Hand-brewed coffee | How to brew coffee that tastes like coffee in a cafe?

The fun and charm of hand-brewed coffee is that it can be brewed in a convenient and simple way. In fact, there is no absolute standard or fixed tutorial for hand-brewed coffee. The tutorial is nothing more than three stages: "preparation, steaming, and brewing."

Preparation: Soak the filter paper and preheat the coffee pot. The filter paper must absorb the odor in the air to remove it. Pour the ground coffee powder into the filter cup and tap the edge of the cup to level the coffee powder layer. More importantly, warm up, take a deep breath, calm your mind, and be ready to immerse yourself in brewing.

Steaming: Also known as pre-soaking, gently inject a small amount of water to wet all the coffee powder, wait for about 15 to 30 seconds, the soaked coffee powder will often slowly expand and stretch like a hamburger, which is a very healing picture.

Brewing: Keep the water column in a stable state, and move it around the center of the circle, toward the circumference and inward, following the rhythm and pace of your heart. Imagine that the water column is an extension of your finger, stirring all the coffee powder, and stop when the water is appropriate.

So, what are the things to pay attention to when doing hand brewing yourself?

1. The amount of coffee powder can be selected based on a ratio of 1:13 between coffee powder and coffee liquid (the ratio of coffee powder to boiling water is about 1:15). If other conditions remain unchanged (flow rate, brewing strength, etc.), the concentration can be adjusted by increasing the amount of powder.

2. The fineness of coffee powder can refer to the coarseness of white sugar sold in the market. It can be adjusted according to the degree of roasting of the beans used. Deep roasted beans can be coarser, and light roasted beans can be finer. The coarseness of the powder can be adjusted according to the variety of beans. The higher the acidity, the finer, and the higher the bitterness, the coarser. The best way to adjust the taste of the final coffee liquid is to adjust the coarseness of the powder. If you feel that the coffee is sour, you can grind the powder finer. If you feel that it is bitter, you can grind it coarser. You can adjust it dynamically.

3. Powder grinding degree for hand brewing, siphon pot, French press, Aeropress, Moka pot, etc.:

Coarse grind: about the size of coarse white sugar, suitable for filter coffee.

Medium grind: gravel-like, between the size of coarse white sugar and granulated sugar, suitable for drip brewing (filter paper drip) method.

Fine grinding: The size is like fine sugar, suitable for distilled coffee pots, electric coffee pots, and moka pots.

Extra fine grind: The size is between salt and flour, suitable for Espresso and Turkish coffee. Because home grinders cannot grind to this texture, you usually have to buy ready-made ground powder. So if you want to enjoy Espresso at home, it is best to drink a large amount to drink fresh coffee.

4. It is best to use a hand-pour kettle to boil water. If hot water is poured into the kettle, the temperature will drop very quickly. The hand-pour kettle must have a lid. Without a lid, the temperature will drop very quickly, and the temperature will be too low before the hand-pour is completed.

5. It is recommended to fix the water level in the hand-pour kettle when you start practicing, and ensure that the hand-pour kettle has 90% of water before starting brewing, so that it is easier to find the feel and control the water flow.

If the water flow of hand-brewed coffee is a penetrating water column, its shape is thick at the top and thin at the bottom, that is, the width of the water coming out of the spout should be wide, and the shape of the end should be sharp. A water column with good penetrating power can avoid the problem of repeated water intake. After entering the interior, the water will quickly diffuse from the inside to the outside, greatly reducing the situation of repeated water intake and improving the uniformity of coffee powder intake. Poor water column penetration can easily lead to bitter coffee taste.

6. Selection of brewing water temperature: The water temperature below is a reference basis and can be adjusted according to your preferences and brewing habits.

91~98℃

The higher the water temperature, the more thermal energy is given to the coffee, the faster it dissolves and the higher the extraction rate.

Advantages: Can quickly increase the extraction rate; bold aroma, bright acidity, suitable for short-time extraction.

Risk: Brewing needs to be completed in a short time.

82~90℃

The water temperature is low, which provides little thermal energy to the coffee, resulting in a slow dissolution rate and a low extraction rate.

Advantages: The safe brewing range is wider, it is easier to avoid bitterness, and the sour-sweet balance is good.

Risk: High probability of under-extraction

7. Good Posture:

A. Maintain a good standing posture. You can maintain a vertical standing posture with your feet about 10 cm apart, or you can keep your legs together and your feet apart at a 60-degree angle. In addition to standing vertically, you can also spread your legs forward and backward, with your center of gravity on the front leg to maintain stability, and the back leg to help support and maintain the body's center of gravity. In short, it is basic to adjust a stable and comfortable standing posture before operation according to your personal physical conditions and habits.

B. The posture of holding the kettle. For beginners, the hand-poured kettle has a certain weight, and the stainless steel handle is slippery and unstable, so it is also important to find a posture that suits you and firmly operate the hand-poured kettle according to your personal operating habits. It is recommended to hold the upper part of the handle in the posture of "lifting the kettle" instead of the posture of "lifting the kettle". In addition, be careful not to lean your thumb against the wall of the kettle to avoid scalding.

C. The distance between the kettle and your body. When operating, your body should maintain a certain distance from the bar to ensure sufficient space for movement, but not too far away, about 10 cm. This depends on personal circumstances. The distance between the filter cup and the edge of the bar is generally about 10 cm. If it is too close or too far, it will be difficult to operate smoothly.

D. The angle of the eyes on the water flow and coffee powder. When you lower your head to pour water, make sure that the filter cup and coffee powder are under the vertical control of your eyes, instead of squinting at the water flow or coffee powder.

E. How to hold the kettle when pouring water. Hold the kettle with your hands, but be careful not to use your fingers or wrists, and don't use your forearms. Keep your upper arms close to your body and use the strength of your upper arms to support the kettle to rotate. During the whole process, your forearms and wrists only play a supporting and transmitting role. Do not use your wrists to support the kettle body, not only will the water flow easily shake, but long-term work may also cause sprains.

8. Steaming principle:

A. The main function of steaming is to form a good filter layer. A small amount of hot water penetrates all the coffee powder and is left to stand for a while to form a filter layer.

B. The air between the coffee particles will expand due to heat, and the coffee particles themselves will release a large amount of carbon dioxide, forming bubble-like gaps between the particles. These gaps will make the coffee powder form a uniform filter layer, providing the space required for hot water to pass through, forming the so-called "volcano bag" from the outside.

C. The gaps formed by good coffee steaming are approximately uniform, and the flow rate of the coffee liquid dripping downward is also uniform. If a good filter layer cannot be formed, the dripping speed will slow down, resulting in over-extraction.

9. Notes on steaming:

A. The water flow needs to be gentle and even.

B. There is too little water for steaming, and there is still a lot of coffee powder at the bottom that has not been soaked in water. As a result, when brewing later, the coffee powder at the bottom that has not been soaked in hot water will suddenly encounter a large amount of hot water, causing bubbles to expand and hindering stable filtration.

C. Too much hot water is used for steaming, and the coffee powder in the middle and upper layers will immediately produce a large amount of gas, which will stay in the middle of the layers and prevent the powder at the bottom from being pre-soaked, causing too much hot water to flow directly along the wall of the filter cup to the bottom of the cup and into the sharing pot.

D. If the steaming is not done well, the coffee will taste unclean and mainly sour and astringent. The characteristics of the coffee itself will be difficult to reflect, the taste will be thin and irritating, and the aftertaste will not be strong enough.

Hand brewed coffee requires grinding, steaming, brewing and extraction. It seems complicated, but it is not as difficult as everyone imagines. As long as you pay more attention to details and practice more, you can also brew a cup of delicious coffee.

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