Text/Coffee Cheese

A customer once told me that hand-brewed coffee looks so simple: grind the beans into powder, put it on filter paper, pour a cup of water, and filter it. I was speechless. It seems that there is nothing wrong with it, but if you look at it in detail, there are all kinds of problems. Hand-brewed coffee can be said to be the best example of how easy it is to get started, but difficult to master!

Why do some people make delicious hand-brewed coffee with rich fruity flavor, while others make coffee that is bitter? To make good hand-brewed coffee, five factors are indispensable! If one aspect is not in place, the whole cup of coffee will be bad!

1. Freshness of coffee beans

The beans for hand-brewed coffee must be fresh! It is recommended that the beans should be consumed within a month of the bean-raising period. Of course, this freshness does not simply mean fresh roasting of the beans, but also grinding. They must be ground freshly! If you see that hand-brewed coffee is not freshly ground in a coffee shop, leave immediately! There is a big difference between brewing ground coffee powder 5 minutes later and brewing it 10 minutes later. The oxidation speed is very fast after it is ground into powder.

2. Roasting degree of coffee beans

Hand-brewed coffee is usually roasted in a medium-light roast, but it is not fixed. Each type of bean, or even the same type of bean in different years, may have a different optimal roasting degree, and a lot of cupping is required to better grasp it. Generally speaking, more high-end boutiques pay more attention to light roasting, which can highlight the fruit flavor to the greatest extent.

3. Grinding degree of coffee beans

The finer the grind, the larger the contact area with water, the easier it is to extract, and the acid, sweetness, and bitterness in the coffee are all easier to come out. The proper grinding degree is actually to maintain a balance between acid and bitterness. Everyone has different preferences. Although the bean sellers will have a grinding suggestion, you can still try more.

4. Extraction water temperature

When extracting coffee, the warmer the water, the easier it is to extract substances. Of course, this substance also includes some unpleasant bitterness. If the temperature is too low, it will taste sour. Generally, around 92 degrees Celsius is best, so a thermometer is very necessary when hand-brewing coffee.

5. Powder-water ratio

The powder-to-water ratio refers to the ratio of the weight of coffee powder to the weight of the liquid in the final coffee. 15 grams of powder can make 225 grams of coffee, and the powder-to-water ratio is 1:15. This is also the most common general powder-to-water ratio. Of course, you can also try it according to your preference. There are many options between 12 grams and 18 grams of powder.

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