What exactly do you want to choose when choosing hand brewed coffee?

When we drink tea, what do we drink? Of course, it is not just the flavored water. It is also the flavor of the different teas produced by different varieties, origins, and different tea makers.

So, what do we drink when we drink coffee? In fact, just like drinking tea, there are many factors such as coffee bean variety, origin, roasting, and barista that give the coffee beans flavor.

Why are more and more coffee lovers not satisfied with semi-finished coffee made by others, such as instant coffee, or finished coffee, such as coffee made by baristas, but tend to make their own hand-brewed coffee? What are people choosing when they choose hand-brewed coffee? What is the charm of hand-ground coffee that even Su Daqiang clamors to drink?

Preservation and refinement of original flavor

Hand-brewed coffee uses hot water to extract the wonderful substances in coffee beans. Without adding anything else, you can drink the flavor of the coffee itself.

When it comes to drinking coffee, more and more people are "paying attention" to the pure taste, unique taste, and healthy ingredients, rather than simply "tasting good".

● Acid: It is a must. Fruit acid can make coffee lively, light and rich. But we hope to drink fruit acid, such as apple, lemon and peach acid. What we don’t want is vinegar-like acid.

● Sweetness: The sweetness in coffee is not the sweetness of sugar, but the combination of caramel sweetness and caramel-like aroma.

● Bitterness: All coffees have bitterness, but we don’t want to taste too much bitterness (no bitterness is the best). Bitterness increases with the degree of roasting. If we like slightly roasted coffee beans, we want to taste the bitterness that will “melt away”, rather than the taste of “burnt”, “carbon” or “smoky”.

● Aroma: This is the most precious and delicate treasure of coffee. If there is no identifiable and clear flavor characteristic, there is no need to choose such coffee, because it is no different from other coffees!

● Balance: Balance can basically be said to be a combination of all feelings. There must be acidity (but not too much, becoming acrid), sweetness, not too bitter, a comfortable taste, and a pleasant aftertaste. In short, the overall drinking experience should be pleasant.

And these parameter changes will affect the flavor of a cup of hand-brewed coffee.

As the ground particles become finer, the bitterness, body and stimulation of the coffee will increase accordingly, thereby reducing the sourness; the higher the water temperature, the higher the sourness, bitterness, body and stimulation; the brewing time has no significant effect on the sourness, bitterness and body, but the stimulation will increase with time.

Therefore, hand brewing is still an extremely "particular" and delicate craft.

Personalization

The ever-changing coffee flavors brought about by different varieties, different origins, and different processing methods are another reason why hand-brewed coffee has fascinated more and more people.

To make hand brewed coffee, you need to buy a brewing pot, filter cup, filter paper, and coffee pot. After the tools are in place, you also need to consider the water temperature, water-to-powder ratio, water injection method, and extraction time. The tools and process are cumbersome and delicate.

A delicious cup of hand-brewed coffee is clean, balanced, rich in layers and has a distinct flavor.

In a cup of hand brewed coffee, you can fully feel the personality of different coffee beans. For example, the African beans have a bright acidity, just like the sunshine there.

In addition, various styles of hand-brew kettles, filter cups of various shapes and materials, and different types of hand-brew utensils also reveal a person's preferences and personality.

Slow pace

If American coffee is meant to improve efficiency and help people cheer up, then hand brewing allows everyone to slow down for a quarter of an hour in the fast pace of life and work, and to extract, drip, and taste at a leisurely pace.

In hand brewing, people don’t have too many utilitarian expectations. It allows people to have a rare tranquility and find some healing in this tranquility.

Sense of ceremony

There is a classic line in the Japanese movie "The Song of the Quiet Cafe", "What a happy thing it is to drink coffee brewed for you by someone."

The two heroines in the film, Eriko and Misaki, although in different situations, gradually develop a connection amidst the blows and challenges of life, encouraging and supporting each other. They blend the bitterness, helplessness, and warmth of life into cups of fragrant hand-brewed coffee.

When coffee becomes a part of life, brewing coffee by hand becomes a concrete manifestation of the ritual of life. This may be the most attractive charm of hand brewed coffee.

Five postures for hand-brewed coffee

How can you quickly learn to brew a delicious cup of coffee by yourself?

There are many ways to brew coffee, and there are many ways to brew hand-brewed coffee. Today we will mainly introduce five common postures, so that you can quickly learn to be a person who knows how to appreciate life.

Stirring method

The emergence of the stirring method was thanks to the 2012 WBC (World Barista Championship). After the champion barista Matt Perger used this method, it quickly became popular in Europe, America and Australia.

The stirring method requires grinding the coffee powder very finely, then adding about 50g of water and stirring evenly, and then adding water again after 30 seconds, until the water injection is completed after 2 minutes. For the deep roasted beans, steam them for 15 seconds and then add water again, and the water injection is completed after 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Advantages: The stirring method can enhance the taste of coffee beans, making the coffee taste not too thin.

Disadvantages: The flavor is obvious, but the aftertaste is much weaker. Moreover, the stirring method has high requirements on the quality of coffee beans, grinding degree, and sufficient stirring. If it is not properly mastered, it is easy to over-extract, making the flavor worse.

Drip method

As the name suggests, it is to brew coffee powder in a dripping form. The operation process is like an hourglass, dripping into the coffee powder drop by drop. The extraction process is delicate and time-consuming, which is simply the favorite of Virgo.

First, pre-moisten the coffee powder with water drop by drop. When about 1/3 of the water has been dripped, start adding water. When the water level of the coffee powder reaches the powder layer, stop immediately. Wait until the water level drops to half, then add water again.

Advantages: The sweet taste of coffee is easy to stand out, and the sourness and bitterness can be avoided.

Disadvantages: Difficult to operate, the coffee flavor lacks sourness and bitterness, and the taste is not layered and complete enough.

Matsuya Law

The Matsuya method also originated in Japan. It was created simply to extract the delicious ingredients in coffee, but it unexpectedly evolved into a popular brewing method.

First, use a spoon to dig a hole in the middle of the coffee powder, about 30 cm deep from the surface of the powder, then start pouring water from the middle until the coffee liquid drips out.

Afterwards, change the water pouring method to make circles outwards to wet all the coffee powder, then cover the lid and steam it.

After 3 minutes, start pouring water evenly and continuously again. When the coffee liquid reaches the halfway point of the coffee pot, stop pouring water immediately. At this time, add hot water to dilute it.

Advantages: The flavor of coffee can be maintained for a longer time.

Disadvantages: Advantages are also disadvantages. The flavor of coffee brewed by the Matsuya method does not change much.

Volcano

The volcanic brewing technique originated in Japan. The principle is to use the carbon dioxide contained in the coffee beans and steam them with hot water many times to make the coffee powder swell like a volcanic eruption.

Since dark roasted beans contain more carbon dioxide, they are more suitable for this brewing method. The volcanic brewing method mostly uses flannel and V60. Because the powder layer in the middle is thicker, the middle position is used for water injection.

Advantages: The coffee tastes mellow and has a distinct sweet aftertaste.

Disadvantages: The coffee liquid is not uniform enough and needs to be shaken thoroughly after brewing to form perfect coffee.

Academic Brewing Method

The most commonly used brewing method for hand-poured coffee is the academic brewing method. Because the brewing method is simple, it is also one of the preferred methods for most coffee lovers. The operation is very suitable for beginners. You only need to pour water from the center of the coffee powder to steam it, wait until the powder layer collapses, and then pour water evenly from the inside to the outside.

However, this technique requires a high level of holding the pot. The water flow in the hand-brewed pot must be delicate, vertical, stable and even. Only after repeated practice can you brew a good cup of coffee.

Advantages: The academic brewing method is very stable and suitable for most filter cups and novices.

Disadvantages: The advantages are also disadvantages. Due to the stable brewing method, it is impossible to form style and characteristics.

So, are you ready to brew a great cup of coffee?