Brew Recipes - Brew Excellent Coffee, from the first cup.

Dose:

Water Input:

Bloom:

\Pour Weight:

Pour Speed:

Agitation:

Grind Size:

Extraction:

Strength:

Glossary + Info

The amount of dry coffee (in g) used for brewing

The amount of water used for brewing

An initial pour during a pour-over; helps release the gases in the coffee, makingit more easily soluble. A vital part of the brewing process.

Determined by the amount of space between the spout of your kettle and the brew bed; More height = Heavier Pour.

The amount of water in g/second being used. A slow pour is typically ~6g/s, and is usually ideal.

Usually used in ultra-light roasted coffees during the bloom to optimize extraction, agitation involves stirring the wetted grounds.

measured in µm, grind size affects how much of your ground coffee is immediately exposed to the water dissolving it (surface area). The finer the grind size, the more surface area

(and vice versa). It. can be hard to translate settings on your grinder to µm, but some experts (Onyx Coffee Labs, Honest Coffee Guide, etc.) have created useful calculators that may

have your home grinder’s settings.

Also referred to as “Solubles yield,” extraction is the percentage of the ground coffee in the brew bed that was totally dissolved and ended up in the cup you brewed. Our recipes

typically aim for 18-22% extraction (SCA Gold Cup Standards)

Also referred to as “Solubles Concentration,” strength is the percentage of total dissolved solids (coffee) in the cup you brewed. For brewed coffee, we typically aim for 1.15-1.45%

solubles concentration. For espresso, we aim for 8-12%.

Additional Fundamentals + Method

Brewing coffee inherently comes with more variables than you can count, and can initially be frustrating and confusing. When you’re feeling lost, we invite you to remember these three truths:

1. Brewing to TASTE, not numbers, is ultimately what matters most. Most people can’t measure extraction and TDS at home anyway; brewing coffee that YOU enjoy and appreciate, as well as the friends/customers you’re brewing for, is a more rewarding experience than getting frustrated until you hit perfect numbers. Taste buds > Any refractometer, any day.

2. Become well acquainted with the equipment you already have access to before spending money on “better” equipment. If you want to brew the best coffee you can, spend your money on good COFFEE. As long as your equipment is reasonably reliable, high quality coffee is the most important variable influenced by money.

3. Brewing coffee is supposed to be enjoyable. Whether you’re someone who likes to stick to recipes provided to you, or you like to be more adventurous and experimental, “messed up” brews only teach you what not to do. Be thankful for the bad brews, they don’t make you a bad brewer-they teach you how to be a better one. Coffee is supposed to be fun, not frustrating.

If you’re ever stuck, or don’t know where to start, here are some basics you can come back to.

Extraction = (TDS x Yield)/Dose . Even if you don’t have equipment to measure TDS, this equation is useful because it can help you understand how to achieve better brews by taste. If you don’t already know, typically the over-extracted coffee tastes bitter, and under-extracted coffee tastes sour. A properly extracted cup of coffee should taste anywhere from slightly acidic to chocolatey “bitterness.” Knowing what affects extraction can help you dial in your brews and make excellent coffee, all by using your taste buds and logic.

If your coffee is tasting sour or under-extracted, you can increase extraction by:

1. Widening the brew ratio (dose:water input). This runs more water through the coffee, ensuring that more of it dissolves and ends up in the final cup. This will also slightly reduce strength, so take that into account: you may also want to take the following step to bring back the strength and further increase extraction.

2. Fining the grind- This will expose more surface area of the coffee, allowing water to more easily dissolve it. This will increase both strength and extraction, and should only be done in slight increments, as drastic changes can overcompensate for both in extreme ways.

3. Increase water temperature- this will also increase strength, because it will dissolve the coffee more easily. Heat speeds up dissolve, which is part of the reason it’s also important to make sure your filter and dripper are fully saturated/heated via hot water from your kettle.

4. Miscellaneous steps- Using water minerals like those offered by Third Wave Water, different filters, agitating the brew bed, swirling the dripper while brewing, and other small steps can also be used to increase extraction. Most of these steps are only recommended when brewing ultra-light roasted coffees, as they are typically harder to naturally dissolve.

If your coffee is tasting bitter or over-extracted, you can decrease extraction by doing the opposite of these things. The most common of these steps you may often find yourself taking is making the grind coarser; some coffees are unpredictable and drain incredibly slowly. This added contact time will nearly always cause the coffee to become over-extracted, leading to an unpleasant bitterness. The only way to amend this issue is by coarsening the grind. Other than this example, over-extraction isn’t typically too much of an issue, unless brewing dark-roasted coffees, which aren’t very common in the specialty coffee world.