BASE SPECS
Grind: medium (20 on the Baratza Virtuoso)
Brew ratio: 1:17
Water temp: off boil
Total brewing time: 3 minutes and 45 seconds
INGREDIENTS
Makes 350 grams (11.8 fluid ounces)
20.5 grams (3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon) fresh whole coffee
350 grams (11.8 fluid ounces) water, plus more as needed
METHOD
1.Pour the water into a kettle and set it over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.
2.While the water heats, grind the coffee to a medium size and set it aside. Then, set up the rig: decanter, brewing chamber, and dispersion plate. Set the lid aside.
3.When the water just starts to boil, remove the kettle from the heat. Preheat the device by pouring water directly into the center of the dispersion plate. Discard the rinse water, and set the rig on a kitchen scale. Add the grounds to the brewing chamber, gently shake it to level the bed, replace the dispersion plate, and zero the scale.
4.To bloom the coffee, start a stopwatch and very quickly pour 45 grams of water directly into the center of the dispersion plate. The pour should take no more than 10 seconds. Allow the coffee to bloom until the stopwatch reads 0:40.
5.Begin continuously adding the water as slowly as possible, so that the scale reads 350 grams when the stopwatch reads 3:00. If using a gooseneck kettle, you should be able to pour slowly enough that the dispersion plate “sings.” That’s a good sign. When the brewing chamber fills up (a ring of bubbles and light brown liquid will emerge from the holes of the dispersion plate), pause for a few moments to allow the brewing chamber to drain. If the pour is slow enough and the grind is right, you should need to stop two or three times.
6.Let the coffee draw down; it should take 30 to 45 seconds and the stopwatch should read no more than 3:45. Rinse the device with any extra hot water and enjoy right away!
BREWING TIPS
Sometimes if you pour the grounds into the Walküre’s brewing chamber when it’s already assembled, some of them will fall into the decanter. Either remove these grounds before brewing or level them before placing the brewing chamber on top of the decanter.
The device is designed so that all of its component parts fit together. Be sure to remove the brewing chamber and dispersion plate from the decanter and add the lid before serving! It will be much harder to pour if you do not remove these items.
Because this device does allow sediment through, decant it like a French press (see page 214).
THE KALITA WAVE
The Kalita Wave #185 Pour-Over Method
Andreas and I adapted this method from one used by craft coffee pioneer George Howell. Although folks often use continuous pour for this method, I went with a pulse. Because the bloom serves as the first pulse, note that you may need to adjust your pulse timing if your bloom needs more time, which it might if you are using super-fresh coffee. Also, be aware that the sides of the Kalita filter can be somewhat delicate. It’s best to avoid pouring water directly onto the filter (when you wet it or while you’re brewing), as it could collapse and ruin everything.
BASE SPECS
Grind: medium (18 on Baratza Virtuoso)
Brew ratio: 1:17
Water temp: off boil
Total brewing time: 3 minutes and 45 seconds
INGREDIENTS
Makes 400 grams (13.5 fluid ounces)
23.5 grams (¼ cup) fresh whole coffee
400 grams (13.5 fluid ounces) water, plus more as needed
METHOD
1.Pour the water into a kettle and set it over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.
2.While the water heats, grind the coffee to a medium size and set it aside. Then, set up your rig: filter, device, and brewing vessel.
3.When the water just starts to boil, remove the kettle from the heat. Thoroughly wet the filter (50 to 60 grams of water), discard the rinse water, and set the rig on a kitchen scale. Add the grounds, gently shake the rig to level the bed, and zero the scale.
4.To bloom the coffee, start a stopwatch and slowly pour 50 grams of water evenly in concentric circles, making sure to thoroughly saturate the grounds. When the stopwatch reads 0:35, continue to step 5.
5.Start your first pulse by adding 100 grams of water, beginning in the middle and pouring in slow, concentric circles over the next 15 seconds. By this point, the scale should read 150 grams and the stopwatch should read 0:50. Wait 10 seconds, then repeat the process five more times, in 50-gram increments, until the scale reads 400 grams and the stopwatch reads 3:00 (see Brewing Tip).
6.Let the coffee draw down; it should take about 45 seconds. Remove and discard the filter, rinse the device with any extra hot water, and enjoy!
BREWING TIP
Want to make sure your pulses are staying on track? Here are some guidelines:
0:35 to 0:50: 150 grams
1:00 to 1:15: 200 grams
1:25 to 1:40: 250 grams
1:50 to 2:05: 300 grams
2:15 to 2:30: 350 grams
2:45 to 3:00: 400 grams
THE CHEMEX
The Six-Cup Chemex Pour-Over Method
It’s more important to wet your filter with the Chemex than with other devices. Chemex filters are thicker, so they tend to have more of a papery taste than other filters, which water can help alleviate. Additionally, the way a wet filter sticks to the sides of the device is part of the Chemex design: it helps regulate airflow. If you’ve thoroughly wetted the filter, you should be able to simply pour the water through the spout without it spilling out.
BASE SPECS
Grind: medium fine (17 on Baratza Virtuoso)
Brew ratio: ~1:16
Water temp: off boil
Total brewing time: 3 minutes and 45 seconds
INGREDIENTS
Makes 500 grams (16.9 fluid ounces)
31 grams (¼ cup + 1 tablespoon) fresh whole coffee
500 grams (16.9 fluid ounces) water, plus more as needed
METHOD
1.Pour the water into a kettle and set it over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.
2.While the water heats, grind the coffee to a medium-fine size and set it aside. Then, set up your rig: filter and device.
3.When the water just starts to boil, remove the kettle from the heat. Thoroughly wet the filter (50 to 60 grams of water), discard the rinse water, and set the rig on a kitchen scale. Add the grounds, gently shake the rig to level the bed, and zero the scale.
4.To bloom the coffee, start a stopwatch and very slowly pour 70 grams of water evenly in concentric circles, making sure to thoroughly saturate the grounds. This should take you at least 20 seconds. When the stopwatch reads 0:45, continue to step 5.
5.Slowly and continuously add water to the center of the coffee bed in a nickel-sized circular pattern until the scale reads 200 grams. (You won’t be pouring as slowly as you did for the bloom.) Take two quick laps around the perimeter of the coffee bed, taking care not to hit the sides of the device. Continue pouring toward the center of the bed in the nickel-sized circular pattern until the scale reads 400 grams. By this point, the stopwatch should read 2:00. Take one more quick lap around the perimeter of the coffee bed, taking care not to hit the sides of the device. Continue pouring toward the center of the bed in the nickel-sized circular pattern until the scale reads 500 grams and the stopwatch reads 2:30.
6.Let the coffee draw down; it should take about 75 seconds and your stopwatch should read 3:45. Remove and discard the filter and enjoy!
BREWING TIP
No matter the shape of your filter, the multilayered side should always be placed on the pouring-groove side of the Chemex. The layers make the filter sturdy even when wet, which prevents the paper from collapsing and blocking the flow of air through the spout.
THE HARIO V60
The #2 V60 Continuous Pour Method
This is the tried-and-true spec and method combination that Andreas uses as a starting point for dialing in V60
s at work. It has never once led him astray. However, please note that this particular method is nearly impossible without a gooseneck kettle to help you pour in circles and avoid hitting the steep sides of the device, which allow water to bypass most of the coffee bed.
BASE SPECS
Grind: medium fine (12 on Baratza Virtuoso)
Brew ratio: 1:17
Water temp: off boil
Total brewing time: 3 minutes and 30 seconds
INGREDIENTS
Makes 400 grams (13.5 fluid ounces)
23.5 grams (¼ cup) fresh whole coffee
400 grams (13.5 fluid ounces) water, plus more as needed
METHOD
1.Pour the water into a kettle and set it over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.
2.While the water heats, grind the coffee to a medium-fine size and set it aside. Then, set up your rig: filter, device, and brewing vessel.
3.When the water just starts to boil, remove the kettle from the heat. Thoroughly wet the filter (50 to 60 grams of water), discard the rinse water, and set the rig on a kitchen scale. Add the grounds, gently shake the rig to level the bed, and zero the scale.
4.To bloom the coffee, start a stopwatch and very slowly pour 60 grams of water evenly in concentric circles, making sure to thoroughly saturate the grounds. This should take you at least 20 seconds. When the stopwatch reads 0:45, continue to step 5.
5.Slowly and continuously add water to the center of the coffee bed in a nickel-sized circular pattern until the scale reads 200 grams. Take two quick laps around the perimeter of the coffee bed, taking care not to hit the sides of the device. Continue pouring toward the center of the bed in the nickel-sized circular pattern until the scale reads 300 grams. By this point, the stopwatch should read 2:00. Take one more quick lap around the perimeter of the coffee bed, taking care not to hit the sides of the device. Continue pouring toward the center of the bed in the nickel-sized circular pattern until the scale reads 400 grams and the stopwatch reads 2:30.
6.Let the coffee draw down; it should take about 1 minute and your stopwatch should read 3:30. Remove and discard the filter, rinse the device with any extra hot water, and enjoy!
The #2 V60 No-Gooseneck Method
During our research and testing, Andreas and I found a fantastic V60 method from Tonx, a coffee subscription service that was acquired by Blue Bottle, that is suitable for those of you who don’t have a gooseneck kettle. We’ve adapted it here. A V60 method without a gooseneck kettle may be difficult for many coffee people to believe, but believe it—and the fact that devices are endlessly versatile.
BASE SPECS
Grind: medium fine (16 on Baratza Virtuoso)
Brew ratio: ~1:15
Water temp: off boil
Total brewing time: 3 minutes or less
INGREDIENTS
Makes 400 grams (13.5 fluid ounces)
26.5 grams (¼ cup + 1 teaspoon) fresh whole coffee
400 grams (13.5 fluid ounces) water, plus more as needed
METHOD
1.Pour the water into a kettle and set it over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.
2.While the water heats, grind the coffee to a medium-fine size and set aside. Then, set up your rig: filter, device, and brewing vessel.
3.When the water just starts to boil, remove the kettle from the heat. Thoroughly wet the filter (50 to 60 grams of water), discard the rinse water, and set the rig on a kitchen scale. Add the grounds, gently shake the rig to level the bed, and zero the scale.
4.To bloom the coffee, start a stopwatch and slowly pour 60 grams of water evenly in concentric circles, making sure to thoroughly saturate the grounds. When the stopwatch reads 0:30, continue to step 5.
5.Add water in a small circular pattern, starting from the center of the coffee bed and working outward. Continue pouring in a circular pattern toward the center, which should push the grounds outward, until the scale reads 400 grams. By this point the stopwatch should read near 1:30. If the device is filled before the target weight is reached, allow the water to drain, but continue to add water as you can.
6.Let the coffee draw down. By the end of the draw, the stopwatch should read 3:00 or less. A thick layer of grounds should cover the filter all the way up. If there is balding, take more care not to hit the sides of the device next time. Remove and discard the filter, rinse the device with any extra hot water, and enjoy!
APPENDIX
Troubleshooting, Tips, and Tricks
USE THIS SECTION AS A GUIDE for how to resolve the issues you are most likely to encounter when brewing coffee at home. Remember, all base specs tend to need tweaking from time to time in order to get your coffee to taste just the way you like it. What works on one day might not work on the next. What works on one kind of bean may not work on another. When you do adjust your specs, be sure to make only one change at a time. Otherwise, you won’t be able to tell which change resulted in what outcome!
TOO WEAK (THIN/WATERY)
This likely means your brew ratio is off—there is too much water and not enough coffee, which makes the coffee’s body feel too thin or watery in your mouth. Try this:
1.Increase the dose. Technically, you can also decrease the amount of water in your brew ratio to correct this problem, but I’m assuming you don’t want to end up with less coffee. Therefore, it’s easier to just add more coffee to your dose. If you are using my brew ratios, increase your dose by only half a gram at a time, since you should already be close to the right dose.
2.Tighten the grind. Do this only if the coffee’s thinness is accompanied by a sour taste, which likely means your grind is way too coarse.
TOO STRONG (THICK/HEAVY)
This likely means your brew ratio is off—there is too much coffee and not enough water, which makes the coffee’s body feel too thick or heavy in your mouth. Try this:
1.Decrease the dose. Technically, you can also increase the amount of water in your brew ratio to correct this problem, but I’m assuming you don’t want to end up with more coffee. Therefore, it’s easier to just use less coffee in your dose. If you are using my brew ratios, decrease your dose by only half a gram at a time, since you should already be close to the right dose.
TOO ACIDIC (SOUR)
This likely means your brew is underextracted—the water didn’t spend enough time with the coffee to extract all of its flavor molecules. (It might also mean that your coffee is brewed well but has a bright acidity that you don’t prefer. If that’s the case, there isn’t much you can do but log it for future reference. Live and learn!) Keep in mind that some people confuse sourness with bitterness, which is a separate issue that the solutions here can’t resolve. If you think this might be the case, try the tasting tip on page 185 to teach yourself how to identify acidity. Otherwise, let’s get that brew less sour. Try one or a few of these:
1.Decrease the dose. Using less coffee gives the water more opportunity to extract. However, this will weaken the body of the coffee. If you already like the way the coffee feels in your mouth (not too watery and not too heavy), skip this adjustment. If you do need to decrease your dose, decrease it by only half a gram at a time.
2.Tighten the grind. Do this only if the body is in a good spot and you don’t want to change it. If so, tighten the grind, but only in small increments, because this adjustment tends to both increase your contact time and make finer particles that are easier to extract. You don’t want to accidentally muddy the texture!
3.Decrease the bloom weight. Try this adjustment for pour-over methods only. Decreasing the bloom weight allows less water to drip through into your brewing vessel. Remember, the most acidic-tasting parts of the coffee extract first (see page 16). Decreasing the bloom weight means less acidity makes it into the cup. Decrease it by only half a gram at a time.
4.Increase the contact time. More contact time means more extraction. This is a better adjustment to make with immersion methods (for pour-over methods, pouring more slowly doesn’t just increase the contact time;
it can have a number of different effects and make results harder to predict).
5.Increase the agitation. Agitation helps coffee extract. For immersion methods, more agitation might mean more stirring. For pour-over methods, it might mean adding another interval of rest to your pulse method. It’s harder to increase agitation with continuous pouring. Also note that agitation can muddle flavors, making the cup feel dirtier (i.e., stronger).
6.Increase the temperature. If you are using very dense (high-grown) light-roast beans and/or a lower-temperature method, you may try increasing the water temperature. Both of these conditions make it harder for coffee solids to dissolve, and more heat can help address that.
TOO BITTER
This likely means your brew is overextracted—the water spent too much time extracting the coffee’s flavor molecules. All coffee is bitter, but this is an overly unpleasant bitterness. Let’s get that brew less bitter. Try this:
1.Increase the dose. Using more coffee gives the water less opportunity to extract. However, this will strengthen the body of the coffee. If you already like the way the coffee feels in your mouth (not too watery and not too heavy), skip this adjustment. If you do need to increase your dose, increase it by only half a gram at a time.
Craft Coffee Page 22