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8/14/2019 1 Comment

2 Ways to Brew French Press Coffee

The origin of the French Press can be traced back to 1850’s France. However, the design was improved by the Italians in 1929, and then perfected by the Swiss in 1958. There is no doubt that the design and taste of the French Press is iconic, however the way it is brewed is contested. There are two main techniques of brewing; The Classic and The Hoffman.

What you will need:

French Press
Digital Scale
Timer
Spoon(s)
Water Kettle (Gooseneck preferred)
Coffee grinder
Clean, filtered water

The Steps of The Classic method:

Heat your water. Start off by heating up your water. Coffee likes to be brewed between 195-205°F. If you don't have a variable temperature electric kettle, you can heat up your water to boiling, then let it sit for 45s-1 minute to allow it to get down to temperature. If you brew it at boiling (212°F) you will scorch your coffee.
Grind your coffee. While you wait for your water to heat up, you can grind your coffee. Coffee is always best freshly ground, and can actually stale just 15 min after grinding. We highly recommend you invest in a good burr grinder. For the French Press, use a coarse grind setting, similar to cracked pepper.
Coffee-to-water ratio. It is time for some math! To ensure you get some good coffee, you need to have a good coffee-to-water ratio. For this method, we use a 1/14 ratio, meaning that for every 1 gram of coffee, we will be adding 14 grams of water (This is where the scale comes in). So, let’s start with 28-29g /400g.
Zero out your scale. Now, put your french press with your coffee on your scale, and zero it out. Grab your hot water and your timer, and get ready to pour. Remember, start your timer right when you start pouring.
Pour! Do a heavy pour of 400g of water, fairly quickly. The goal is to saturate all the grounds at the same time. You can achieve this by either pouring in a sporadic manner, or by aiming at the wall right above the coffee, which can help the water fold over the coffee, and start extracting everything right away. Either way, the goal is to make sure there are no dry grounds floating on top when you are done pouring
Agitate. Use your spoon, and stir in the grounds, and then put the lid on top.
Plunge & Enjoy. After 4 minutes, push the plunger down, pour, and drink!

The Steps of the Hoffman method:

Heat your water. Start off by heating up your water. Coffee likes to be brewed between 195-205°F. If you don't have a variable temperature electric kettle, you can heat up your water to boiling, then let it sit for 45s-1 minute to allow it to get down to temperature. If you brew it at boiling (212°F) you will scorch your coffee.
Grind your coffee. While you wait for your water to heat up, you can grind your coffee. Coffee is always best freshly ground, and can actually stale just 15 min after grinding. We highly recommend you invest in a good burr grinder. For this method, use a medium grind setting, similar to sugar.
Coffee-to-water ratio. It is time for some math! To ensure you get some good coffee, you need to have a good coffee-to-water ratio. For this method, we use a 1/13 ratio, meaning that for every 1 gram of coffee, we will be adding 13 grams of water (This is where the scale comes in). So, let’s start with 30g /400g.
Zero out your scale. Now, put your french press with your coffee on your scale, and zero it out. Grab your hot water and your timer, and get ready to pour. Remember, start your timer right when you start pouring.
Pour! Do a heavy pour of 400g of water, fairly quickly. The goal is to saturate all the grounds at the same time. You can achieve this by either pouring in a sporadic manner, or by aiming at the wall right above the coffee, which can help the water fold over the coffee, and start extracting everything right away. Either way, the goal is to make sure there are no dry grounds floating on top when you are done pouring
Agitate. Wait 4 minutes, then break the crust that has formed with a spoon. This will allow some grounds to settle to the bottom. You can then use a spoon or two to scoop off any foam or floating grounds that remain.

7. Cap & Serve. Wait another 5 minutes for the coffee to cool and for any silt to sink to the bottom, put the lid on top, but do not plunge, and pour the coffee through the mesh. Enjoy!

The Hoffman method is named after James Hoffman; 2007 World Barista Champion and founder of Square Mile Coffee in London. He popularized this method, which is meant to resemble the professional coffee cupping method.

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8/10/2019 1 Comment

Espresso Basics: What to look for when buying home espresso machines

Are you a big fan of lattes and don’t want to spend $5 every time you want one? A lot of people are in the same boat with you, but it’s confusing, as a home barista, to know where to start. Everybody on the forums are saying different things, so let me just cut through the noise for you.
These are the 3 major things you need to look for in a home espresso machine:

Pressure
1. If you have read our “What is Espresso” blog, you know that espresso needs to be brewed at a pressure of 9-10 bars in order to be truly fantastic. While it might seem like a good idea to buy a $40 espresso machine at Walmart, you might want to check to see if it actually gets up to that pressure.
Temperature Stability
1. Whenever brewing coffee, it is of paramount importance that you have a consistent brew temperature of 195-205. If the machine isn’t known for that, don’t get it. A good start would be to check for Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) certifications.
Price
1. A common conundrum with both commercial and home espresso machines is how much to spend. Should you get the $500 Breville, or the $4,300 La Marzocco? The truth is, the more you spend, the better the experience. Take the La Marzocco Linea Mini ($4,300) for example. It’s beautiful, well made, and is dual-boiler (so you can steam milk and pull a shot at the same time). However, a lot of the price comes with the name and aesthetic. You can get just as good espresso, and the same features, with a Rocket R58 ($3,000). It’s not as pretty, but it does a good job and we use it at the CDR Roastery. When you go to a lower price point like the Breville Barista Express ($500) or the Breville Barista Pro ($800-1,000), you can get good espresso! However, the catch is you can’t multitask, and there are a lot of moving, plastic pieces that can easily break. My advice is to spend more and get a great set-up rather than spending less and wishing you had a better one, because it’s easy to outgrow a cheap espresso machine.

In the end, it’s up to you. I will note that if you don’t really want to spend money on the equipment, you should probably just get it in a coffee shop.

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