How to make a good cup of coffee with a filter? Here is a practical guide

Hello everyone, I am Global Food. Today's food theme is [How to make a good cup of coffee with a filter? Here is a practical guide]!

The other day a friend sent me a private message asking me: How to make a good cup of coffee? Today I cleared out my coffee stock and took the time to compile this practical guide to brewing a good cup of coffee by filtration. Friends who like to drink coffee, please save it!

Although I have read many articles saying that filter coffee is the most difficult to brew, I think it is not easy to make coffee unpalatable with a filter, and it is easier to fail with a siphon pot. Because the filter paper is filtered, it will absorb more oil and powder, so the coffee is more thorough and the taste is more refreshing.

Another advantage is that the things you need to prepare are simple and easy to clean. If you want to have a cup of "good" coffee quickly but don't want to be busy cleaning up afterwards, it's really a good choice.

1. Japanese style imperial pot

The key to the filter is to have a pot that can produce a steady and long stream of water, and I specifically use a Kalita palace pot for this.

However, this Japanese-style palace teapot is not cheap. Some enthusiasts may buy a tin teapot for Hong Kong-style tea drinking and knock the spout very flat, which is also a method. Anyway, the key is to have a stable stream of water.

There is another way to brew tea, which is to use a thin stream of water or even dripping to extract the tea, and then use a large stream of water to brew the tea, which will give you a fresher and brighter taste. Another way of saying this is to avoid extracting impurities. You can choose a crane-billed teapot such as HARIO, Moon Rabbit Seal, or Taguchi Mamoru, which can be brewed with large and small streams of water. It is recommended to consider the heating method and material characteristics when choosing.

The Kalita palace teapot has a copper alloy body that heats up quickly and evenly, and the handle won’t get you hot. Almost every coffee shop owner has one.

2. Coffee powder

The water in the filter is continuously filtered and flows down (except for the smart cup), unlike the Syphon which is maintained on the upper seat. Therefore, I think it should be ground finer than the Syphon, about scale 2 as shown in the picture below. If it is too fine, it will hinder the coffee filtering speed.

However, since I use a hand-cranked machine, it is quite troublesome to adjust it all the time, so I usually just be lazy and use the coarse and fine ones.

3. Filter paper & filter cup

In theory, the filter paper should fit snugly into the filter cup (in reality, it doesn't have to fit that tightly). After folding the bottom seal, fold the side seal to the reverse side and place it directly into the filter cup.

Filter paper is divided into bleached and unbleached. Some people do not want the taste of filter paper to affect the coffee, so they will choose bleached filter paper.

HARIO and Driver have launched conical metal filters and flannel (filter cloth) instead of filter paper. They need to be used with their conical filter cups (I haven't used them). They can retain the aroma of oil, but are a bit troublesome to clean. It depends on personal choice.

I have now switched to using the HARIO V60 metal filter cup.

The filter cup is divided into single-hole and three-hole, mainly because of the different flow rates. I use a three-hole one. Other materials include plastic, ceramic, and copper alloy. Plastic is easy to carry but has poor heat preservation effect. Copper alloy is quite expensive, but it is not bad for collection.

There is also a smart cup developed by a Taiwanese manufacturer, which has a water valve design at the bottom, which retains water in the cup for stirring and soaking, and lets the coffee flow out when the time is up.

First, pour some hot water to warm the cup. Since I am making two cups this time, I use a glass pot. You can put an extra thermos underneath. I put it on a sticky board or heat pad. If you are only making one cup, you can just use a cup, but you need to keep an eye on the water level.

First rinse the filter paper with hot water to remove the paper smell, pick it up a little and then put it back so that the filter paper is less likely to stick to the wall of the cup.

After pouring in the coffee powder and knocking it evenly, use your finger to poke a small hole in the middle (remember to wash your hands). When you flush the cup later, start brewing from the hole in a spiral outwards. The hole will make it less likely that the water will overflow to the outside at the beginning.

4. Water temperature

If you have a thermometer, you can study the changes in water temperature. Heat it to above 90 degrees, and when it drops to 85 degrees, you can start brewing for the first time. At present, I brew at a water temperature of 92-93 degrees. And it depends on the roast degree. I drink medium roast to medium dark roast. Dark roast should not be so hot.

5. First Brewing

Pour out the water from the warm kettle first. The purpose of the first brewing is to allow the coffee powder to be fully soaked rather than flowing through quickly. Start from the middle with a thin and steady water flow. Start spiral brewing and stop when the coffee powder is fully wet. There is no need to pull it up.

Observe that the powder on the top changes from expansion to slight contraction, and the flow rate of the water droplets below slows down, then you can start brewing for the second time. Coffee may not necessarily flow out of the first brew, the purpose is just to make it fully moist. The pre-infusion time is about 30 seconds.

The water temperature for the second brewing dropped to about 80-85 degrees. Currently, my second brewing temperature will be maintained above 85 degrees.

6. Second brew

Maintain the principle of steady, thin water and spiral brewing, but this time there is an additional pulling action, the purpose of which is to fully stir the coffee powder, just like the stirring action of a siphon pot.

I no longer raise the spout intentionally, but only a little higher than the first brewing position, and brew with a thin water column (thinner than in the photo).

Start close,

Lift up at the end.

For the third brewing, do not raise the spout, but use a large stream of water to brew until the sufficient amount is reached.

7. Stop when the water volume reaches the limit

Generally speaking, brewing two or three times will produce two cups of coffee. If you want to brew one cup, use less water the second time and remove the filter cup once the amount is reached. The brewed coffee will have different flavors. Shake it slightly before pouring it out.

If you use a metal filter cup, there will be very fine powder at the bottom of the cup. Some people think it affects the taste. I think you should either not drink the last sip or shake it up before drinking it. Otherwise, if you drink it slowly to the bottom, it will taste terrible...

Nowadays, many people will sift fine powder before cooking. I have tried it several times and found that the taste became simpler, but there was a hollow part in the middle, so I stopped sifting. If you are interested, you can try it.

Warm up your coffee cup, prepare your dessert, and start enjoying.

Three cups

If you are brewing three cups, you need to brew for the third time. The water will drop more slowly. It is recommended to keep the bottom warm (a hot water tray is also fine). Now I think the best amount for a filter cup for 2-4 people is 2 servings. You need more practice to get a good taste for 3 servings.

The water in the palace kettle will also cool down, so after the first rinse, put it back on the gas stove and maintain it at 85 degrees on low heat.

Finally, I want to say that there is not only one way to make coffee. The most important thing is whether you think it tastes good. Opening a shop is another matter.

Today's article ends here. Thank you for your patience in reading this article. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comment box. If you like my article, please follow, like, collect, forward and interact with me.

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