How to Brew the Perfect Cup of Coffee

Brewing the perfect cup of coffee can seem fussy at first and takes a while to find what you like best. We’ve created a guide on how to brew the perfect cup of coffee to get you started on your coffee journey or refine your at home barista skills.

Ways to Brew

Start by deciding which method of brewing you prefer; each method gives the coffee a different flavour profile. Some of our favourite brewing methods include:

1. Pour Over

Over Classic and easy at home method where hot water is poured over coffee grounds and allows gravity to slowly drip the brew through a filter and into a cup or carafe. This method produces a Smooth, round body flavour profile.

2. French Press

Considered to be the best and easiest method among coffee addicts as the French Press is known for brewing superior and consistent coffee by extracting more flavours than other methods. Hot water is poured over the grounds in the press pot, then steeped for a period of time. The screen filter is then ‘pressed’ down to strain the grounds to the bottom. This method produces a flavour profile that’s pure with clean flavour nuances that are complex and robust body.

3. Stovetop Espresso using a Moka Pot

This method uses steam pressure from the boiled water in the lower chamber to pass through the coffee grounds in the mid chamber. The brewed espresso then sits in the top chamber. This method produces a flavor profile that is similar to espresso-style coffee that is strong but can be bitter if overboiled.

4. Manual Espresso using an AeroPress

A relatively new method developed in 2005, this method contains a three-part system that sits on top of your coffee cup. Grounds are added to the brew chamber followed by hot water to allow the coffee to steep. Once ready to extract, a plunger is pressed down which creates pressure and forces the brew through a filter and into your cup. This method produces a flavour profile that is sweet, full-bodied and similar to an espresso-style coffee.

Beans

Great coffee starts with great beans. The quality and flavor of your coffee is not only determined by your favorite brewing process, but also by the type of coffee you select.

Some of the flavour factors include:

• Country, region, and farm of origin
• Seasonal climate conditions
• Coffee bean varietal
• Roast– light, medium, dark, espresso or the many shades between

Check out our roasts to find your perfect match.
While there are a lot of choices, remember that there’s no right or wrong — for instance, you can choose a dark, flavorful espresso roast coffee and still have it ground to be brewed in a drip system. Have fun trying and enjoying different combinations. Our Roasts

Freshness

Purchasing coffee soon after its roasted allows for the coffee to retain its flavour producing a better-quality cup. It’s best to buy your coffee in small amounts -ideally every one to two weeks. Each bag of Good Earth Coffee will display the day its roasted on so you can purchase the freshest bag possible. Keep your beans properly stored to ensure lasting freshness.

Be sure to never reuse your coffee grounds to make more. During the brewing process, the desirable flavors are extracted leaving only the bitter ones left.

The Grind

The size of the grind has a huge impact on the overall taste of your coffee for example, If your coffee is tasting bitter, it may be over-extracted, or ground too fine. On the other hand, if your coffee tastes flat, it may be under-extracted, meaning your grind is too coarse.

Pour Over: medium-fine to coarse
French Press: coarse
Stovetop Espresso Pot: Fine-Medium Coarse
Manual Espresso Press: fine-medium

Always grind your beans as close to the brew time as possible to allow for maximum freshness. A burr or mill grinder is best because the coffee is ground to a consistent size, whereas a blade grinder will result in some coffee being more finely ground than the rest. If you typically use a blade grinder at home, try having it ground in café by one of our baristas, you’ll be surprised at how different the results are!

Strength – How much coffee to use

The best way to adjust the strength of your coffee is by controlling the amount of coffee used when brewing. Although there are guidelines to making the perfect cup it will be largely based on personal taste so you may need to adjust the amount of coffee used until you find what works best for you.

Pour over: 3 tablespoons of coffee (21g)
French Press: 2-2.5 tablespoons of coffee (14-17g) for one cup
Stovetop Espresso Pot: 2.5-3 tablespoons of coffee (17-22g)
Manual Espresso Press: 2.5 tablespoons of coffee (17g)

The Water

Fresh water is key ingredient in the to making good coffee. We recommend using tap water, filtered or not, depending on the taste and chlorine levels of your tap water.

When using If tap water, let it run a few seconds, and be sure to use cold water before boiling. The optimal temperature for brewing is 195 – 205 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water is too cold, the brew becomes under-extracted and water that’s too hot can over-extract or burn the coffee.

Brewing Time

Adjustments to the grind and amount of beans used will drive this factor however there are some rough guidelines that will help provide a starting point. Each brew method has a time that is associated with how best to use that specific device, however, feel free to play around with what works best for you.

Pour over: 1-3 minutes
French Press: 4 minutes
Stovetop Espresso Pot: 5 minutes
Manual Espresso Press: 1-2 minutes