Making good espresso takes time and effort. From weighing and grinding your beans to pulling your shot, it’s a pretty hands-on and focused process. This makes it all the more bitter (or sour, depending on your extraction) when you put in all that work only to end up with a mediocre-to-terrible-tasting shot to show for it. If this is something you experience regularly, it’s highly likely to be caused by a nasty little phenomenon called channelling.

The concept may intimidate you if this is the first time you’ve come across it, but don’t panic. It’s actually relatively easy to grasp, though actually preventing channelling itself may prove to be a bit harder. Read on and we’ll try to help you understand exactly why it happens, and what you can do about it.

Some background: extraction and channelling

Photo by Arisa Chattasa on Unsplash

If you’re reading this, you likely already know a fair amount of coffee theory, but let’s recap some important foundations.

The way your espresso (and coffee generally) tastes hinges primarily on what’s referred to as extraction: how much soluble coffee is extracted by the water you pass through your puck of ground coffee during the brewing process. Almost every variable you manipulate before and during the brewing process, like grind size and water temperature, goes some way towards controlling the degree of extraction in order to bring out the flavours you want in your espresso.

It’s all about balance. Too much extraction results in harsh, bitter-tasting espresso, whereas too little leads to something more sour and acerbic. Channelling isn’t an extraction problem unique to espresso, but it does come to the fore here more than in other brew methods because of one particular brewing variable: pressure.

In the espresso brewing process, water is forced through your coffee puck under very high pressure, around 9-bar, which facilitates the extraction of a higher concentration of the coffee's soluble compounds in a shorter time than other methods, and also contributes to the complex and concentrated flavours of espresso. Pressure is also behind the production of crema, that layer of delicious golden-brown foam found at the top of a shot of espresso.

Because it’s passed through the puck under such high pressure, water is prone to favour paths of least resistance in the puck itself, being areas in the puck that are less densely packed with ground coffee than others, and that are therefore easier for water to move through. This results in channelling, where water passes more quickly through certain areas (those that are less densely packed) than others, and therefore moves through the puck unevenly overall. This leads to a mix of both under and over-extracted coffee in the puck. When this happens, your espresso’s flavour will be unclear and muddled at best, and a horrible combination of bitterness and sourness at worst.

There’s also a specific kind of channelling called side-channelling, which is what it sounds like, where the coffee bed somehow becomes unseated and water channells through gaps between it and the sides of the portafilter. The border between the stainless-steel edges of the filter basket and your ground coffee is particularly prone to problems. Even minor disturbances of the coffee in this area may cause side channelling, so take care not to bump your portafilter against the group head or workstation after tamping, and make sure your grounds are evenly distributed prior to that. More on distribution a little later.

Because it's so uniquely unpleasant, you can pretty reliably tell when you’ve experienced channelling just by the taste of your shot, but this isn’t the only way to find that out. If you see that shot is pretty watery at the beginning of your pull, or if you pale streaks in what should otherwise be a dark, gooey flow, these are pretty sure visual indicators of channelling. A naked (or bottomless) portafilter is invaluable here, as it lets you see the extraction process clearly from the bottom of the basket. Using one, you’ll be able to see uneven and discoloured flow, and spurting, even more easily.

These are actually relatively easy problems to solve with a few equipment and technique improvements. However, fixing these still might not actually resolve your channelling issues or improve the taste of your shot all that much. That’s because these visual signs are indicative of large channels in the puck which actually don’t affect extraction quite as much as smaller, visually imperceptible microchannels. We’ll get onto how to minimise these a little further on, but for now, let’s talk about:

What actually causes channelling

A shot of espresso as seen from below a bottomless portafilter. Photo by Ryan Spaulding on Unsplash

There are a number of things that may cause channelling, which is part of what makes it a harder problem to solve than we’d like, but the first thing you should take a look at is your grinder and grinder settings. If you have a good grinder, grinding too fine is usually the problem rather than the inverse. When you’re grinding for espresso, you’re already grinding really fine, and it’s not difficult to overshoot the mark somewhat. When you grind too fine it results in excessive resistance in the portafilter basket and therefore excessive pressure when you pull your shot, which increases the likelihood of water seeking out and following a “path of least resistance” and causing channelling. Grinding finer also increases the potential for clumps, which are what they sound like: bits of your grounds that are stuck together. When clumps are tamped, they form disproportionately densely packed areas of your espresso puck, and this can lead to channelling.

If your grinder needs some maintenance or simply isn’t particularly good, you may find that your grounds aren’t too fine, they’re instead inconsistent, which is arguably even worse. If your grinder grinds inconsistently, you end up with coffee grounds of various sizes in the portafilter basket. In this case, your water isn’t going to flow evenly through the puck, instead flowing faster through areas of larger grounds, again causing channelling. If this is a problem you find yourself running into pretty often, it might be a sign that it’s time to upgrade your gear. Consider springing for something like one of Eureka’s Mignon grinders, which are specifically kitted with anti-clumping technology to limit your chances of channelling from the moment you start grinding.

Your basket itself may also be a problem. More specifically, you might be dosing wrong for your basket’s size. Your dose may look fine at first, but coffee grounds expand when they come into contact with water. If you’ve packed your basket too tightly (i.e. with too much coffee), your puck won’t have enough room to expand once you start pulling your shot, and it could end up pushing against the shower screen, causing channelling.

However, above all else, there’s one particular factor that most directly influences your shot’s likelihood of channelling: distribution.

Distribution

Undistributed ground coffee in a portafilter. Photo by Noora AlHammadi on Unsplash

Distribution refers to how your ground coffee is spread (i.e. distributed) within the portafilter basket prior to tamping. You want your grounds distributed evenly throughout the basket to allow for consistent water flow and even extraction. Clumps and general areas of uneven distribution are pretty much guaranteed to create paths of least resistance, and therefore cause channelling. You want to prevent and eliminate them as best you can before you lock your portafilter in and pull your shot, which is exactly what distribution and puck prep is all about.

The kit-free approach

There are a handful of tools you could pick up to this end, and we’ll talk about those in a second, but it’s worth noting that there are several things you can do that will likely improve your distribution without you needing to reach for your wallet just yet.

For example, a firm but gentle tap of your palm on the side of the portafilter helps spread everything a little more evenly inside of it. The same goes for lightly tapping the bottom of the portafilter a few times against your palm or your workstation’s countertop. Importantly, and this goes for all the distribution tools and techniques we’re about to cover, all of this happens prior to tamping. Don’t be tempted to give the portafilter one last tap after you’ve tamped, or you’ll just end up undoing all of your prep work.

There are also some pretty well-known distribution techniques that just take a little hands-on work, like the NSEW (North-South-East-West) method: you simply place your index finger flat across the top of the basket on one side, then use the base of your finger to push your mound of grounds around the basket, first away from your body, then towards it, then to the right and left (hence the name).

There’s also the Stockfleth method, where you place your thumb on the rim of the basket and your index finger straight across it, then rotate your hand and the portafilter below it in opposite directions. Repeat until your grounds are spread evenly to the sides.

GIF from Chris Baca's video on the stockfleth method

If you don’t trust yourself not to accidentally shove a finger right into the basket, you could also always use something straight and flat like a playing card. Just drag it across the rim of the basket like you would your finger in the NSEW method.

All of the above makes a pretty significant difference in terms of distribution, but they’ll only get you so far, especially because they’re mostly effective on the top layer of your grounds, but leave the lower areas relatively untouched. If you want to dive a little deeper, you’re going to need some more specialised kit.

Pre-infusion

While still seeming a little technical, this doesn’t involve any special equipment other than your espresso machine itself (provided it is pre-infusion-capable). Pre-infusion takes place after you’ve attached your portafilter to your machine’s group head and you’ve begun to brew, but before your shot properly begins. The term refers to the process of evenly wetting or saturating your ground coffee under very low pressure, too low to actually extract any espresso. Some machines have a programmable pre-infusion phase, some can do it manually, and there are even hacks to pre-infuse on machines that aren't specifically designed for it.

By saturating the puck in this way, when water pressure is increased as you brew it does so without finding any paths of least resistance, as the entire coffee bed is already evenly saturated once extraction begins. 

Dosing cup

Brew Tool's portafilter dosing cup

This isn’t a distribution-specific tool, but there are a number of benefits to grinding into a dosing cup. One is that it can help your distribution somewhat. Giving your grounds a decent shake in the cup before moving them to your portafilter can help break up some of the clumps that occur pretty inevitably when you grind fine enough for espresso.

Wedge distribution tool

Nucleus' Wedge Distribution Tool

Unlike a dosing cup, wedge distribution tools are, as the name suggests, specifically aimed at improving distribution. Though they may come in a number of shapes (the Nucleus Coffee Distributor is a particularly attractive example), a wedge distributor is generally a round, palm-sized tool with a series of sloped metal fins, or wedges, on one end. The idea is that you place the finned end into the portafilter basket prior to tamping and then twist it. The wedges move (distribute) the coffee evenly around the basket, but without actually applying enough pressure to prematurely tamp it, resulting in better distribution.

It’s important to note that, while wedge tools are more effective than a kit-free approach, they mostly influence the top layer of the coffee bed. If you want to ensure that your puck is as evenly distributed as possible, you’ll need something that can get to the clumps found below its surface, such as:

The Weiss Distribution Technique

Normcore's WDT

Named after the man who invented it back in 2005, John Weiss, the Weiss Distribution Technique (WDT) involves using a fine needle or needle-based tool to stir ground coffee in the portafilter prior to tamping. The fine needles break up clumps and even out distribution throughout the basket, not just the top layer of grounds, and this results in reduced channelling and more even extraction overall. For a relatively simple tool, its impact is significant: the Weiss Distribution Technique can reliably improve the quality and consistency of your espresso. 

With that said, the WDT does take a little more time and effort than using a wedge tool, which is much quicker by comparison. If you have the time and patience to comb through your ground coffee with a wire tool every time, that's great, but if you're pumping out shots at a rapid pace, like in a commercial setting, a wedge tool might suit you better. 

Shower screens and puck screens

Something a little different to the above that we’ve not really touched on just yet is the idea of water dispersion. Water dispersion is generally managed by your espresso machine’s shower screen, which is, simply put, the perforated metal circle at the group head where the water comes out during the brewing process and the last barrier between your espresso puck and the rest of your machine. Shower screens are designed to disperse water evenly over the coffee puck to ensure consistent saturation and, in turn, extraction.

A shower screen by La Marzocco

Shower screens, while variable, aren’t necessarily something you switch out regularly. If you start noticing taste issues in your espresso without having changed up your recipe or the rest of your equipment, that might be a sign that your shower screen is clogged up with coffee residue and needs to be cleaned. In the case that you find your shower screen damaged, you’ll need to replace it. That said, if you wanted, you could also upgrade the shower screen(s) your machine came with for something a little more specialised to further improve your extraction, like these Precision Shower Screens made by IMS.

Where shower screens come standard with any espresso machine, a puck screen, while fairly similar in both appearance and function, is an optional add-on. It’s a thin, perforated metal disk that you place atop your coffee puck in the portafilter prior to attaching it to the group head.

A generic puck screen

Puck screens function primarily to improve water dispersion, ensuring that your puck is evenly saturated with water as you brew, thereby lowering your risk of channelling and improving extraction. Moreover, because it separates the puck from the grouphead, it also helps keep the shower screen clean, and by extension gives you a little less to think about regarding regular long-term maintenance (though we would still recommend regularly cleaning your shower screen).

Being a relative newcomer to the espresso space, puck screens aren’t often touted as essential pieces of kit, but their advantages are becoming more and more obvious as they rise in popularity and use. Combined with any or all of the approaches and tools above, there’s no doubt that a puck screen will limit your chances of channelling and will improve the quality of your espresso.

To sum up: extracting the salient points

So there you have it. Channelling is a nasty little phenomenon that occurs during the espresso brewing process when water passes unevenly through the coffee puck. Specifically, because of it being pushed through the puck at such high pressures, water is inclined to search for and pass through “paths of least resistance” in areas of the puck where coffee grounds are packed less densely. These areas end up over-extracted, whereas the rest of the puck is left under-extracted, which generally leads to your espresso tasting murky, muddled, and often downright unpleasant. You can often notice channelling visually as you’re brewing, especially if you use a bottomless portafilter, but the surest indicator is in the taste of your shot.

Channelling can be caused by a number of factors, such as grinding too fine or too inconsistently, overfilling your portafilter basket, or neglecting to maintain your shower screen. Improper distribution of grounds, however, stands out as the primary cause for channelling. Improving your distribution prior to tamping is therefore vital to the brewing process, and can be accomplished using a number of puck-prep techniques and specialised equipment.

If channelling is something you’ve been struggling with, you now hopefully understand what it is and how to prevent it. As is usually the case with espresso, making noticeable changes takes a fair amount of trial and error, so don’t be discouraged if the first shot you pull after using a WDT for the first time still doesn’t come out perfect. Keep at it, and soon enough you’ll not only be pulling rich, gooey, flavourful shots, but you’ll also be doing it consistently.

If you travel often, be it for work or pleasure, chances are that at some point on the road, you’ve stared down at a cup of bitter, silty hotel coffee (which probably tastes suspiciously like instant) and thought to yourself, “There’s got to be a better way.”

The good news is, there is, and it’s not just hunting down the nearest chain shop for something coffee-flavoured without any metallic aftertaste. These days the coffee enthusiast has a range of options at her/his disposal for brewing fresh, delicious coffee on the road, whether that's hotel-hopping, bundu-bashing or backpacking from cheap hostel to cheap hostel. 

Here’s what you’ll need to brew the best cup of coffee you can while travelling.

The Scale

If you’re only just getting into the world of specialty coffee, you may not have heard this yet, but it's important: you need a scale. Why? So you can weigh your ingredients (i.e. coffee and water). Again, why? Simply put, one of the most important contributors to the overall taste and quality of your brew is your ratio of coffee to water. Fine-tuning this is crucial to finding your perfect cup, but to do this you need to know your numbers so you can repeat and adjust your ratios as you like, consistently. 

The only real tool for this is a scale. Eye-balling it and relying on spoons or the various scoops that come with some bags of pre-ground coffee and other paraphernalia will only get you so far, and leave a lot of room for ambiguity. Any small kitchen scale is generally sufficient, and most will fit fairly easily in your luggage.

That said, there is a range of great scales specifically designed for brewing coffee. This usually means they can weigh in 0.1g increments (most kitchen scales only measure in 1g increments which still leaves some room for error), and that they have a built-in timer. In addition to the coffee-water ratio, brew time is the other important numeric variable affecting your brew, but you could always do this with a phone or watch.

You can check out our range of scales right here, but for portability and ease-of-use we’d highly recommend the Constant Digital Pocket Scale or Wacaco’s Exgram scale.

The Water

You need water to brew coffee, and, save for specific brewing circumstances, you generally need that water to be hot. To that end, you’ll need a kettle. 

If you’re hotel-hopping at nice enough places, you may find an electric kettle of some description right in your room. This works well for a number of brewing methods, but if you’re brewing by campfire, need a more precise pour, or would rather not risk that your hotel doesn’t provide you with one, you’ll want your own kettle.

For this, we recommend Hario’s V60 Buono Drip Kettle. For travel, we specifically recommend the 1L model. It’s fairly compact as far as kettles go, and with its precise goose-neck spout, it’s perfectly suited to just about any brewing instrument. It’s also sturdy enough that you can use it right over an open fire if you’re camping. We’d usually recommend the larger 1.2L model if your suitcase can afford its additional bulk, but either will work perfectly once you’re ready and brewing.

The Grind

It’s a simple truth that anyone with even a passing interest in improving their brew needs to acknowledge sooner or later: freshly ground coffee is simply better than pre-ground coffee (like you might find at a hotel). It tastes better, it smells better, and not by a small margin either. If you want a truly delicious cup of coffee, you want to grind your beans just before you brew. To do that, you need a grinder (burr, not blade), and if you’re travelling, you want something that will easily fit into your suitcase, hiking pack, or duffel bag: in a word (or two), a hand grinder. 

You’d have a hard time finding a hand grinder that you can’t just toss into your suitcase, and an almost impossible time finding one that uses blades instead of burrs (Here’s why that’s important, plus more on grinders generally). For those not looking to break the bank, we recommend the Hario Mini-Slim Plus. Pint-sized and durable, its only significant downside is its capacity: it can only grind around 24g of coffee at a time, which is really only enough for one person. This sort of limit is pretty common for hand grinders; it’s the price you pay for portability. Naturally, you can get around this by just emptying your grinder out and grinding more if you’re brewing for more people.

If you can afford to spend a little more for a noticeably better quality grinder, we often recommend the Timemore Chestnut C. Made of aluminium alloy and featuring a dual bearing system for grind stability and consistency, and an adjustable grind setting suitable for just about any brew method, the Chestnut C is as premium as it looks, and well worth the asking price.

If your budget is a bit more generous, you could also consider Comandante, the brand that arguably blazed the trail for the premium hand grinder category. The X25 Trailmaster is made of a technopolymer which makes it perfectly durable even for the roughest hikes, and it effortlessly grinds to any consistency, consistently, thanks to its patented Nitro Blade burr set. 

With that said, grinders come in a lot of shapes and sizes, and while they all aim to accomplish the same main goal, they can often come with qualities you may or may not really want. Have a look around and you’ll undoubtedly find one that fits your needs. 

The Brewer

Here’s the fun bit. The coffee-loving nomad has a number of portable brewing tools available to them these days. 

Right out of the gate, an obvious pick for a travel brewer is the AeroPress (and, by extension, the slightly smaller AeroPress Go). It’s easy to use, compact, and versatile, allowing for long, smooth cups or short, intense, espresso-style drinks. It also comes with a range of third-party accessories (which are also generally very portable), if you’d like to take your brew to new heights. True, it’s not exactly built to brew more than one or two cups at a time, but there are ways around this problem. 

Additionally, if you’d like to avoid the hassle of travelling with hundreds of the AeroPress’s micro-filters, we recommend you pick up a reusable metal filter like this. One of the most convenient aspects of the AeroPress is that it doesn’t demand the precise pour that most pour-over brew methods do, so you don’t need a gooseneck kettle to get the best results. You could probably even get by boiling your water in a pot or saucepan so long as you’re careful when it comes time to pour.

If you would prefer to enjoy a traditional pour-over coffee while you’re travelling, we’d recommend the Hario V60. Arguably a symbol of the specialty coffee world, the V60 is an essential piece of kit whether you’re on the road or not, and it’s really not going to take up much space in your bag. The plastic model is specifically suited to travel due to its durability. Just don’t forget to stock up on paper filters before you head out. 

If the classic pour-over still seems a bit overcomplicated (and we won’t judge you if you feel that way) check out the aptly-named Simplify Brewer, which, thanks to several clever design choices, brews delicious pour-over coffee without requiring any fancy pouring techniques. Or, take a look at the Clever Dripper, which capitalises on the best qualities of both pour-over and immersion brewing methods to make up for their individual limitations. These are made of durable BPA-free plastic and nylon, respectively, so you don’t have to worry about them breaking in your suitcase.

If you’re more familiar with the French press brewing style, there are many small, portable plungers to choose from. We’d specifically recommend something that isn’t made of glass though, like this, to avoid possible breakages during baggage handling. You could also consider packing a small moka pot. Moka pots are generally quite sturdy so there’s no chance that they’ll break in your luggage, and they also don’t require their own kettle because your water is boiled in the pot itself. As long as you have a heat source, say a stove top or even a campfire, you’re good to go.

If you’d prefer to enjoy something closer to an espresso while out and about, we highly recommend Wacaco’s Nanopresso. Wacaco makes a lot of great portable coffee equipment, but mobile espresso makers like the Nanopresso are what they’re best known for. This light and impressively compact gadget promises to deliver the best quality espresso you could hope to achieve other than with an actual espresso machine, and, unlike the AeroPress or one of the pour-over brewers mentioned above, the Nanopresso requires no filters that you could easily forget if you’re rushing for a flight.

Something to drink out of

Image by Wacaco

Naturally, brewing coffee usually requires something to actually brew into and drink out of. If you’re staying in an Airbnb, hotel, or something similar, chances are you’ll be able to find at least a generic mug or two somewhere. If your travels often take you to cupless, mugless places, we have several kinds of travel mugs on offer that you can throw into your bag without a second thought.

The Beans

Finally, and this goes without saying, the most important thing you’ll need to brew a delicious cup of coffee on the road is: delicious coffee. Specifically, delicious coffee beans. 

Now, if your travels allow it, we’d recommend hunting down a local roastery or two wherever you are and trying out what they have on offer. Otherwise, you can always check out the beans we have in stock, all of which would be glad to accompany you wherever you may roam.

And there you have it! Say goodbye to gritty hotel instant and hello to delicious coffee every morning no matter where you go. Safe travels, and happy brewing.

The customers who popped by all thoroughly enjoyed both the demonstrations and the delicious pour-over brews, so we asked Neil to share his recommendations on how to brew with the Kalita Wave. Below you’ll find his very detailed response to that very question. It’s all the guidance you need to get great results with your Kalita Wave pour-over dripper!

Neil's Kalita Wave brew guide

The Kalita Wave is the ideal brewer for those looking for an easy to use and incredibly consistent pour-over coffee maker. The Kalita’s flat bottom and unique filter design allow for a more even extraction and reduced channelling. The flow rate is slower than most pour-over drippers which allows for longer contact time between coffee and water, resulting in a brew that is brimming in body, sweetness and clarity.

What you will need

• Kalita Wave brewer
• Kalita Wave filter papers (the size that matches your brewer)
• Pour-over kettle
• Coffee scale and timer
• Jug large enough to hold 400ml (A 500ml Kalita Pour-Over Server will work perfectly)
• Coffee grinder
• Optional: a thermometer (or temperature adjustable kettle)

Kalita Wave recipe basic parameters

• Brew ratio 1:16 (1 part coffee to 16 parts water)
• 25 grams of medium-coarse ground coffee (similar to a V60 grind)
• 400g of 94ºC water
• Total brew time of 2 minutes 30 seconds

Kalita Wave brew recipe

1. Insert your filter paper into the Kalita brewer, rinse the paper filter thoroughly using your heated kettle and discard the rinse water.
2. Add the ground coffee into the dripper and give the dripper a little shake to level the grounds out.
3. Pour 60g of water, ensuring all the coffee gets wet, and allow the coffee to bloom for 30s.
4. At the 30s mark pour 100g of water in concentric circles moving your way from the centre of the dripper to the outside in 6 circles.
5. At 45s pour 60g of water in 3 concentric circles.
6. Repeat step 5 at 1m and 1m15s
7. At 1m45s take the total brew weight up to 400g with a final pour.
8. The dripper should be completely drained by around 2m30s; if not adjust your grind setting (coarser to make it faster; finer to make it slower).

Pouring summary:

About the author

Neil Gouws is one of South Africa's top competitive baristas. Like many of the country's most talented, Neil got his start at Origin Coffee Roasting where he started as a barista and eventually became lead barista and head trainer. He has an impressive competitive record both at the Western Cape regional barista competition and the South African Barista Championship competitions where he has placed 2nd, 3rd & 4th over a period of three years.

Neil now works with a number of coffee equipment brands in the commercial and domestic space, comprising both espresso equipment and manual brewing equipment like Kalita. We count ourselves lucky to work closely with him, and also to have him help us out with customer training. You can follow Neil and his coffee exploits on Instagram.

Not to worry, we are here to help you get your office coffee up to standard! While bean to cup machines are a great easy fix to the problem, this blog post is going to look at a couple of alternative setups that will make significantly better coffee and make your office the envy of the town!

Brew Bar

If you are looking for variety in your office coffee, or maybe you're looking for the best bang for your buck, then a brew bar is definitely the set up for you! A kettle, a grinder, some scales and a couple of coffee makers, and you will have almost all the bases covered!

Once you've got the basics covered, choose your brewer (or your selection of brewers if you want to keep the variety up) and get ready to enjoy amazing coffee at the office.

AeroPress

Iconic, virtually indestructible, easy to clean and easy to use, no other brewer on the planet has achieved the same cult following that the AeroPress has. With countless accolades and tournaments dedicated to this brewer all around the globe, no brew bar would be complete without an AeroPress.

Able to brew from 1 to 4 cups at a time (this is based on 125ml cups, and made from concentrate), you can use the AeroPress to brew for yourself or for a few colleagues.

Check out the AeroPress here.

Pour-over

Whether it is a Chemex, a Hario V60 or one of the more obscure pour-over brewers that keep popping up on the market, the pour-over is the darling brewer of third-wave coffee culture. Known for its simplicity and ability to highlight delicate and nuanced flavours in a coffee, a pour-over brewer will no-doubt keep the specialty coffee connoisseurs in the office satisfied! This is a great option for brewing a single cup, or coffee for 2 to 3 people.

Check out our range of pour-over coffee makers and accessories here.

French Press

Not everyone wants to go down the rabbit hole of the science of coffee brewing and embark on the endless pursuit of the perfect cup of coffee, and that is okay. That is why you need a classic brewer, such as the French press, that everyone loves and knows how to use. Quite simply, if you put good coffee beans in, you get a good cup of coffee out (with a little attention to detail of course)!

With a range of sizes offering everything from a single serving up to 3-4 servings at at a time, the the French press gives you lots of options.

Check out the full French press range here.

The Wild Card

With so many unique and interesting brewers on the market these days, you can't possibly have a brew bar that showcases them all, but there is definitely room for one wild card. Why not check out something unique like a siphon, a Clever Dripper or a Delter Press.

Check out all our coffee makers here.

What You Will Need

No matter which brewer(s) you end up selecting, you will need some extra accessories to complete your brew bar setup.

• A selection of coffee makers (as described above)
• A grinder
• A scale
• A kettle
• Filters

Espresso Bar

If you want no half measures in your office and you really want the best money can buy, then an espresso machine is the solution to your lack-of-caffeine problem. While it does require a bit of a learning curve (lucky for you, we have a blog post on this), an espresso machine will deliver much better coffee than any bean to cup machine will, if you know how to use it. From creamy cappuccinos and silky flat whites to espresso and americanos, an espresso machine will give you everything that your local cafe does.

From the tiny footprint of the Rancilio Silvia to the ultra-premium Slayer, and the likes of La Marzocco and Rocket filling the gaps in between, there really is an espresso machine for every office and every budget.

Check out our full range of espresso machines and grinders for the office here.

Espresso can be a complex topic and involves a bit of a learning curve. We would be happy to arrange some training with you and your staff if you do go down this route. Feel free to get in touch; we are happy to help.

What You Will Need

As with all brew methods, you will need a few bits and pieces to complete your espresso set up

• Espresso machine
• Espresso grinder
• Tamper
• Scale
• Cleaning materials
• Knock box
• Tamping mat
• Milk frothing pitchers

Batch Brew

If you are the type of person that is driven by economies of scale, and you want a coffee solution that will deliver amazing coffee, to lots of people with minimal effort, then batch brew is definitely for you! Easy to use and designed to brew up to larger volumes of coffee at once, the Technivorm Moccamaster is what keeps the staff at CCB caffeinated all day (and we go through a lot of coffee).

With batch brew, you really can experience the best of both worlds: you get delicious tasting coffee, but you still have options and variety on the table. You can have a selection of beans and brew a different coffee each day of the week.

See our full collection of Batch brewers here.

What You Will Need

Once again, a few accessories to help you measure your variables will make your batch brew top-notch.

• Batch Brewer
• Grinder
• Scale
• Filters

The Beans

The last thing and probably the most important thing to remember is the coffee beans themselves. The one area where we see so many businesses with the best intention to provide great coffee to their employees go astray is with the coffee beans. Whatever method you choose to brew with, your coffee will only ever be as good as your coffee beans. If you decide you're only going to do one thing to contribute to your employees caffeination endeavours, make that one thing buying great coffee.

We work with some of Cape Town's best coffee roasting businesses. If you're looking for great coffee beans, no matter your taste preference, look no further.

Pass The Puck

As a last resort, if you are looking for some other way to get your employees to stop nagging about the coffee situation, why not send them the blog post we put together that will help them bring their own coffee into the office?

So, you have begged and pleaded with the powers that be in your workplace. You have mentioned how coffee can increase productivity and reported its health benefits. You even created a spreadsheet and a presentation to try to drive the points home. It seems that no matter what you do, you are stuck in your office with nothing more than instant coffee and a kettle.

We feel your pain, and we agree. Something has to change. We've taken it upon ourselves to put together a list of coffee brewers that are compact, robust, easy to use, easy to clean and easy to travel with. These 5 brewers are the perfect answer to your office coffee issues.

AeroPress Go

Any list of portable coffee brewers would be wholly incomplete without an AeroPress in the mix, and the AeroPress Go is the ultimate pack up and go travel brewer. It also happens to be one of the most versatile coffee brewers on the market and consistently delivers spectacular coffee.

If you fancy something a little closer to espresso-style coffee, why not pair your AeroPress with a Fellow Prismo?

Nanopresso

It truly is quite incredible what Wacaco has done with the Nanopresso! When a pocket-sized brewer arrived on the market that claimed to be able to brew espresso-style coffee, everyone at CCB was dubious. Much to our surprise (and delight), this little brewer proved us wrong and is as close as you can get to espresso without an espresso machine!

If you're a coffee fanatic and a single espresso just won't cut it, look at adding on the Barista Kit to allow for double shots!

Delter Press

Despite looking similar to an AeroPress, the Delter Press employs a fundamentally different style of brewing. If light and delicate pour-over-style coffee is your jam, then the Delter Press is definitely the office brewer for you! Conveniently designed so that you don't need all the accessories that a pour-over brewer requires, the Delter Press makes delicious coffee in a compact and convenient package, perfect for the office.

If you're looking for some coffee for your Delter Press, check out our coffees for pour-over collection.

Pipamoka

The second coffee maker in this list made by Wacaco, the Pipamoka is an incredibly versatile, all in one, vacuum coffee brewer. The design of this brewer allows you to prep all your coffee at home, chuck this brewer in your bag and when you get to the office, just add hot water and brew. Once you are done you can put it back together, put it back in the bag, and only worry about cleaning it when you get home.

Versatile enough to make short, intense espresso-style coffees and longer filter coffees, the Pipamoka really does do it all! 

Clever Dripper

It never ceases to amaze us how little effort is needed to brew with the Clever dripper. No pieces, no plunging, no pressing - just add coffee and water, wait 3-4 min and enjoy! If you want a no-fuss, no-mess coffee brewer that delivers incredibly delicious coffee, look no further than the Clever dripper.

Don't forget to stock up on paper filters.

Grinders

A coffee grinder is an essential piece of kit for any avid coffee lover. There truly is no substitute for freshly ground coffee. If you want to take your office brews to the next level, a good grinder will make all the difference.

Hand grinders are the perfect answer to getting freshly ground coffee at the office! Check out our range of manual coffee grinders here.

Accessories

A scale is another must-have piece of equipment for the amateur barista wanting to make great coffee. Measuring your brews allows you to make sure your cup of coffee is consistent each and every time.

From scales to kettles, timers and filters, there are a number accessories that can really help take your coffee brewing to the next level, and a lot of them are small enough to carry around in your bag or keep in the office. Check out these extras that can help make sure your coffee is amazing, every time.

If all else fails, why not try to persuade your boss to help out by sending him or her our blog post for employers.

For a long time, espresso and all the joys that it brings, has been just out of reach for the average home-brewer. That is until Wacaco came along with the Nanopresso and changed all that. 

We've put together a simple guide on how to use the Wacaco Nanapresso, but there are hundreds of brew guides for the Nanopresso out there, so we thought it would be a nice idea to explore some of the espresso-based drinks that become an option when you have a Nanopresso.

What you need

• Wacaco Nanopresso
• Grinder
• 8g good quality fresh coffee (16g for the Barista Kit)
• Boiling water

Optional Extras

• Wacaco Barista Kit
• Scale

Brew Guide

Step 1: Preheat

When brewing with the Nanopresso, it is extremely important that you preheat the brewer. If you don't preheat your Nanopresso, the brewer will absorb most of the heat from the water, and by the time the water gets to the coffee, it will be too cold for a decent extraction. To preheat the Nanopresso, just fill the chamber with water, put it all together and pump it through the brewer once.

Step 2: Grind

Grind 8g of fresh, good quality coffee (Grind 16g if you are using the Barista Kit). You want to grind this relatively fine, somewhere between how you would grind for Aeropress and how you would grind for espresso. If your grinder doesn't go fine enough for espresso, grinding it on the finest setting should be just about right, if it does go fine enough for espresso, you want to move it a few clicks coarser.

Step 3: Dose and tamp

Insert your coffee into the basket and compress the ground coffee by tamping it. If you have purchased the Barista Kit, you will have a handy little tamper for this. If you just have the regular Nanopresso, the scoop is designed to fit neatly into the basket and works perfectly as a tamper.

Step 4: Add water

Fill the water tank with boiling water. Since heat will be lost as you pump the water through the Nanopresso, you don't want to use water off the boil. Instead, you want to use water that is at a rolling boil. By the time the water reaches the coffee, it should be at an optimum temperature for brewing espresso.

Step 5: Pump

Assemble the Nanopresso and start pressing the pump slowly (about 1 pump per second) until the liquid starts to pour from the spout. When pulling your espresso shot, you don't want to pull all the water through the coffee. For the regular Nanopresso, you want to make about 15g of espresso and with the Barista Kit, about 30g of espresso.

Step 6: Enjoy

And there you have it.  A quick, easy and well-extracted espresso shot.

Check out Wacacos video brew guide below.

Now, let's talk about all the things you can do now that you have espresso at home!

Interesting Espresso Ideas

While espresso on its own is a delicious drink to savour, the experience can be quite a short one. If you want to sit and savour a longer drink, here are some of our favourite espresso drink ideas.

The Usual Suspects

Before we get into some of the more out-there ideas, let's point out the usual suspects and get them out of the way. The Nanopresso is a fantastic option for making all the espresso-based drinks you might be used to. Americanos, cappuccinos, lattes and flat whites can all be made from the comfort of your own home with a Nanopresso. If you want to make milk-based drinks, why not check out our Bialetti milk frother.

Espresso Tonic

The espresso tonic truly is a drink that is greater than the sum of its parts. It's one of my all-time favourite drinks for a hot summer's day, plus, it's incredibly simple to make! 

Ingredients:

• Double shot of espresso
• Tonic water
• Lemon zest
• Ice

How to:

1. Add ice and tonic water to a glass
2. Pour double espresso over the iced tonic water
3. Squeeze the oils from the lemon zest into the glass and rub the rind on the rim of the glass
4. Garnish with a twist of lemon zest
5. Enjoy!

Espresso Old Fashioned

Coffee cocktails have been real crowd pleasers for as long as coffee and cocktails have existed! This caffeinated twist on a classic cocktail is no exception!

Ingredients:

• Double shot of espresso
• Double shot (50ml) of Irish Whiskey
• 2 x teaspoons dark demerara sugar
• Dash of Angostura bitters
• Ice
• Orange peel

How to:

1. In a cocktail shaker, add your hot espresso, sugar and 5 shakes of Angostura bitters. Stir vigorously to dissolve the sugar. Adding the sugar to the hot espresso, before you add ice, will help it dissolve easier.
2. Add ice and whisky
3. Stir until the shaker has frosted and the volume of the liquid has doubled from melted ice
4. Strain over ice
5. Squeeze the oils from the zest of an orange into a lighter flame over the surface of the drink (optional)
6. Garnish with a twist of orange peel.
7. Enjoy!

Affogato

Coffee and ice cream - what could possibly go wrong with this grown-up twist on a childhood favourite. While we will concede that it technically isn't a drink, It truly is too delicious to ignore.

Ingredients:

• A scoop of your favourite ice cream
• A double espresso of your favourite coffee

How to:

1. Put the ice cream in a bowl
2. Pour the espresso over the ice cream
3. Garnish with toasted nuts of your choosing
4. Enjoy!

Any other ideas?

And there you have it! There's actually quite a lot that you can do with a Nanopresso. Have you found any other drink ideas that you enjoy? Feel free to share them in the comments section below!

Espresso: a delightfully rich and intense coffee nectar that is a result of forcing hot water through finely ground coffee with about 9 bars of pressure.

So, you have bought your first Espresso machine, and you need some help getting those shots perfect. When done right, espresso can be rich, sweet and full of complexity. When done wrong it can bitter, dry and acrid.  Well, you have come to the right place. This blog post is here to take you through the basics of espresso and how to get the best tasting shot from your new setup!

What you need

Let’s start with the basics. What do you need to make espresso at home? The essentials for making espresso are:

• An espresso machine
• A grinder that can grind fine enough for espresso
• A tamper
• A timer (your phone will do)
• Good quality, freshly ground coffee.

If you want to get serious about espresso, here are some extras that will help you get the most out of your espresso:

• A scale
• A distribution tool
• A naked or bottomless portafilter
• A measured shot glass

Before we begin

As a quick foreword, it's important to mention that the most important thing about brewing espresso, like with brewing all coffee, is consistency. Small changes can make a huge differences in the resulting cup. When it comes to consistency, you can really go down the rabbit hole in terms of the level of detail you can go into, so we'll provide a few options throughout this post, from advice on how to eyeball your measurements, to weighing it out to the nearest 0.1g.

Furthermore, while this blog post should give you a solid grounding in how to make espresso and provide you with a great starting point, you should consider these as guidelines more than hard and fast rules. Coffee is wildly complex and I have no doubt that there will be times when coffee tastes its best outside of these parameters!

At CCB, we don't generally like to pour single espressos. You need to grind very fine to get a reasonable tasting shot and this can often lead to channeling and other issues. In addition, the changes between a single and double espresso are generally so large that maintaining any sort of consistency can be a bit of a nightmare. We'd recommend either pouring or drinking doubles or splitting a double shot for two singles.

So now that that is out of the way... Let’s make some coffee!

The brew guide

Step 1: choose your coffee

The most important factor in brewing any sort of coffee, is that you use good quality coffee. No amount of skilled brewing can make a bad coffee taste good. It is also quite important that you choose the right coffee for your espresso. This might take a little bit of time as you learn how different coffees behave in different ways when brewed as an espresso, but here are a few guidelines to help you when starting out

If you have a favourite roaster and they have an espresso blend, this is a great place to start. These are generally quite easy to work with and naturally well balanced in espresso. Playing around with these coffees before moving onto single origins would be the easiest way to find your feet.

When choosing a coffee, it is good to be aware that brewing for espresso will often highlight a lot of a coffee's acidity. If you are brewing an already acidic coffee, it can be far more challenging to get a well balanced cup, and you can find yourself fighting a losing battle against sour tasting shots. That's not to say that you can't get a delightful tasting Kenyan on espresso with vibrant fruity acidity that dances around your palate - it is just significantly more difficult to achieve. If you are just starting out, you will have an easier time working with a coffee that has medium to heavy body and a mild acidity. Often naturally processed coffee (particularly those grown at low altitudes) are a great option and if it has tasting notes of chocolates and/or nuts, this is a good sign. 

These are the types of coffee that will behave quite well on espresso and most likely yield a delicious tasting shot, with little to no fuss. Once you have the basics mastered and you are ready to start experimenting, then it's a great time to start looking at the juicier and more acidic coffees.

Step 2: dose & grind

I think it goes without saying that it is essential to use freshly ground coffee - this is even more important when it comes to espresso! A good quality grinder is one of the best investments you can make in your home espresso set-up. There is an argument to be made that the grinder is the most important element of any brew set up, but that is a conversation for another day!

For a double espresso, 18g of ground coffee is a good start. If you have a smaller portafilter or a smaller basket, you might need to use less, but we'll talk about how to adjust for that later in the post. We recommend weighing out your ground coffee, but if you are not weighing your coffee, we do still recommend that you take steps towards consistency. A couple of easy options include using measured scoops of coffee, or filling the espresso basket and scraping the top off, ensuring you always have the basket filled to same level. Your coffee needs to be ground into a fine powder, for a visual reference, you want it to be about the consistency of castor sugar.

Finding your grind settings is going to take time and practice, and it’s going to change more often than you would like. It’s important to remember that your grind settings will be affected by things like the density and freshness of your coffee beans as well as environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.

Step 3: tamp

It might seem small and trivial, but making sure you tamp correctly can make the world of difference in the quality of your espresso. The goal of tamping is to compress all the grounds evenly within the portafilter. The result should be a flat and smooth bed of coffee.

Most people don’t realise this, but you begin to approach maximum density very quickly when tamping (if that sentence is a bit confusing, check out the Barista Hustle article, How hard should you tamp). Simply put, this means that you don’t need to tamp too hard and the extra effort becomes redundant very quickly.

The most important factor in tamping is maintaining a flat surface. If you tamp unevenly your entire extraction is going to be uneven, under-extracting one side and over-extracting the other, getting the worst of both worlds.

A good quality tamper and a distribution tool (such as the Motta or OCD) will make marked improvements on the quality of your extraction. If you want to go the extra mile with your espresso set up, the Puqpress will automate your tamping, ensuring it is perfect every time. Otherwise, just make sure to tamp firm and tamp flat and you’re already there.

Step 4: pull the shot

The last step is to pull the shot. Insert the portafilter, make sure it is locked in place, place your cup below the spouts, start your timer and press the button (or pull the lever) to start pouring your shot

This is where all the measurements and variables come in to play. A 2:1 ratio of ground coffee to brewed espresso is a good starting point. This means that if you are using 18g of ground coffee, you want to get 36g of black golden nectar out. We recommend using a brew scale and weighing your espresso, however, if that is a step too far, you can use a measured espresso glass to get the same amount out each time. Otherwise, try and weigh the first few shots you brew and use those to get a rough idea of how much espresso 36g is - and (provided you use the same cup) you should be able to eyeball a similar amount each time.

If you are using a smaller basket and can't use 18g of espresso, you can still use the 2:1 coffee to espresso ratio (e.g. 15g ground coffee to 30g liquid espresso or 16g ground coffee to 32g liquid espresso etc).

The second variable is time. If you are working with a medium roast coffee, you want to shoot for between 25 and 30 seconds for a well extracted espresso shot - a darker roast might taste best running a little faster and a lighter roast a little slower. If you find your shots running fast, the first thing you want to try is grinding a little finer. If that doesn't work, you can also try dosing a little more coffee.

Keep reading below for some troubleshooting tips that should help decide when to grind finer, when to dose more and how to make your shots taste better.

Step 5: enjoy

And there you have it. You should have a rich, sweet and delectable espresso. This is hands down and without a doubt the most important step in this journey. All that's left is to chill out in your favourite spot, sip it slowly (or knock it back) and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

As you progress along your journey into coffee, your ability to taste and identify more intricate and complex flavours will develop. If you want to explore taste and flavour, James Hoffman's coffee vlog is a great place to learn. Why not start off by checking out this vlog about swirling your espresso and why you shouldn't do it.

Espresso troubleshooting

Despite being a seemingly simple exercise, brewing espresso can be detailed and complex. Sometimes, things don't quite go according to plan. We've compiled a short list of common espresso problems and how to fix them.

Sour taste: one of the most common issues brewing espresso, particularly with lighter roasted coffee, is ending up with a sour tasting shot. This is caused by under extraction. In order to fix this, you want to increase the time that your shot runs for (if needs be, don't be afraid of pushing it outside of of the guidelines outlined above). In order to extend the time your shot pours for you need to grind finer.

Weak or thin espresso: this is generally due to using too little coffee or too much water in your espresso resulting in a weak cup. If you stick to the 1 part coffee (18g) to 2 part espresso (36g), you shouldn't have this problem. With that in mind, this is a great variable to play with - sometimes pulling a slightly longer shot really opens up the complexity in your espresso, a little like adding a drop of water to your whiskey.

Bitter or astringent espresso: Bitterness is usually caused by over extraction and astringency usually comes from channeling (channeling is where the water makes a pathway through the coffee puck and only pours through this pathway, causing uneven extraction). Both of these problem can be fixed by grinding a little coarser and letting your shots run a little faster.

Tried everything and coffee still runs too fast: If you've tried everything and the espresso is still running too fast, your coffee might be old and stale. Freshly roasted and freshly ground coffee is essential for good espresso.

Espresso tastes flat: Flat tasting coffee is a result of the beans being stale. To avoid this, make sure that you are grinding your coffee immediately before brewing and buying freshly roasted beans.

Barista Hustle Espresso Compass: If you want to explore this further, there are some great resources out there; a great place to start is Barista Hustle's espresso compass. It provides a great visual reference for how making various changes has  an impact on the resulting cup. Check it out here.

Final thoughts

This is the beginning of an exciting journey of experimentation and flavour where you will get to explore all that espresso has to offer! You will have some delightful coffees, and you will most likely have some coffees that are as uncooperative as a 3 year old on caffeine.

Let us know about your explorations - what coffees you're loving and what coffees are a struggle; we'd love to hear about your espresso recipes. Are you pulling standard shots or are you trying something different? Do you have any questions? Leave us a comment below!

Of course everything in this blog post is open to discussion and I’d encourage you to join the conversation with your findings, questions or feedback in the comments section below. We’d love to hear what works best for you and to test out new ideas!

About the Trinity ONE Brewer

The Trinity ONE Brewer was created by Australian inventor Mark Folker, who wanted to combine his love of coffee and his engineering background to produce the world's first multi-purpose, manual brewing appliance.

The Trinity ONE might be best known for the clever way it makes Aeropress-style brews with its own built in weight (no pressing required), but it’s also designed to brew pour-overs, and immersion-style brews, making it a very cool 3-in-1 coffee maker.

Why I personally love the Trinity ONE

I love the convenience of having three brew methods in one coffee maker. You might say it’s actually four brew methods because you can also make cold brew. The makers of the Trinity themselves market it as three brew methods in one brewer: press, immersion and drip. In my mind I think of it as Aeropress, French press and pour-over.

I also love how consistent it is. If I use consistent brewing parameters, I get quite consistent results, and as you probably know, consistency is very important in coffee brewing!

Lastly, I love the Trinity’s looks. It is a beautiful piece of equipment to have in your kitchen at home or even on the counter in your café. 

Challenges you might face in using the Trinity ONE Brewer

The Trinity Brewer definitely excels when you are very precise with your parameters, but on the other hand if you’re not precise with your parameters you may find it less forgiving than other manual coffee brewers. For example, I found that if I didn’t start the press at exactly 45s and was a little late, then the brew would run much longer than I intended, making a big difference to the extraction and flavour.

I also found that the grind size needed to be perfectly ‘dialled in’. If the grind size was too fine then the extraction would be completely off. This was particularly true with the press method, where too fine of a grind would slow down the press cylinder significantly.

Having said all that, with the correct variables, the results from the Trinity ONE Brewer are truly delicious. Below you’ll find the recipes I used to get the tastiest results.

Trinity ONE Press Method

You will need:

• Your Trinity ONE Brewer
• A kettle (ideally with temperature control or a thermometer)
• A scale (one that can hold a lot of weight, remember the trinity is ~3.5kgs on its own)
• A coffee grinder
• An Aeropress paper/stainless steel filter
• Something to stir your coffee (ideally something with a flat surface)
• A decanter to brew into
• Some delicious fresh coffee beans (obviously)

Brewing Guide:

Step 1: Heat your water

You would ideally like your water to be at 93ºC when you start brewing. You are going to need 250ml of water so you should heat about 500ml of water for brewing and rinsing purposes.

Step 2: Weigh out 17.5g of coffee beans

You will need 17.5g of coffee for the 250ml of water. On the Severin we have in the shop I used a grind size of 5. On a Baratza Encore grinder, I’d recommend a grind setting of 12. Basically you will need to grind on the same setting that you would for an Aeropress which is medium fine coarseness.

Don’t grind your coffee just yet, as you want it to be as fresh as possible so wait for your kettle to finish boiling first.

Step 3: Prepare the Trinity

Add an Aeropress paper or stainless steel filter into the portafilter on the Trinity. Insert your portafilter into your Trinity ONE brewing chamber, lock it into place and open the valve. Once your kettle has come to temperature, preheat your Trinity and wet your filter by pouring some water over the top. When all the water has poured through you can now close the valve on the portafilter. 

Step 4: Grind your coffee and tare the scale

Now you can grind your beans and check that your water is at 93ºC. Add your 17.5g of coffee into the brewing chamber. Put your Trinity on the scale, put your decanter in place and 0 your scale and timer. Have your cap, stirrer and Trinity press cylinder ready to go.

Step 5: Add 250ml of water in two stages and stir

Add 100ml of water and start your timer. Start by pouring the water into the middle first and then go out in circles. Do not just pour the water down the sides of the brew chamber as then you’ll find you get inconsistent extraction as the coffee grounds on the side will be in contact with more water than the grinds in the middle.

Once you reach 100ml stop pouring and gently stir the coffee into the water so everything is evenly wet. At 20 seconds pour the rest of your water, up to 250ml and then gently stir once more. Be careful not to touch the filter when you are stirring as you might lift the filter up.

Step 6: Press (2m30s)

After your second stir place the filter cap on the Trinity without the weight attached. At 45 seconds open the valve and then put the weighted press cylinder into the cap. The weight should then begin to press the coffee and water down. You want this process to finish within about 2m45s of total brew time.

Step 7: Clean up

Once all your coffee has dripped through you can then close the valve and remove your decanter. Leave the weight in the chamber as it will push the wet grounds down into the portafilter to make it easier to remove them. If the grinds are still stuck to the cap then remove the cap with the portafilter. Knock your old wet grounds and filter out of the portafilter and wipe down the cap.

You can now insert your portafilter back into the Trinity and leave the valve open. Use another decanter and pour hot water through the brew chamber and portafilter to clean out any remaining coffee. You can leave your valve open for the rest of the water to drip through until your Trinity is dry.

Trinity ONE Drip Method

You will need:

• Your Trinity ONE Brewer
• A kettle (ideally with temperature control or a thermometer)
• A scale (one that can hold a lot of weight, remember the trinity is ~3.5kgs on its own)
• A coffee grinder
• A Hario size 03 filter, or a Chemex folded square/circle filter
• Something to stir your coffee (ideally something with a flat surface)
• A decanter to brew into
• Some delicious fresh coffee beans (obviously)

Brewing Guide

Step 1: Heat your water

You would ideally like your water to be at 93ºC when you start brewing. You are going to need 400ml of water so you should heat about 600ml of water for brewing and cleaning purposes.

Step 2: Weigh out 28g of coffee beans

You will need 28g of coffee for the 400ml of water. On the Severin we have at CCBHQ I used a grind size of 10, and on the Baratza Encore, I used a grind size 16. You will need to grind on the same setting that you would for a pour-over which is on the coarser side of filter.

Don’t grind your coffee just yet, as you want it to be as fresh as possible so wait for your kettle to finish boiling first.

Step 3: Prepare the Trinity

Add a Hario size 03 filter, or a Chemex folded square/circle filter to the top of the Trinity brew chamber. Insert your portafilter, lock it into place and make sure that it is turned to open and then place a decanter under the portafilter.

Once your kettle has come to temperature, start your grinder and preheat your Trinity while wetting your filter by pouring some water through.

Step 4: Grind your coffee and tare your scale

When all the water has poured through you can now put your Trinity onto the scale, tare the scale and add your 28g of ground coffee into your paper filter at the top. You can tare your scale one more time to be ready to brew.

Step 5: Add your 400ml of water in five pours of 80ml

Tap the Trinity a bit with the palm of your hand to try get your grounds level. In a spiral motion, starting in the centre, pour your water over your grounds until you get to 80g of water then stop (make sure you get all the way to the outside so all the coffee is in contact with water) and start your timer.

Wait 45 seconds (this is known as your bloom). At 45s start another pour (you’ll pour in exactly the same way every time, starting in the middle, spiraling to the outside and then coming back in) of 80g of water. You will now pour 80g of water every 15 seconds until you get to 400g. Once you’ve poured all your water, wait for all the coffee to drip through and then you can close the valve on your portafilter.

The total brewing time will vary depending on the coffee and the type of filter you use

Step 6: Clean up

Remove and discard the paper filter and spent coffee grounds. Put an empty decanter under the brewer and open the valve on the portafilter. Run some hot water through the brew chamber and portafilter to give it a good rinse.

Trinity ONE Immersion Method

You will need:

• Your Trinity ONE Brewer
• A kettle (ideally with temperature control or a thermometer)
• A scale (one that can hold a lot of weight, remember the trinity is ~3.5kgs on its own)
• A coffee grinder
• An Aeropress paper/stainless steel filter
• Something to stir your coffee (ideally something with a flat surface)
• A decanter to brew into
• Some delicious fresh coffee beans (obviously)

Brewing Guide

Step 1: Heat your water.

You would ideally like your water to be at 93ºC when you start brewing. You are going to need 250ml of water so you should boil about 500ml for brewing and rinsing purposes.

Step 2: Weigh out 17.5g of coffee beans

You will need 17.5g of coffee for the 250ml of water. On a Severin grinder I used a grind size 11 and on the Encore I used a grind size 19/20. Basically you will need to grind on the same setting that you would for French press, so it needs to be quite coarse.

Don’t grind your coffee just yet, as you want it to be as fresh as possible so wait for your kettle to finish boiling first.

Step 3: Prepare your Trinity.

Add an Aeropress paper or stainless steel filter into the portafilter on the Trinity. Insert your portafilter into your Trinity brewing chamber, lock it into place and open the valve. Once your kettle has come to temperature, preheat your Trinity and wet your filter.

When all the water has poured through you can now close the valve on the portafilter.

Step 4: Grind your coffee and tare your scale

Now you can grind your beans and check that your water is at 93ºC. Put your Trinity on the scale, add your ground coffee and tare your scale and timer. Have your cap, stirrer and Trinity weight ready to go.

Step 5: Add your 250ml of water

Add your 17.5g of coffee into the chamber and then add all 250ml of water and start your timer. Gently stir the grinds into the water in a back and forth motion 5 times. At 1 minute gently stir once again in a back and forth motion 3 times. Do be careful to not touch the filter when you are stirring as I did find that sometimes if I stirred too vigorously then it lifted the filter up.

Step 6: Open the portafilter

After your second stir wait until 2 minutes. Now open the valve on your portafilter and stir in a circular motion 5 times to start the process of the coffee dripping through the portafilter.

The total brew time should be around 3:30-4 minutes.

Step 7: Cleaning

Remove the portafilter from the brew chamber and throw the puck and paper filter into the bin. Insert the portafilter back into the chamber and put an empty decanter under the portafilter and open the valve. Run some hot water through the brew chamber and portafilter to give it a good clean.

Once you’ve had a chance to try one or all of these brew method suggestions, we’d love to hear what you think in the comments below!

It was great to see you in Cape Town recently. Hopefully the return to dreary London wasn’t too painful!

You asked me to write you an email with some tips on “how to coffee” and as I finally started writing it, I realised that there may be others out there who would benefit from just such an email, so I decided to make this an open letter. Hope you don’t mind!

What follows is the very basics of enjoying coffee - the table stakes if you will.

Don’t burn your beans

While this may be a pretty common tip, it’s also a pretty crucial one. Your coffee shouldn’t be making contact with water that is too hot, and, as you’re at sea level in London, that means that freshly boiled water is too hot (our friends in Jozi don’t have these concerns).

93ºC is the most commonly referenced brewing temperature that I’ve found, and it’s always my starting point, but in broader terms, you’re shooting for somewhere between 90ºC & 95ºC. Without the benefit of a thermometer, I’d suggest giving it 2 mins after the kettle boils before you pour (but not much longer than that).

That’s right, I said beans!

You mentioned when we chatted that you don’t yet own a coffee grinder. In my (not so) humble opinion, buying pre-ground coffee is a terrible coffee sin. Pre-ground goes stale in days - that’s right, days! Some of the aroma is lost within just minutes of grinding.

Whole beans can stay fresh for up to 4 weeks from roast, possibly even 6 in some cases. Grab yourself a manual grinder if you fancy a little bit of extra exercise or invest in an electric grinder for convenience, but get a grinder. It’s the most important part of your coffee brewing setup, and friends don’t let friends do pre-ground.

Burrs not blades

When it comes to choosing a grinder, I’ve been known to get as geeky as you do about analogue sound, but I’m going to resist, and give you just one purchasing criterion: burrs, not blades. Blades may be cheaper, but they chop up your beans into indiscriminate sizes, whereas burrs give you a more even (and adjustable) grind. Make it a burr grinder.

Control your other variables as much as you can

Now, this is where we coffee geeks sometimes elicit peals of laughter from the peanut gallery who are firmly committed to the romance of doing things on a hope and a prayer. Coffee extraction is chemistry, so variables matter, and I’ve never met a person who can eyeball a gram or time 4 mins by gut feel. Suspend your disbelief and embrace the fact that a little bit of variable control is the difference between consistently good coffee and wildly varied results.

Time

The easiest variable to control is probably time. Everyone’s got an iPhone (maybe a blackberry in your case). Most people have a kitchen timer. Leaving your coffee to extract till it feels right is often going to result in coffee that is sour or bitter. Hitting the sweet spot is what it’s all about. I know your weapon of choice is the classic french press or cafetiere. Shoot for 4 mins from pour to plunge.

Brew ratio

If you’ll permit me to nerd out for a moment, it has been shown that coffee tastes best in very particularly dissolved concentrations in the cup and outside of that range, it just doesn’t taste very good. If you want to hit that sweet spot, you’ve got to measure the amount of coffee and the amount of water you’re using.

Coffee’s density varies wildly, so the only reliable way to do this is with a scale. Water’s density is obviously 1, which means that you can also use that same scale to measure the amount of water you use.

I like 70g of coffee per litre of water, but many prefer it closer to 60g per litre. You’re not going to want to go too far south or north of that, so use your kitchen scale or invest in a proper coffee scale. In practice that means something like 15-17.5g of coffee for 250g of water. You can find your personal sweet spot within that range but then try to be consistent with it!

Know what you’re drinking

Coffee is both a commodity and a luxury product. For reasons that I won’t go into here, if you’re drinking the commodity stuff, you’re doing both your taste buds and the world a disservice. Given that you, I, and anyone who cares about coffee should appreciate it as the precious luxury beverage that it is, it behooves us to know a thing or two about where it came from.

Here are some questions that you should be able to answer about your coffee; either by asking the question to the seller, or reading on the packaging.

• Where was it grown?
• Who (or what group of people) grew it?
• What variety (or varieties) of coffee is it?
• How was it processed?
• Who roasted it?
• When was it roasted? (more on that later)

If the person you’re buying from can’t answer these questions (or at least most of them), then you probably shouldn’t be buying their coffee. Some of the answers to these questions may sound as Greek as my surname initially, but you’ll start to recognise patterns pretty quickly, and you’ll get even more benefit from understanding the connection between these factors and the character in your cup.

A note on blends

I think a lot of the pleasure of coffee is in exploring single origins, but there’s nothing wrong with a tasty and balanced blend. Who doesn’t love a bit of a mix? Ideally, the supplier of the coffee should be able to answer the above questions for each component of their blends however!

Decaf can be delicious

I know you’re one of those people who is blessed with enough innate caffeine, and you prefer your cup of joe decaffeinated. Despite what some might say, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Everything I’ve mentioned so far applies, regardless of caffeine content. However, choosing a good decaf requires even more scrutiny of its origins, particularly with regards to the method of decaffeination. You see, commodity decafs are stripped of their jittery goodness with the use of chemical solvents. Residue of those solvents will remain in the coffee and will probably be worse for you than the caffeine.

Thankfully, there are organisations out there that have created decaffeination processes that don’t involve the use of industrial chemicals. Look out for the following decaffeination methods in particular:

• Swiss Water
• Mountain Water
• CO2

Make it fresh

It warrants repeating. Coffee is a perishable product, so you’re going to get best results when it’s fresh. If you’ve been drinking pre-ground, old coffee, you may not even realise how good your coffee could taste.

Good coffees will always have a roast date on the pack. Often this means that you have to buy it from a roaster or specialist retailer (like CCB!) to get the good stuff. However, in the UK, some of the grocery stores with their next-level supply chains have forged partnerships with good roasters, so you may find some decently fresh coffee in certain stores. Just make sure you check what you’re buying.

Try to drink your coffee within 4-6 weeks of roast, and ideally on the lower end of that range. Many believe coffee tastes its absolute best somewhere in that 7-14 day window, but I’ve tasted great stuff at older ranges than that.

A final word

That might seem like a lot to think about, but that’s partly because I’m long-winded. In truth, these are reasonably straightforward tips, and they should make your coffee infinitely better. Think vinyl vs. 128kbps mp3 - I’m serious.

And don’t forget… the coffee’s pretty darn good here in Cape Town. Come have a cup more often!

Cheers,

Phaedon

Y4L

Serendipitously, our friend Mike MacDonald of Origin Coffee Roasting had just released an exceptional step by step guide on siphon brewing which he kindly allowed us to republish. Mike is a very talented roaster and manual brewer and if you're lucky enough to be able to stop by Origin HQ, you can have the pleasure of enjoying both the process and results of one of his siphon brews. For everyone who wants to try it at home, here is Mike's advice on siphon brewing.

What you'll need

Siphon brewers are pretty "complete" tools, so you only need the basic coffee accessories that many coffee lovers will already have. There are some optional items that might make things easier, so we've divided this list into two sections.

The essentials

• A siphon with standard accessories (stirring paddle, filter, etc.)
• A kettle to heat your water
• A coffee grinder
• Fresh coffee beans
• A scale to weigh your coffee
• A timer (any will do)

Nice to haves

• A pouring kettle
• A thermometer
• A butane burner

Dosage & direction

Use ~70g/L with a grind size slightly finer than filter (we like 3-4 on the Severin Coffee Grinder). This would mean:

• ~28g for a 3 Cup Yama Tabletop Siphon
• ~42g for a 5 Cup Yama Tabletop Siphon

Note: grind your coffee at the last possible moment to make sure it's as fresh as possible!

Step 1: Fill Bottom Chamber of Siphon

Either use a scale to measure the amount of water or use the markings on the siphon. 1 cup is ~125ml (i.e. ~125g). A pouring kettle may help you aim the water slightly better and pre-heated water is a great way to shorten the total brew time!

Step 2: Place Bottom Chamber Over Heat Source & Insert Top Chamber With Secured Filter At An Angle

Here you're trying to get the water to boil before you fully insert the top chamber. While the water begins to heat up, secure the cloth filter in the top chamber using the spring & hook assembly. Then place the top chamber into the bottom one resting at an angle.

Step 3: Let The Water Come To A Full Boil

You should see the water bubbling vigorously before you go to the next step.

Step 4: Fully Insert Top Chamber And Allow Water To Rise Into It

Once all the water is in the top chamber, you can turn the heat down slightly. This is where you might want to use a thermometer to confirm your water is at an optimal 90-93°C.

Step 5: Add All Your Coffee Into The Top Chamber

If you have an electric grinder, you can quickly grind at this point. Otherwise, having your ground coffee waiting for this step may be a good idea.

Step 6: Quickly Start A Timer & Stir To Saturate All Coffee

It's important to make sure that all your coffee is wet and extracting evenly. You'll need to keep stirring every 10s or so as a crust forms at the top. Try to use the plastic stirrer that comes with the siphon or another plastic/wooden utensil. Metal is not a good idea as you could crack the glass.

Step 7: At ~45s, Turn Off Your Heat Source & Stir To Create A Vortex

Mike recommends stirring about 6 times here. Your aim is to create a little whirlpool that will encourage the coffee to draw down quickly.

Step 8: Vacuum Draw Down

You shouldn't need to do anything except watch here. The removal of heat will create a vacuum in the bottom chamber which will draw the coffee through the cloth filter. This process should take ~1min for ~1m45s total extraction time. This can vary depending on ambient temperature.

Step 9: Remove The Top Chamber

The top chamber should cool down relatively quickly so it can be removed. Do this by rocking it back and forth until it comes loose. You can use the stand provided (also a lid) to rest it while it cools. Don't wait too long to clean it and the filter afterwards!

Step 10: Pour & Enjoy (Let It Cool)

Siphon coffee comes out very hot so be careful not to burn yourself. Either wait a few minutes or further cool it by decanting it a few times.

Happy Vacuum Brewing!

This brew guide was first published on Medium here and photographs are from Origin Coffee Roasting's facebook page here

About Michael MacDonald

Mike has worked in the coffee industry for 7 years and is a roaster and coffee sommelier for Origin Coffee Roasting in Cape Town. He's an aspiring recreational mycologist as well as a lover of alluring whiskies, craft beer and interesting wines.

You can follow Mike on Twitter: @Mmdsl28

We really believe that even the most humble coffee plunger can produce a great cup of coffee with a little care and attention. This classic brew method actually produces wonderful, full-bodied cups of coffee and captures the full array of flavours and aromas that your beans have locked inside them. In this article, we'd like to give you our take on how to get the best out of your press.

The Dos & Don'ts of French Press Brewing

Later in this article, we've included a step by step guide on coffee plunger brewing, including some helpful photos, but we thought we'd start with some basics. Getting better coffee out of your french press can be as simple as following some do's & don'ts.

What You'll Need

• A french press / coffee plunger (even that old one at the back of your cupboard will do)
• A coffee grinder
• A kettle to heat your water
• Something to stir with (ideally not metal if you don't want to scratch your glass)
• A Hario Drip Scale OR the following items:
• A kitchen scale to weigh your water
• A more precise coffee scale to measure your coffee (if possible)
• A timer (most phones have one if your kitchen doesn't)
• Optional: a thermometer to measure water temperature

Step 1: Decide how many you're brewing for & put the kettle on

One of the great things about french presses is that they come in all different sizes and it's one of the few brew methods that isn't much affected by the amount of coffee you're brewing. Use a ratio of 60g/L; for instance:

• 1 mug: 15g coffee & 250ml water
• 2 mugs: 30g coffee & 500ml water
• 3 mugs: 45g coffee & 750ml water
• 4 mugs 60g coffee & 1000ml water
• etc.

So pick how many you're brewing for and put the kettle on, BUT we'd recommend boiling 2x as much water as you'll need for brewing (see step 3 below).

Step 2: Weigh & grind your coffee

The kettle will take a while to boil, so this is a good time to weigh out your coffee beans using the 60g/L ratio. Set your grinder to a coarse setting. For most home grinders, the coarsest is a great place to start. On the Severin Coffee Grinder, we use setting 10. Ideally, wait till the last convenient minute to grind so your coffee is as fresh as possible!

Step 3: Pre-heat your brewing vessel

When your kettle has boiled, pour some of the freshly boiled water into the brewing vessel to pre-heat it. A lot of heat will be lost as you brew, so by pre-heating, you keep the brewing temperature a bit more constant.

Step 4: Let your brewing water settle to ~93°C

During this time, you also need to let your brewing water come to ~93°C. A thermometer is handy here, but depending on your kettle, you need to wait around 1-2 mins after boiling to get in the right temperature range. Erring towards slightly cooler rather than hotter is probably a good idea if you don't have a thermometer. Water that is too hot will scald your coffee and make it bitter!

Tip: If you have a Hario Drip Kettle, pouring freshly boiled water into it will bring the water to the right temperature more quickly!

Step 5: Discard your vessel-heating water and add the coffee grounds to the bottom of the plunger

Step 6: Set a timer for 4 mins and put your plunger on top of a 'zero-ed' scale

Timing your extraction is very important. Too short and your coffee will be sour and acidic. Too long and your coffee will be bitter. Don't leave it to chance - use a timer!

In a similar vein, you need to make sure you're using the right amount of water, and the easiest way to do that is to use a kitchen or Hario Scale. 1ml of water weighs 1g.

Step 7: Bloom your coffee with a bit of water (2-3x coffee weight)

It's good practice to start by encouraging the gases to escape from your coffee (called blooming) before adding the rest of the water. Try to start your 4 minute timer just as you pour the first bit of water onto the coffee. Aim for 2-3x the mass of the coffee you're brewing (you don't need to be super precise here) and give it a good stir. You should see the gases escaping and creating foam.

Step 8: Add the rest of the water to your desired weight/volume

Do this slowly & methodically, trying to get even contact with all of the coffee. Give it a stir once the water is all in.

Step 9: Stir again every minute or so

To encourage a full extraction, give the coffee a gentle stir every minute or so. Don't do it too vigorously to avoid over-extraction but just a little movement to avoid the grounds settling. We don't find that you need to put the lid on while the coffee is extracting, but opinions differ on this topic!

Step 10: Plunge at 4 minutes & serve or decant immediately

Once your timer sounds, plunge the coffee all the way to the bottom (don't be shy) and quickly serve or decant. The wire mesh in your french press does not completely separate the coffee from the water so if you leave it in there, it will become over-extracted & bitter.

Note: Plungers leave a bit of sediment at the bottom of the cup, but as long as you don't try to drink it, it shouldn't bother you at all and should just settle to the bottom! 

Happy Brewing!

As a home barista brewing for yourself, you're spoiled for choice on how to use your Aeropress, but interestingly, there are very few recipes out there that explain how to brew two cups at the same time. Recognising that many lovers of coffee come in pairs, we thought we'd try to help remedy that situation.

It is worth mentioning that this is less of a problem when you're brewing short espresso-style shots. The instructions that come with your Aeropress and the markers on the side will help you with that. One easy solution is just to brew two of those and then dilute. However, a lot of the excitement around the Aeropress is about longer filter-style brews, most often using the inverted method.

This blog post is about how to make two delicious filter-style coffees with your Aeropress at the same time. Purists will tell you that you'll get better results brewing two cups separately and there may well be a small benefit in doing that. But if you want to be able to wake up in the morning and quickly brew some coffee for yourself and a loved one, this recipe should prove a lot more convenient without much compromise on the flavour!

The Approach

If you want to get straight to the recipe, feel free to skip ahead, but for those who are interested, here's a word on this recipe's approach. The main constraint the Aeropress has is its capacity (~250ml). To make enough coffee for two cups, you need more than that.

To achieve this, while producing something very similar to "typical" Aeropress coffee, we're going to brew concentrate and then dilute it. We're going to aim for the same ratio of coffee to water in terms of yield but we're going to make the steep time a bit longer, to offset the potentially slower rate of extraction caused by the higher concentration of coffee in the water.

What You'll Need

We've divided up the list of what you'll need into two sections, the essentials and those accessories which can help you fine tune your brew. You can definitely brew delicious coffee with just the basic equipment. In fact, that initial list is ideal for travelling if you want to brew coffee for two on the road.

The essentials

• An Aeropress (obviously)
• All your Aeropress's accessories (scoop, funnel, paddle, filter cap, filters)
• A coffee grinder
• A kettle to heat your water
• A jug to brew into that can hold ~500ml of liquid
• Some way to measure the volume of what you brew - a kitchen scale works well but you can also just brew into a measuring cup
• Something to time with - your phone will do!

Nice to haves

• A coffee scale
• A timer (alternatively the Hario Drip Scale can weigh & time for you all in one)
• A thermometer

How to Brew Two Cups of Coffee With an Aeropress

Here are the step by step instructions with photographs. You may want to read through everything once before starting so you can just skim through for reminders the first time you try the recipe. Reading the whole thing and brewing at the same time may be challenging!

Step 1: Put your Kettle on to boil with a bit more than 500ml water (aiming for ~93C)

If you've got a digital thermometer, then you can decide to stop your kettle when it hits ~93C or you can let it boil and then wait 1-2 minutes for it to cool down to around that temperature. Our favourite trick is to pour freshly boiled water into a Hario Buono Kettle which brings it to about the right temperature instantly.

Step 2: Weigh 36g of coffee & grind to a medium setting

We're using 2x the amount of coffee you'd use for a regular inverted brew. If you don't have a scale, it should be about two heaping Aeropress scoops. Any burr grinder, manual or electric will do the trick here. We use setting 5 on the Severin Coffee Grinder.

Step 3: Set up your inverted Aeropress and put the coffee into the chamber

Step 4: Set a timer for 2 minutes, press start, bloom with a small amount of water and stir

The aim here is just to saturate all the coffee grounds. You'll form what almost looks like a thick paste. This is to encourage any trapped CO2 to get out of the way and let the extraction happen properly afterwards.

Step 5: Fill the Aeropress chamber almost to the top, leaving room for more stirring

You should have ~1m30s left on the clock at this point. You want to top up the Aeropress as much you can while allowing for spill-free stirring. Stir for 10-15s, really getting the coffee and water moving for maximum extraction. This is particularly important since you're brewing concentrate.

Step 6: Fill the Aeropress to the very top & leave to steep

Now you just let the extraction magic happen for the remainder of the 2 mins you started with (there should be ~1 min left). This is a bit longer than your typical Aeropress steep time because we're making sure to get a full extraction despite the higher ratio of coffee to water. This is a good time to wet your paper filter.

Step 7: Place the filter cap on the Aeropress, flip onto your brewing jug and plunge (should take 30-45s)

You'll need to put the filter cap on just a little before the time runs out to make sure you're ready. Don't rush the plunging process. It may be a little harder because of the amount of coffee in the chamber. Take your time and keep pushing through the hiss at the end until every drop of concentrate is out.

Step 8: Dilute to ~430ml

Why 430ml? We're aiming to get double the yield of a 250ml/18g Aeropress extraction. If you had a giant Aeropress & brewed 500ml/36g, you'd expect each gram of coffee to absorb ~2ml of water so the yield would be about ~430ml (428ml if this were exact).

A measuring cup is an easy way to go here but you can also do this using a scale. The trick is to tare the scale with the empty jug before you press into it, then put it back on the scale with the concentrate. You'll be somewhere around 200g and then you can just fill up to ~430g.

Note: Don't plunge on top of your scale - that's a surefire way to break it

Happy Brewing!

As with all coffee recipes, you should absolutely tweak this recipe to suit your taste, but hopefully you have a good foundation here - this should help you score some points with a loved one and get your own coffee fix, quickly & easily!

If you're passionate, or even just curious, about coffee (which you probably are as you're reading this post), then improving the coffee you brew for yourself should be top of mind. There's lots of very specific advice out there on how to brew, but in this post, we thought we'd take a step back and touch on some basic principles you should think about.

But first...

It really should go without saying... but just in case... the suggestions that follow assume that you're already doing the basics. For the avoidance of doubt, those basics are:

1. Buying coffee prepared by a local, artisanal roaster
2. Using fresh, whole beans and grinding them yourself, just before you brew
3. Grinding those beans with a burr grinder rather than a blade grinder (or any other contraption)

If you're not yet doing any one of those 3 things, stop reading and address that first. Stale and unevenly ground coffee will make it really difficult to enjoy a great cup regardless of what else you do. Assuming that you've got those basics covered, here are our suggestions on how to take it to the next level.

Note: it does not matter what brew method you use, these principles apply across the board

1) Measure

Management clichés aside, if you're not measuring the variables that go into your coffee brewing, you're flying blind. You can't eyeball a difference of 2g of coffee, let alone a 3 degree temperature difference, and those kind of variations can drastically change your cup of coffee.

Measuring your brewing variables will help you achieve consistency and will also help you understand how changes you're making are affecting your cup (see the next point). The things you should be measuring include (in order of importance):

• Grams of coffee (ideally in 0.1g increments)
• Grams or millilitres of water (they're equivalent)
• Extraction time
• Water temperature

All of those variables are fundamental in coffee brewing and can be measured using some pretty basic equipment, most of which you probably already have in your kitchen.

2) Experiment

Once you start measuring your brewing variables and start getting delicious & consistent cups of coffee, don't rest on your laurels. Someone once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The same applies to coffee - your brew's not going to get better by repeating the same process.

When you actually know what your brewing variables are (because you're measuring them), you can start to adjust them to see what the impact is. The fact is that there is no such thing as a Platonic cup of coffee - there's always room for improvement. If you don't test different variables out, you won't get to experience that improvement.

Another important reason to experiment is to try to get the best out of different beans. Anyone reading this is unlikely to be the type of person that drinks the same coffee all the time. Different coffee beans will react differently to brewing variables so when you're trying something new, make sure to take the time to tweak, particularly when the result isn't as good as you expected. It may not be the coffee, it may be your brewing variables.

3) Isolate your variables

Imagine you make one of the best cups of coffee you've ever made, using a particular bean that you're very fond of. Someone asks you what you did differently and you answer that you added 3g more coffee, brewed 4 degrees colder and for 20s longer. Guess what? You have no idea why that coffee's better than it was before.

When you experiment, you need to tweak as few variables at a time as possible. Like a lab scientist, if you're not keeping everything else more or less constant, you can't attribute improvements to any particular change. Perhaps even more importantly, you're not going to learn much from your experiments to make you a better coffee brewer overall.

Be patient - you're going to make and drink a lot of coffees in your life. Take the time to apply a bit of the scientific method to your endeavours and in the long run, you will be a better amateur barista for it.

Any other thoughts?

Those are our thoughts on the principles you should be using to improve your coffee brewing this year. Did we miss anything? Disagree on any of our points? Feel free to leave your contributions in the comment section - we'd love to hear what you have to say!

For the scientifically-minded, Mike's article is a fantastic read and for us, it begged an obvious question - how exactly does he recommend brewing with the Aeropress? Well we asked, he showed us, we tasted the results and it became very clear - this was something we needed to share. Below you'll find Mike's detailed, step by step Aeropress brewing guide that he uses to train Baristas. You can use the diagram with the Aeropress components for reference.

Aeropress Brewing Variables

• Use 17.5 grams to 200ml water (this should almost fill your inverted Aeropress to the top)
• Grind to a setting between espresso and filter - err towards the finer side
• The water temperature for brewing should be 85-90ºC (88ºC exactly is better)
• Total extraction time: 1m45s - 1m50s

Aeropress Brewing Process

1. Use the inverted method: place the plunger with rubber seal about 2cm into the chamber so that it has a solid connection and then turn the Aeropress upside down so that the chamber is facing up (see photo)
2. Take the filter cap, place a filter paper in it and run some water through
3. Pre-heat your cup or serving jug with hot water and then discard the water
4. Grind your coffee and add it into the top chamber of the Aeropress - use the Aeropress funnel if helpful
5. Pour the brewing water onto the coffee till about mid-way up the top chamber and start a timer
6. Stir  the coffee, making sure the coffee grounds are all wet, scraping around the sides and especially bottom (just until the grounds are saturated)
7. Now pour the rest of the water in - to about 1cm below the top rim
8. Allow it to brew for 20 seconds ...then gently stir again in a back-forward, left-right motion - 10 movements, 5 in each direction
9. Allow the coffee to brew till 45 seconds on the timer
10. Lock the cap holding the filter into the chamber at the top
11. Carefully turn the Aeropress in one swift motion and place it directly on the preheated cup or jug
12. Plunge straight down with a mild force, until you hear air, then stop (this should take ~1 min so that the total extraction time is 1m45s - 1m50s)

About Michael MacDonald

Mike has worked in the coffee industry for 7 years and is a roaster and coffee sommelier for Origin Coffee Roasting in Cape Town. He's an aspiring recreational Mycologist as well as a lover of alluring whiskies, craft beer and interesting wines.

You can follow Mike on Twitter: @Mmdsl28

Have a look at this great instructional video and please do like it and share it! We've put a summary of Matt's advice below, as well as links to the equipment he is using.

Summary of variables

• 20g of coffee
• Filter grind (like table salt)
• 360ml (or grams) of water (~60g/L ratio)
• 93C water temperature
• ~2m30s extraction time (60s bloom)

Summary of process

1. Rinse your paper filter with hot water & discard the water afterwards
2. Add your coffee to the rinsed filter
3. Pour ~60g of water over the grounds to wet them and let the coffee bloom for ~60s
4. Pour the remaining 300g of water in concentric circles, avoiding the sides of the filter
5. Allow water to drain through completely (2m30s) & serve!

What Matt uses in the video

• Hario's own Skerton Coffee Grinder
• Hario V60 Coffee Dripper (Matt uses the white ceramic version)
• Hario V60 Range Server (this is the glass jug he brews into)
• Hario V60 Buono Drip Kettle
• A scale (Matt uses a different one but we've linked to Hario's own model)

The recent 2014 SCASA Western Cape Regional Barista Competitions included the rather unique Manual Brewer's Competition among the otherwise espresso-focused events. This competition is different to the others in that, rather than being given a standard set of tools, competitors are encouraged to bring any piece of hand-brewing equipment they like and submit the coffee they produce to a blind taste test by a panel of experienced judges.

The 2014 competition featured pour-overs, Aeropresses & even a siphon but ultimately it was Stephen Tredrea who took the victory convincingly using a classic piece of equipment. We were so impressed, that we asked him to write a post for us about his tool of choice. Here are his thoughts...

Moka Gold

Having become an enamoured devotee to an awesome cup of coffee, I developed a slight obsession to perfecting my home brew. My equipment of choice, standard appliance in any European home: the Moka Pot. While it may not be to everybody's taste, don't be too quick to mock the Moka. This legendary, inexpensive and durable creation is what helped me win the 2014 SCASA Manual Brewers Competition in the Western Cape.

The Moka Pot appeals because it delivers an impressive espresso on very basic equipment and, with the help of a simple camping stove, can do so almost anywhere. So what does it take to deliver coffee bliss while watching the sun rise in a desert?

Buy good quality, recently roasted coffee - preferably beans as a fresh grind is far superior and the heavenly aroma will build your excitement while the coffee brews. I use a Gater Ceramic Burr Manual Grinder set as fine as it will possibly go. Make sure to leave some space at the top of the filter basket as the ground beans need room to expand.

Use a low heat so the coffee comes out slowly, allowing a good amount of time for the water to extract all the delicious flavours from the roast. Leave the lid open and carefully watch it flow. If it begins with a foamy cascade of tiny golden bubbles followed by an almost syrupy-thick, dark liquid you've hit Moka paydirt! As a rule-of-thumb, once the colour of the liquid flowing out becomes pale, remove the pot from the stove and plunge it into cool water to stop the flow, achieving a harmonious balance of flavours to delight your palate.

Now, top up with hot water for a filter-style coffee, if espresso is not your thing, or put your French Press to good use by frothing up some heated milk for a delicious cappuccino. Sit back and savour!

About Stephen Tredrea

Stephen Tredrea of More Coffee is the 2014 winner of the SCASA Manual Brewer's Competition in the Western Cape. He takes great delight in teaching others to appreciate coffee and the art of brewing it to perfection. For more information visit www.morecoffee.co.za or contact Stephen on info@morecoffee.co.za.