At Home Coffee Prep Methods

Before taking this class I was unaware of all the at home methods to brew coffee. In this article I am going to go into detail about two of the most common methods, The Pour Over/Drip and French press, used to brew coffee in the home.

Drip coffee is the most popular at home coffee brewing method and often carried out by machines. The easy to follow process and high capacity of many drip machines make it one of the most popular brewing methods. Hot water is poured evenly over coffee grounds lying in a paper filter. Gravity takes effect and the water seeps through the grinds absorbing the flavors and dripping through the filter into a cup or pot. This method produces a smooth and round body cup of coffee. If you don’t have a machine this method can also be carried out through a coffee cone or chemex. Coffee cones are made out of plastic, glass, stainless steel or ceramic and flavour can be altered based on the shape of cone and filters used. A Chemex is a aestically pleasing pour over glass flask. It requires Chemex paper which is 20-30% heavier than other filters. The coffee drips into the bottom of the flask and comes out balanced, cleaner and less acidic. Another reasons these methods are popular is because coffee lovers can grind beans to their preferred coarseness.

Another common brewing method is The French press. Interestingly enough the French press is not French but Italian. Many argue that this method extracts more superior flavours than any other method of brewing. A cylinder shaped beaker is filled with coffee grounds and hot water is added. Then after a brief stirring the lid is put on allowing the grounds to steep. After a few minutes (depending on your desired strength) the plunger filter is slowly pushed down. This forces the floating grounds to the bottom