Recipes
Chemex
The Chemex is a favorite among coffee professionals everywhere. Not only is it a beautiful piece, but it also makes fantastic coffee. The secret lies with its filters, which are thicker than most.
I like a an odd ratio of 1:16.6666666. I use 42 grams of coffee ground on the coarse side of Medium (20 on the Baratza Encore). My first pour, for the Bloom phase, is around 75-80 and I let that bloom for 45 seconds or so. My second pour starts with spirals around the entire bed. I pour aggressively up to 450g. I let that drain about half way. My final pour starts around the edges, slowly knocking down the coffee on the sides, I slowly continue in a spiral pattern until I reach 700g.
Aeropress
One of the best features of the Aeropress is its versatility. You can grind fine, coarse, weigh, not weigh, inverted, regular, whatever you want, you can make it work. I experiment quite a bit, but my standard recipe is 15g coffee and 250g water.
Grind 15g quite fine (12 on the Baratza Encore). Prewet your filter paper, attach to the brewing chamber, and set it on top of your mug or carafe. Add your coffee. Pour your water slowly up to 250g. Give is a few stirs and let it brew for 1 minute. A little coffee will drain out, but don’t worry about. At 1 minute, place your plunger on and begin to press firmly, but slowly. Shoot for about 30 seconds or so. Remove the press, give your coffee a stir and enjoy.
Pour Over
Pour Overs are a great option to have on hand for single cups of coffee. They come in a variety of different shapes and sizes so you can find one that works for you.
I like to keep my ratio around 1:15 when I make pour overs. This is a good ratio to start with if you like to add cream to your coffee. Depending on the coffee I’m brewing and the taste I’m going for, I will sometimes add a little extra water to the final brew to get it where I like it.
For a small 10oz cup, I use 20g of coffee ground on the fine side of Medium (14 on my Baratza Encore). My first “bloom’ pour is around 40-50g and I let that sit for about 30 seconds. I next pour up to 200 in slow and steady circles covering any dark spots that appear. Let that drain for about 30 seconds. I pour my final pour up to 300 very slowly while covering the entire bed. Let it drain to dry.
I brew right into my mug and give it a stir. Brewing into a carafe is a nice touch that helps aerate the coffee, but it is not necessary.