There was a time when the definition of brewing coffee at home meant buying one of those percolators you could find at your local grocery, grab a bag of ground coffee, and basically set up a routine in the morning to guarantee a pot for the whole household. Copy and paste this same process for offices that are kind enough to provide coffee at work and, together with instant coffee, you have the basic formula for how people have been brewing their coffee at home for the better part of a century.
These last few years have seen a growing number of people learning to brew coffee at home like how they’ve seen their favorite cafés do it. With social media and YouTube helping aspiring home brewers to make the best possible cups of coffee.
It could seem intimating at the beginning to figure out how to brew your own coffee at home and there’s a lot of different brewing gear in the market to cause analysis paralysis. But we’re here to help keep things simple by letting you know that if you want to get started. You only really need these few things to get yourself started:
- a digital scale with a timer
- a gooseneck kettle
- a brewer (a French press would be a good start)
- a coffee grinder (with steel burrs)
The great thing about this set up is how easy it is to get everything on the list. Nothing’s too fancy and out of reach that will eat up on a starting budget, and with the right amount of practice, it won’t be too long before you begin to brew yourself a great cup of coffee.
We’ll be coming out with our brew guides soon enough to help you get started with making your own coffee at home, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, here’s a quick brewing guide you can use once you have all 4 of the items in place:
- Prepare 12g of coffee and grind on a medium-course setting.
- Heat up the 200ml water to about 92°C.
- Place the coffee into your French press and place on top of your scale. Don’t forget to tare!
- Begin your brew by pouring 24ml of water into the French press for 10 seconds (1ml = 1g)
- Swirl your French press to ensure that all the coffee grounds are wet and leave the coffee for about a minute.
- After the minute has passed, pour till the scale reads 200g and allow the coffee to steep for 3 minutes.
- After 3 minutes, place the plunger to seal the French press and press just enough to ensure it’s sealed. There is no need to plunge all the way down.
- Pour slowly into your cup and enjoy your very own brewed coffee!
| Brewing coffee at home should be as easy as 1-2-3. We’re here to help you guys learn how to make the very best coffee at home with our series, The Home Brew. |
Words by Ryan Uy