How to get the most out of your coffee

Essential: A grinder is the best investment you can make for your coffee. After it is ground, coffee immediately begins oxidizing and losing its flavor-laden aroma. Grinding immediately before brewing is absolutely essential to the quality of your coffee.

The French Press
The French Press is one of our favorite ways to make coffee. The press pot has been in service for more than a century, stoutly withstanding such innovations as instant coffee, the vacuum pot, and drip brewers by perpetually producing a thick-bodied, full-flavored cup of coffee. Its super-unobtrusive brew process is as beautiful as it is simple. If you have not tried French Pressed coffee, you are missing out on a wonderful world of aroma, taste and coffee nirvana.

Pros: French Pressed coffee has abundant body,

Cons: If you gag at the thought of sediment (a silt-like layer of fine grounds that haunts the bottom of every cup of French Pressed coffee), the press pot might not be for you. It’s also a bit time-consuming to clean.

1. Use 60 grams of coffee for every liter of water.
2. Bring fresh, filtered water to a boil
3. Remove the water from heat
4. Grind the coffee* and put it in the press pot. Don’t do this in advance. Grind immediately before brewing (under a minute).
5. Once the water has been off of the heat source for about 45 seconds (~205 degrees Fahrenheit) pour it over the ground coffee. Be sure to use the correct ratio of water to coffee.
6. Cover the pot with a plate or saucer to prevent heat loss
7. Let it steep for 3 minutes and 30 seconds
8. Stir the coffee with a wooden spoon and place the plunger on the press pot
9. Slowly, press the plunger through the coffee. This should take 30 to 45 seconds.
10. Pour your coffee and enjoy.

Note: The coffee should be decanted immediately after you press the plunger through the grounds. The longer it sits in the press pot, the bitterer it becomes.
*The coffee should be ground as fine as possible without passing through the wire filter or creating an intolerable amount of sediment. The finer the grind, the more extraction will take place in a shorter amount of time. Grind is extremely difficult to communicate, but try different setting on your grinder until you hit the sweet spot.

The Manual Pour-Over (Chemex, Filtercones, etc.)
The manual pour-over is a great, quick and simple way to make a cup of coffee. This method compliments acidity and the outcome is generally more balanced than a french press with tons of clarity in the cup.

Pros: Having more control over the variables in the brew process will almost always lead to a better cup of coffee. The resulting cup will be extremely clean- virtually no sediment. The clean up process is very easy, too.

Cons: Paper filters will always hold back a significant amount of flavor. People accustomed to press pot coffee might even find it weak.

:: Pour-Over Tips

• Rinse your filters before brewing. Rinse them well. If you don't papery tastes will often find their way into the cup.
• Use water that is about 208 degrees Fahrenheit. There will be heat loss because of the exposed nature of the pour-over, so you need to compensate by using water that is hotter than normal.
• Pre-infuse. This means wetting the grounds with a light coating of water before actual extraction. This should last 30-45 seconds. No water should drip though the filter during pre-infusion. Doing this allows trapped CO2 to be released before brewing, resulting in less bite in the cup.