Frequently Asked Questions
Essential Equipment for Home Pour-Overs
There are a few simple tools that any home barista can get to make amazing pour-overs at home:
1) GRAM SCALE: Doesn't have to cost $100s but just make sure that it reads to the tenth of a gram. Even if you aren't planning on being that precise its a good indicator of its sensitivity.
2) GRINDERS: Here is where you may need to spend a bit. A grinder is the MOST important tool of your home brew setup. If you have the budget, we recommend putting most of it towards this device. Find something with conical burrs & stepless grind adjustments. There are a few we could recommend that range from $100-$300 for home use. If you don't have the budget for this, not to worry. Look into hand grinders. You can find good quality hand grinders for about half the price.
3) THE BREWER: Tjere are a lot of opinions about what brewer is best. This is the fun part. Find your favorite style brewer and have a good time. We enjoy the v60, Kalita Wave, Fellow Dripper, and Chemex all for different reasons. Try one out and see what you think.
Note: We would say the the cone type brewers such as the v60 or chemex are more difficult to get perfectly, even extraction but, when you get it right, you get a great vibrant cup. Flat bottom brewers such as the Fellow & Kalita are a little more forgiving with your brew style and still produce great cups of coffee. There are a TON on different brewers our there and it really comes down to preference so give one a try to see what you think.
4) GOOSENECK VERIABLE TEMP KETTLE: This isn't essential but it is a really nice piece of equipment to have. You just fire it up to your desired temp and it does all the work. The gooseneck is of great benefit in controlling the water flow during your pour-over process. Non-electric version also are available, but, the "stove top" versions aren't that much cheaper, and the electric variable temp version is so much easier to use.
5) TIMER: No need for anything special here. Many scales that come with one. You can use a kitchen timer, your phone, clock with a second hand -- really anything that measures minutes and seconds.
These tools are a great place to start.
As always, if you have any questions please feel free to reach out to:
orders@compacoffeeroasters.com
Basic tips for a great cup
There are about a million different approaches and opinions on many minuscule techniques that will give you the ever sought after "perfect cup" but we are going to focus on a couple basic things that will take your game to the next level. Focus on being intentional. Doing everything for a reason and know why you do it.
1) WATER: Use good water to get good coffee. I know it sounds simple but if you brew your coffee with water out of the faucet that tastes a little off.....then most likely your coffee will taste a little off. Water also plays a huge roll in proper extraction but thats for a different section. Just trying to keep it basic here. Get yourself a good spring water. Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water is actually a good water for this. It has a decent pH and in the TDS (total devolved solids) is in a good range for coffee brewing.
2) RATIO: Find a ratio that works for you and stick with it. All this means is decide what flavor profile you are shooting for and figure out what ratio that is and dont change it around when brewing. Ratio is one of those variables that doesn't need to messed with. I tend to enjoy a more delicate cup so i end up closer to a 17:1 ratio, if you like something with a bit more body travel down to a 15:1 but I personally wouldn't take it to much further than that.
3) POUR: Its important to maintain a steady slow stream when pouring. I can't emphasis the work STEADY enough here. My recommendation is small concentric circles from about 2"-3" above the lip of the brewing device. Your flow rate will depend on what recipe you choose but a good place to start is to pour 100g of water in 30 seconds.
4) GRIND: We suggest a medium-course grind size. The way you know you have the right grind size will come later when we talk recipe. Basically if the water flows through you coffee bed to fast you will have to make it finer. To slow you may have to make it courser.
3) RECIPE: There are almost an unlimited amount of different ways to make a cup of coffee. Just ask the internet. When your starting out its important to stick to something that works for you and your style and develope your technique before you start experimenting to much. Just like everything else; make sure you understand the basics so you have a great foundation to build on, walk before you run. The recipe is based on grams of water poured in a certain amount of time.
Basic Brew Recipe
When brewing coffee at home your personal palate is king.
Making adjustments and fine tuning the coffee to fit your taste is half the fun.
As a starting point we recomnend a ratio of 16:1 (water:coffee).
We find this ratio produces a well balanced cup. If you don't have a scale at home this is roughly 2 level tablespoons of ground coffee to 12 oz water. To fine-tune, play with the amount of coffee used, and the size of the grind.
Now get out there and get that perfect cup!
Enjoy!!
Basic tips for a great cup
There are about a million different approaches and opinions on many minuscule techniques that will give you the ever sought after "perfect cup" but we are going to focus on a couple basic things that will take your game to the next level. Focus on being intentional. Doing everything for a reason and know why you do it.
1) WATER: Use good water to get good coffee. I know it sounds simple but if you brew your coffee with water out of the faucet that tastes a little off.....then most likely your coffee will taste a little off. Water also plays a huge roll in proper extraction but thats for a different section. Just trying to keep it basic here. Get yourself a good spring water. Crystal Geyser Alpine Spring Water is actually a good water for this. It has a decent pH and in the TDS (total devolved solids) is in a good range for coffee brewing.
2) RATIO: Find a ratio that works for you and stick with it. All this means is decide what flavor profile you are shooting for and figure out what ratio that is and dont change it around when brewing. Ratio is one of those variables that doesn't need to messed with. I tend to enjoy a more delicate cup so i end up closer to a 17:1 ratio, if you like something with a bit more body travel down to a 15:1 but I personally wouldn't take it to much further than that.
3) POUR: Its important to maintain a steady slow stream when pouring. I can't emphasis the work STEADY enough here. My recommendation is small concentric circles from about 2"-3" above the lip of the brewing device. Your flow rate will depend on what recipe you choose but a good place to start is to pour 100g of water in 30 seconds.
4) GRIND: We suggest a medium-course grind size. The way you know you have the right grind size will come later when we talk recipe. Basically if the water flows through you coffee bed to fast you will have to make it finer. To slow you may have to make it courser.
3) RECIPE: There are almost an unlimited amount of different ways to make a cup of coffee. Just ask the internet. When your starting out its important to stick to something that works for you and your style and develope your technique before you start experimenting to much. Just like everything else; make sure you understand the basics so you have a great foundation to build on, walk before you run. The recipe is based on grams of water poured in a certain amount of time.
