Coffee enthusiasts who want a better tasting cup of coffee might use a different brewing method. There is much more to offer than just your regular coffee pots, also known as a drip pot. Some coffee drinkers have never had the pleasure of amazing tasting coffee. They only know how to hit the brew button on their coffee maker. Amazing tasting coffee varies depending on the roast, single and multi-origin, and the brewing method. With each different type of method, coffee will have different distinguishing flavors. When crafting the perfect cup of coffee there are many different components you must consider.
- The filter: can sometimes produce off flavors. To avoid this, you can place it in a glass or ceramic top and rinse with hot water before brewing.
- The grind: can change the taste of coffee. The grind size and freshness of coffee will affect your flavors. The fresher the better. If your coffee is too bitter, try to adjust your grind coarser.
- The water quality: Water can change your coffee experience too. If you wouldn’t drink the water by itself, then do not use it for your coffee. Clean, filtered water makes the texture more enjoyable.
- Water-to-Coffee ratio: Depending on your own taste you can adjust the water ratio so that your coffee does not taste weak or overly bitter.
- Water temperature: is the key to the perfect cup of coffee. It should be at boiling point or 205 degrees Fahrenheit.
Different Brewing Methods:
The Pour Over: Coffee Cone is one of the oldest, simple, and fastest ways to brew coffee. Hot water is poured evenly coffee ground coffee in a paper filter. With gravity’s help it drips slowly directly into a cup or glass pot. The idea behind this method is to create fresh and rich flavor notes that you will miss out on when using a normal coffee maker. It all started by a woman named Amalie Auguste Melitta Bentz. In 1908 she was dissatisfied with her coffee being bitter and she began experimenting with different ways to brew. She used some of her son’s schoolbook paper and a brass pot with punctured holes with a nail. Melitta Pour Over method took off in 1930s when she started using the cone shape with filters.
Vacuum – Siphon: Is a fancy and flashy way to brew coffee. It was invented in Germany in the 1840s. Coffee grounds are added to the upper vessel and vapor pressure forces hot water up to immerse the coffee. Once the heat is removed, gravity pushes the brewed coffee back through a filter into the bottom of the vessel. It creates mellow and delicate flavors and can produce several cups of coffee.
Espresso: The first espresso machine was created in 1822 by the French. By 1884 the invention was tweaked by Angelo Moriondo. However, he was never able to popularize the machine and it never really took off. In 1901, Luigi Bezzera patented the machine he was an Italian mechanic. He is the co-inventor of the espresso machine. He was looking for a method to brew coffee much faster and it started the Italian Espresso coffee culture. In its simple form it is a way to brew strong black coffee that has been brewed under intense pressure.
French Press: Coffee press was invented in 1929 by Milanese designer Attilio Calimani. It is considered as the best method for brewing superior coffee. It is well suited for coffee drinkers that enjoy luscious, expressive, and complex taste. In this method ground coffee is soaked, steeped, and strained in hot water. The coffee’s flavorful essential oils, caffeine and antioxidants are better diffused and leave the purest flavor coffee.
Percolate / stovetop Moka Pot: patented in 1933 by Alfonso Bialetti, named after Mocha a city in Yemen. A stovetop style coffee maker that uses steam pressure from boiled water to pass through coffee ground in the middle of the chamber of the pot. Brewed coffee then sits in the higher chamber. This process makes strong, sometimes bitter tasting coffee and produces the equivalent of a single or double shot. To this day this type of coffee maker remains popular for homes all over Europe and South America.
Aero Press: This method is a new process that was launched in 2005 by Alan Adler. The Aero Press is plastic and comes in three parts. A filter sits in a coffee basket at the bottom of the brew chamber. Coffee grounds rest in the brew chamber where hot water is added then immerses/steeps the coffee. When pressing down the air pressure forces brewed coffee through a filter and into a cup. This method is best for coffee drinkers that love sweet full-bodied espresso-style coffee.