Here are our instructions for the two most common manual coffee brewing techniques. A few things before we begin though. For the best coffee, you’ll want clean equipment, clean water, fresh beans, the right grind and accurate measurements.
Pour-Over Coffee (manual drip method)
- Use a filter that doesn’t impart any aroma. You can test this by wetting the filter with hot water and scrunching it up in front of your nose. No smell? You’re all set. Smells like wet cardboard? Not good. Unfortunately, those eco-friendly paper filters tend to be the worst offenders.
- Grind your beans using a burr grinder to a point that is somewhere between the size of coarse cornmeal and kosher salt.
- Pour your ground beans into a container positioned on a scale (tared) and pour out the appropriate amount (about 20g for a standard coffee cup)
- Bring your water to a boil and let it stand off the heat for about 60 seconds.
- During that 60 second wait, pour hot water over your empty filter positioned above your coffee cup.
- Before brewing, dump out the warming water and pour the grounds into the dampened filter.
- Pour a small amount of brewing water over the grounds to allow the grounds to puff up a bit and begin the extraction process.
- Slowly and evenly pour the desired quantity of water over the grounds in a circular motion. Start from the center and circle around in one direction avoiding the edge, pausing as needed to avoid overflowing the filter.
- Let the coffee cool to a comfortable drinking temperature. Really hot coffee doesn’t give off as much flavor or aroma as a slightly cooler cup – it’s worth the wait.
French Press
- Grind your beans using a burr grinder to a point that is somewhere between the size of panko bread crumbs and coarse cornmeal.
- Pour your ground beans into a container positioned on a scale (tared) and pour out the appropriate amount (35-40g for a standard French press)
- Bring your water to a boil and let it stand off the heat for about 60 seconds.
- Put the grounds into the bottom of the French Press carafe.
- Pour a small amount of water over the grounds to allow the grounds to puff up a bit and begin the extraction process.
- Continue filling the French press to just below the pour spout.
- A thick cap of grounds will float to the top after a while. Stir these back into the coffee and let it finish brewing.
- Let the coffee steep for about three to four minutes (more or less time depends on your taste and your experimenting).
- After the brewing time, if there’s a new cap of grounds, use a slotted spoon to remove as much of this off as you can.
- Insert the French Press plunger and slowly push down with an even pressure.
- Pour the coffee into cups.
- If you want to reserve the coffee, we recommend transferring the brewed coffee into a warmed serving carafe. Removing the brewed coffee will prevent the spent grounds from causing over extraction and bitterness.
We encourage you to drink your coffee black first so you can appreciate the nuances of aroma and flavor. Enjoy your coffee!