Making a cup of coffee is the process of extracting the flavor substances in the ground coffee beans with water. At this time, there are often two methods, one is soaking, and the other is filtration. All of our coffee making methods are basically inescapable of either either.
In the early stages of coffee drinking, Arabs used finely ground coffee and water to pour into special small pots and heat them over a fire. This method is still the traditional way of drinking coffee in some countries in the Middle East and South-East Europe, so much so that there is a separate competition in the World Coffee Competition series. However, this method of preparation is more troublesome and time-consuming, and the liquid is mixed with coffee grounds when drinking, and many people do not like this drink like “mud soup”. So when Europeans began to accept coffee, they were trying to make a cup of coffee quickly in new ways.
In the past, Arabs drank coffee that was usually brewed directly by pouring ground coffee and water into special small pots, without filtering. © thespruceeats.com
In addition to steeping appliances such as French presses, in the early 18th century, some European inventors invented a method of separating coffee grounds from liquids by passing hot water through a filter device, and this filtered hand-brewed coffee production method gradually became popular. From the original metal fine hole mesh of Mr. Biggin
(Bijin Jug)
, flannel filter cloth, by 1908 Mrs. Melitta Benz of Germany invented filter paper, and hand-brewed coffee filtered using filter paper gradually became the mainstream of European and American family brewed coffee. In the 50s of the 20th century, with the development of household appliance technology, home automatic drip coffee machines replaced hand-brewed coffee and became the first choice for many families to make coffee. Whether it is machine or manual, in fact, it is a different branch of the filter coffee production method. It’s just that hand-brewed coffee can be controlled by a person in the variables in the brewing process.
Compared with soaking, filtration is often more efficient due to the continuous contact of fresh hot water in the production process with coffee powder, and it generally only takes 2 ~ 3 minutes to make a cup. And whether using filter cloth, filter paper or metal filter, the resulting coffee tends to taste cleaner and have a more distinct flavor layer. Therefore, filter-brewed coffee, whether brewed by hand or machine, has long been the first choice for coffee shops and home production. Although with the popularity of espresso coffee machines, espresso gradually occupies most of the menu of coffee shops today, filtered coffee still occupies a large market. For example, American chain brands such as Starbucks and Piye Coffee use high-volume drip brewing machines during the morning rush hour in their home markets
（Batch Brewer）
“Coffee of the day” is still the most popular drink.
In order to ensure the timely supply of coffee, large chain coffee brand stores usually use high-volume drip brewing machines to make coffee. © ironcladcoffee.com
In our neighboring Japan, there are often no espresso machines in traditional coffee shops. But almost every family has their own hand-brewed coffee. Here you can see a variety of hand punching utensils, method genres. Some stores will insist on using flannel filter cloth, some stores use conical filter cups, and some stores use cake cups; Some stores use single-hole filter cups, some are three-hole filter bowls; Some take coarse grinding and large powder amount, and some will use low powder water ratio to brew out the concentrate and then dilute it with water. Each coffee shop is making coffee for its customers in a way that it believes best expresses the flavor of the coffee.
In the past 20 years, with the development of the third wave of specialty coffee movement, the level of green coffee beans in the origin has skyrocketed, and coffee people have realized that coffee can also have rich and complex flavors like wine, and making a cup of hand-brewed drip coffee on site for each ordering guest is undoubtedly the best way to express it. This has also led to the fact that hand-brewed coffee has been produced in coffee shops all over the world over the years and has become popular again among coffee lovers.
Getting started with hand-brewing coffee is so simple that you can make a cup of coffee as long as you have a sock. Of course, today in order to make a hand-brewed coffee, we have a lot of utensils to choose from.
Since then, the related utensils for hand-brewed coffee have become more and more abundant. © Nathan Dumlao
The first is the filter cup, the mainstream filter cup has cone, cake cup and trapezoidal. The shape of the filter cup has a certain influence on the distribution of the coffee powder layer and the flow rate, so each different filter cup has its own advantages. The conical filter cup represented by V60 and Chemex, the same amount of coffee powder, relatively flat bottom filter cup, powder layer distribution is usually thicker, which is easier to express the rich flavor level in coffee, and the conical filter cup often has a large drip filter hole, so the filter cup itself has less impact on the flow rate of the brewing process, so it has become the choice of many professionals and senior enthusiasts.
The cake cup and trapezoidal filter cup due to the small pore size design, itself will limit a certain flow rate, if the coffee powder grinding thickness is appropriate, even if the hand brewing skill is weaker can brew delicious coffee, so for ordinary enthusiasts and some coffee shops to pay attention to stable production is preferred. And the method of world champion Du Jianing breaking the mold during the competition and using a conical filter cup with flat-bottomed cake cup filter paper is a combination method she uses in pursuit of comprehensive control of flow rate and flavor. In addition to the shape, the filter cup material also has a certain impact on the stability of the water temperature during the brewing process, and it may be that the cheapest resin material designed by the same brand is better than the cool metal material in terms of thermal insulation performance.
One of the common bowl options is the Cone Bowl, pictured with the V60 Bowl. © kolibricoffee.com
Once the filter bowl has been selected, the matching filter paper can be selected
(or metal filter, flannel filter cloth, etc.)
。 Filter paper has a great influence on the final flavor of coffee. Due to the different production process and paper material, some filter papers have a faster flow rate and some filter papers have a slower flow rate. Melitta even designs different filters for the same bowl for customers to choose from, which have different filtration efficiencies at different heights. The same coffee beans and the same preparation method, the flavor of the filter paper will change. If you choose a filter cloth, consider cleaning and storing it after use to avoid odor residues and food safety hazards.
In addition, it is recommended that enthusiasts must match a suitable mill. The flavor of the coffee beans after roasting loses over time, and milling speeds up the process and the flavor is lost faster. The amount of coffee needed to grind before each drink best maintains the quality of the coffee. And a good mill can adjust the degree of grinding, grind evenly, and be more helpful for coffee extraction.
There are many options for grinders, and it is important to pick one that is convenient to use. © eater.com
In order to easily control the flow of brewing water for hand-brewed coffee, a thin spout pot with a handy spout is very helpful for daily use. In addition to different shapes, materials, and spout thicknesses, some products can also electronically control boiling water and maintain the set water temperature. My personal experience is that you should not choose a particularly fine water flow, such a thin spout pot may be convenient at the beginning, but then it will limit the technique, and when you want to use a larger water flow, you can’t provide more options.
Last but not least, in order to make good coffee consistently, a small electronic scale can help you a lot. The use of electronic scales is easier to grasp and more accurate than the method of weighing powder with a spoon and observing the scale of the sharing pot, which can control the powder to water ratio more conveniently and achieve stable extraction.
The use of electronic scales can improve the accuracy of the operation process. © Mahyar Motebassem
Any coffee bean can be made by hand brewing. And there are some coffees that are more suitable for hand brewing. In general, people prefer to use light-roasted coffee beans from a single origin to make hand-brewed coffee, because such coffee is more likely to show the excellent flavor of the coffee itself. But many people also prefer medium to dark roasted coffee, or blended coffee. As long as it is what you like, you may wish to give up your stereotypes and try more.
The equipment investment and learning cost of hand-brewed coffee are small. When preparing to make a cup of hand-brewed coffee, first spread the filter paper into the filter bowl and rinse the filter paper with 100 ~ 150 ml or more of hot water. In addition to removing the “paper smell” and chemical residues that may be generated during the manufacturing process of the filter paper, the purpose of rinsing the filter paper is to allow the filter bowl to absorb heat to avoid too cold and absorb the heat of the water during extraction when brewing later, resulting in loss of extraction temperature. After grinding the coffee and pouring it into the filter paper, the thickness of the grinding powder suitable for hand-brewed coffee is generally medium to medium fine, and it feels like sugar particles, and you can also adjust it according to your taste preferences.
Ground coffee of different particle sizes is suitable for different coffee production methods, usually medium to medium fine particles are more suitable for hand brewing. © ecooe.com
Once you’ve got these ready, it’s time to start brewing your cup of coffee. First, turn the water volume outward from the center point according to 2 ~ 3 times the amount of powder
(As if you were painting)
A small amount of hot water is injected to soak the coffee powder, if 20g of coffee powder is used, about 40 ~ 60g of hot water is injected, wait 30 ~ 45 seconds, this process is called stuffiness. The main function of steaming is to let the carbon dioxide and other gases in the coffee powder be discharged, so as to avoid the uneven extraction caused by these gases surging and agitating the coffee powder during later extraction. When you see that the steamed water has flowed out, and the coffee powder no longer has bubbles gushing out, you can continue to inject hot water until the predetermined amount of water, the water injection process can be used in a circle or center point fixed method, or a combination of the two, the purpose is to make all the coffee powder in the filter cup can be evenly extracted by water. The common powder-to-water ratio of hand-brewed coffee is 1:12 ~ 1:18
(Refers to 12 ~ 18 grams of hot water per gram of coffee powder)
, I recommend starting at 1:16 and then adjusting to your liking.
The water injection method of hand-brewed coffee is not unique, it is good to ensure that the coffee powder can be evenly extracted. © Tyler Nix
The water injection methods of hand-brewed coffee are varied, and many enthusiasts are often easily affected by such as “one-size-fits-all” when they first come into contact with hand-brewed coffee
(After the fumigation is completed, only use once to inject water without interruption to the appropriate amount of water)
, 4:6 brewing method
(After the steaming is completed, water is filled in several intervals to adjust the flavor and texture of the coffee)
and other nouns confused. In fact, no matter what the method, our ultimate goal is to achieve a reasonable extraction degree under the premise of ensuring the quality of extraction. What flavor coffee has, it already exists after roasting. Different methods, in fact, are mainly in the combination of soaking and filtration, changing the contact extraction time of water powder to achieve flavor changes. Some flavors may be accentuated, or some may be diminished, but brewing methods cannot create flavor out of thin air, and these are personal preferences and aesthetic trade-offs. In addition to using different water injection methods, it is also possible to change the extraction time and agitation to improve the extraction efficiency by adjusting the flow rate of the flush. After accumulating enough experience, different methods can be used for different coffee bean characteristics.
In order to make an excellent cup of hand flushing, theoretical knowledge alone is not enough, the accumulated feel is equally important. © Tyler Nix
In order to ensure the quality of extraction, it is also necessary to pay attention to avoiding the “channel effect” in the process of brewing coffee by hand. Water is a very “lazy” liquid, and it will definitely find the easiest path to pass in the process of flowing. The channel effect of hand-brewed coffee is often easy to occur in the following two situations: one is that the coffee powder steaming process is not evenly wet, resulting in some coffee powder agglomeration to form uneven density, water will pass through the gap where the coffee powder is easier to pass, the channel effect will cause part of the coffee powder to be over-extracted, and part of the coffee powder is not fully extracted. Another situation is easy to occur that the filter cup and the filter paper are not well fitted, and a part of the liquid surface above the coffee powder does not extract the coffee and flows out from the upper part of the filter paper when the water is filled. For the first case, it is recommended to quickly stir the powder-water mixture with a small spoon after the steaming is completed, so that all the coffee powder can quickly and fully absorb water. The solution to the second situation is to choose the appropriate filter bowl and filter paper.
Generally speaking, the water temperature suitable for hand-brewed coffee is 92 ~ 95 °C. This temperature segment is easy to express the rich aroma in coffee. Depending on the characteristics of the coffee beans and personal taste preferences, you can also use a lower water temperature or a higher water temperature to achieve your favorite flavor.
Temperature affects the release of coffee aroma to a certain extent, usually 92 ~ 95 °C water temperature is the most suitable to show the aroma of coffee. © perfectdailygrind.com
98% of a cup of coffee is water, and the water quality is also very important to the flavor of coffee. Suitable for coffee brewing water should be clean, clear and odor-free. The simplest suitable water for coffee is filtered tap water. Purified water, due to its lack of minerals, is actually not ideal for extracting the flavor in coffee. The Specialty Coffee Association SCA gives total dissolved solids for coffee brewing water
（TDS）
numerical guide, but this is only indicative, because different mineral content ratios in water, such as calcium and magnesium ions, have a great influence on the flavor of caffeine. At present, the various brands of mineral water sold in supermarkets are basically in line with the scope of use of hand-brewed coffee, if you are interested, you can buy more different brands of mineral water to try which one you like. If you want to improve the flavor of your hand-brewed coffee, you can also try using mineral salts to make your own brewing water.
Hand-brewed coffee is easy to get started, and if you are interested in going deeper, there are many details and angles that you can invest in studying. Learn some of the points above and with simple practice, you can make a good cup of coffee in minutes. Grab your filter bowl and spout, and get your hands dirty.