Basic and Automated Coffee Brewing

At the core, in its simplest form, it’s ground up coffee beans steeped in hot water.

That’s it, the end. You have coffee beans, you grind them, you add it to hot water, let it steep, and you have coffee to drink.

Steps to add after the foundations include:

• Removing ground coffee from hot water

• Measuring ground coffee

• Measuring water

Manual + Automatic Brewed Coffee

There are a ton of manual and automatic coffee brewing appliances on the market which I’ll dive into in future posts but for today let’s stick with the two of the most ubiquitous apparatus available.

The French Press

It’s a widely available coffee brewer that ranges from $15 to several hundred dollars and is manufactured by a ton of brands from Kitchen Aid, Bodum, Cuisinart to Espro & Alessi. The steps below outline how to brew with one.

1. Warm the French Press: Pour some hot water into your French Press to warm it up. This helps maintain the temperature while you brew your coffee. Pour out this water before adding your coffee grounds.

2. Add Coffee Grounds: Put coarse ground coffee into the bottom of the French Press. A good starting point is about 1 tablespoon of coffee for every 4 ounces of water.

3. Add Hot Water: Pour hot water—not quite boiling, ideally around 200°F (about 93°C)—over the coffee grounds. Fill it up to the level depending on how much coffee you want to make.

4. Stir: Give the coffee and water mixture a gentle stir with a plastic or wooden spoon. Metal spoons should be avoided as they can crack the glass.

5. Place the Lid on and Wait: Put the lid on with the plunger pulled all the way up. Let the coffee steep for about 4 minutes. This waiting time allows the coffee to infuse into the water, extracting its flavors.

6. Press Down Slowly: After waiting, slowly press the plunger down. This pushes the grounds to the bottom, separating them from the liquid coffee above.

7. Serve Immediately: Pour your brewed coffee into a cup and enjoy. It’s best to serve all the coffee immediately to avoid over-extraction and bitterness since the coffee grounds are still in contact with water.

The French Press works by immersion, where coffee grounds steep in hot water for several minutes. This method extracts the coffee oils and flavors more fully than drip coffee methods, resulting in a richer taste. The plunger, fitted with a metal or nylon mesh filter, separates the grounds from the liquid coffee, allowing the brewed coffee to be poured off and enjoyed.

The Automatic Drip Coffee Maker

It’s a widely available coffee machine that ranges from $25 to several hundred dollars and is manufactured by a ton of brands from Black & Decker, Mr. Coffee, Salton to to Bonavita & Ratio Six. A very simplified guide to use.

1. Fill the Water Reservoir: Open the lid to the machine’s water reservoir and pour in fresh, cold water according to how much coffee you want to make. There’s usually a marked line indicating water levels for different quantities of coffee.

2. Insert a Coffee Filter: Open the basket where the coffee filter goes. Place a paper filter in the basket. Some machines come with a reusable mesh filter.

3. Add Coffee Grounds: Measure out ground coffee and add it to the filter. A general guideline is about 1 to 2 tablespoons of coffee per 6 ounces of water, but you can adjust this to taste.

4. Turn on the Machine: Close the lid of the basket and the water reservoir. Find the power button or switch and turn on the coffee machine.

5. Wait for Brewing to Complete: The machine will heat the water and slowly drip it over the coffee grounds. The brewed coffee will then drip into the pot below.

6. Serve the Coffee: Once the brewing process stops (some machines beep or the sound of dripping stops), your coffee is ready. Just pour yourself a cup.

An automatic drip coffee machine heats water from the reservoir and pumps it up a tube. The hot water then sprinkles over the coffee grounds sitting in the filter basket. As the water passes through the grounds, it extracts flavors and compounds from the coffee. The brewed coffee drips down into the pot below, ready to be served.

Thanks for continuing to read along!