by working class men. Espresso machines would remain fairly large and costly, with complex systems designed for consistent high volume of output to serve an ever revolving door of patrons.
Examples of third places would be environments such as churches, cafes, public libraries, or parks.
It was then in 1933 when Alfonso Bialetti invented the Moka Express. Bialetti’s coffee machine, made of aluminum, gained a reputation as a cheap and efficient way to brew coffee at home. It also extended the reach and accessibility of coffee to women, who were normally homemakers.
Designed for use on a stove, the moka pot has 3 main parts. Like espresso machines, it passes boiling water that’s been pressurised by steam through ground coffee. Steam is created in the boiler. Pressure builds until the water is forced through a funnel and the ground coffee, into the top chamber. The familiar sputtering sound that occurs when the boiler is nearly empty lets you know that the coffee is ready.
The Stovetop Espresso machine was simple and compact, yet capable of making a strong brew associated with the large machine of the Espresso Bar. This was how Alfonso Bialetti combined modern technology with the Italian tradition for elegance and craftsmanship.
The Moka Express is a classic design icon having been featured in places like the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.
TL: DR - The Moka Pot is a classic, rustic symbol harkening back to the sign of the times of Industrial 1930s Italy. It is still widely used all over Europe today.
5. The Jack of all Trades
For the globe-trotting travelling wanderluster. One moment you’re living the van life, pitching tent at the base of Mount Everest, and the next, you're zig-zagging across the globe accruing miles climbing your corporate career. The last thing you want is to be stuck with mediocre hotel coffee. You know what is worse than waking up in the wee hours of the morning with a headache? It’s waking up with no coffee and a headache in unfamiliar places.
Friends, this is how the AeroPress will save your life.
Versatile and unbreakable, (I have dropped mine on many occasions from as high as 2 flights of stairs) the AeroPress is constructed out of plastic that are BPA and phthalates free. A perfect size for travel, you can also fit in a Porlex hand grinder for the ultimate portability. With the above combination, you are just about ready to brew coffee anywhere in the world, short of the apocalypse.
Whether you prefer the inverted recipe or the traditional recipe, the highly versatile AeroPress has no shortage of brew methods to experiment with.
Here are some AeroPress recipes to start you off on.
TL : DR - Nuclear proof and portable. If there is only one coffee maker you get to keep, get the AeroPress. It will be a cold day in hell before you tire of the versatility from the AeroPress.
There’s an ongoing clearance with the AeroPress currently retailing at 25% off with the link below.
6. The Theatrical Tinkerer
You might have first noticed the Syphon coffee maker sitting pretty on countertops of hipster coffeeshops. (Blue Bottle Coffee installed their own dedicated $20,000 Syphon bar).
The Syphon (or Siphon) coffee maker tend to attract folks with a flair for theatrics. Like an artefact from a steampunk movie, brewing coffee with the Syphon is definitely not fuss free. Folks attracted to the Syphon are naturally drawn to a certain amount of showmanship.
Picture yourself hosting friends over dinner and when it’s time for a late night coffee at the very end, gather them around your kitchen counter to showcase the Syphon brewing a 4-cup in infra illuminated light. The Syphon is a spectacle and an experience sure to dazzle your guests with a final flourish. The act of coffee brewing is thus elevated into an experience.
So how does a siphon coffee maker work? Science! The brewing apparatus are separated into two chambers, with the bottom first filled with water. By heating the bottom chamber, vapor pressure forces the water to rise. Here, the hot water is mixed with the coffee grounds in the upper chamber.
A total immersion of water and coffee ground is then pulled back down into the lower chamber via the “vacuum effect” through a filter upon removal of the heat source.
TL : DR - So god damn sexy, the Syphon method is the fastest way to charm the socks off a potential significant other.
The Syphon Coffee Maker is currently retailing at 15% off with the link below.
Still here? Congrats, you’ve read through to the end!
To surmise, the one thing you will realise is that no two persons are ever alike, right down to the way they drink their coffee. So whatever brew method you eventually decide to settle upon, my parting words would just be that ———
