Details determine quality: How to improve the level of hand-brewed coffee?

Although I can't live without coffee both mentally and physically, to be honest, my morning coffee journey is not ideal. Although I don't use K-Cups or instant coffee, I am not very satisfied with my coffee.

I buy high-quality coffee beans, insist on grinding them myself, preheating coffee cups, and have at least four types of brewing equipment at home. My favorite is the hand-brewed kettle, but I have to admit that my method may not be very correct. The cupboard is full of professional equipment: a V60, a gooseneck kettle, an electronic scale, and a digital thermometer, but I have never spent time carefully thinking about how to use them. This should be the main reason why the quality of coffee has not been improved.

To change this situation, I found the book "Craft Coffee: A Manual" written by coffee expert Jessica Easto. This book answered my question very well: If we don't have expensive equipment like Nuova Simonelli at home, can we make good coffee? The Hario V60 hand-brewed coffee guide described by the author gave me an epiphany, and I instantly understood what I had done wrong before:

– Measure the water temperature: The water temperature should be around 91°C and should not be boiled before use, so that the soluble flavor substances in the coffee can be perfectly extracted;

- Accurate weighing: The ratio of coffee to water should be about 1:17, that is, 23.5g of coffee should be matched with 400g of water. (Before this, I always measured by eye, and the electronic scale was basically useless...)

– Brewing time: The total brewing time should be about 3 and a half minutes, which includes the whole process of wetting the filter paper, pre-infusion and batch brewing.

I tested 3 coffee beans in total and the results were very obvious. First of all, the coffee tasted better, even without milk. I usually like to add a little milk, but this time I realized that really good hand-poured coffee does not need to add anything. The taste of the coffee is very balanced, without too much acidity, no wood taste (this is the effect of soaking the filter paper!), and no obvious astringency.

I also realized that I had been using too much ground coffee because I had been eyeballing it before, which explains why I sometimes felt a little shaky at work… In addition, the accurate method of making it also allowed me to better distinguish which coffee I like and which I don’t like. I was never sure which coffee beans or roasting methods were right for me, maybe I didn’t care at all at the time, or maybe I couldn’t taste the difference because I made it wrong…

To be honest, it took me a few minutes longer to make coffee according to the method in the book, but it was definitely worth it. The coffee tasted more stable and I enjoyed the coffee making process more. A few minutes is definitely not enough to do other things, but it is enough for me to enjoy the aroma of coffee and listen to the melody of coffee dripping. A cup of exquisite hand-brewed coffee is the best start of the day. From it, I learned that when it comes to coffee, quality is always more important than quantity.

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By Kate Bernot

English original address:

https://thetakeout.com/tips-for-better-pourover-coffee-1831550883