Frequently asked questions
Essential equipment for home pour overs
I think 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 $100's 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 were you may need to spend a bit. Grinders are the MOST important part of your home brew setup. If you have the budget i would put most of it towards this device. Find something with conical burrs & stepless grind adjustments. There are a few that i would recommend that range from $100 - $300 for home use. If you dont have the budget for this.....not to worry. Look into hand grinders, you have find good quality hand grinders for about half the price.
3) THE BREWER: Everyone has a different opinion about what brewer is the best. This is the fun part. Find your favorite style brewer and have fun. For us we enjoy the v60, Kalita Wave, Fellow dripper & 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 perfect even extraction but when you nail them you get that great vibrant cup. Flat bottom brewers such as the Fellow & Kalita have 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 em a try!
4) GOOSENECK VERIABLE TEMP KETTLE: This isnt quite 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 essential to control during your pour over process but you can get a non-electric version. But in all honesty the "stove top" versions really aren't that much cheaper than the electric variable temp version and its so much easier to use.
5) TIMER: This doesn't have to be anything special. There are a lot of scales that come with one. You can use a kitchen timer, your phone, clock with a second hand, really anything that measures seconds and minutes.
This is a great starting place for you.
As always if you have any questions about this 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.
The Basic Recipe for Pour Over
Here is our "starting point"
We feel this is a great place to get started for a beginner who is just learning about manual brew coffee. Take this and build on it to fit your personal style and taste.
Happy Brewing!!
A few starting notes. For this recipe we will be brewing with water at 202 degrees Fahrenheit and using a 22g -> 360g ratio. Also you will see the word "bloom" here. The bloom is the initial pour consisting of 3x your starting coffee weight. It is intended to prewet the coffee grounds and prepare the coffee bed as well as off-gas the coffee.
1) Get your water up to temp (202) and set up your brewing device over a cup or decanter.
2) With a small amount of heated water "pre wet" your filter as it sits on the equipment. This not only rinses the filter but it also preheats the vessel. Dump out water.
3) Load you chosen devise with ground coffee and start your timer.
4) In small circles wet ALL the coffee grounds with 66g of water. This should take about 10 seconds. This is the bloom. You will see the coffee bed expand and almost rise up, hence the term "bloom"
5) At the 45 second mark begin your next pour. Slowly pour 100g of water in small circles in
the center of the coffee bed. This pour should take about 20 seconds. Check your timer when you finish pouring the 100g dose. It should read 1:05.
Allow that water to drain through for about 15 seconds. *if your coffee bed goes completely dry or doesn't drain at all you may need to adjust your grind size.
6) At the 1:20 mark begin your next pour. Another 100g of water in 20 seconds. This will get you to the 1:40 mark and up to 266g of water applied to the coffee.
7) At 2:00 mark begin your last pour of 94g of water. Again keeping small circles pouring to the center of the brewer. This will get you up to roughly the 2:30 mark.
8) Now let it drain. The coffee bed should be "dry" by 3:30 mark.
9) Now transfer the coffee to your cup and enjoy. *We like to brew into another vessel other than our cup because when you transfer it gives the coffee a chance to mix as well as the vessel that you brewed into will be hot to the touch at this point.
**NOTES: If you were having trouble with the times you may need to adjust your grind size. If it wanted draining fast enough for you then make your grind courser. If it was draining to fast then make your grind size finer.
As always, send an email with any questions. Thanks again
orders@compacoffeeroasters.com
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 to produce a well balanced cup. If you dont have a scale at home this is roughly 2 level Taplespoons of ground coffee : 12 oz water
Now get out there and play with your dose & grind size and get that perfect cup!!
Enjoy!!
