How to make the best coffee

In this world there are two types of people; those who care what goes into their bodies and those that don’t. If you are reading this, you are the former. Buckle in.

Coffee

This may appear like an obvious factor but when you scratch beneath the surface, the complexities of choice confuse most. You must choose the correct coffee for your preparation method. You wouldn’t expect a 9mm Glock 19 bullet to be repurposed as a ballistic missile would you? A dark roast with a high volume of Robusta beans should not be used for the pour-over preparation method. It would be bitterer than Liz Truss’s career advisor. I recommend googling the best type of coffee for your preparation method. Alternatively type www.contactcoffee.com and cut out the middle man.

As a rule of thumb, dark roasted coffees are great for espresso based coffees and sometimes coffee presses. Lighter roasts are perfect for pour-overs and an Aeropress. Ultimately, it’s what you as the drinker enjoys as coffee.

Timing

Coffee is all about the 1 percenters. The suggested brew time for a coffee press is 4 minutes. If you brew for longer then you will experience more intense flavours. If you brew the coffee press for 6+ minutes then you have got yourself a black syrupy bitter coffee that can clean car engines. Brew the coffee for less than 3 min 30 sec and you have yourself tasteless brown water.
Bean to brew times:

• Espresso machine: 2 minutes
• Moka Pot: 5-7 minutes
• Aeropress: 3 minutes
• French press: 4 minutes
• Battle Bag: 3-4 minutes (for a stronger tasting coffee, leave the bag for longer)
• Chemex: 3-4 minutes
• V60: 3-4 minutes

Water Temperature

This is another 1 percenter that must be considered. For some, it is standard to use boiling water for all coffee. You should consider the following:

• Light roasts are difficult to extract so they require boiling water for extra fire power when brewing.
• Dark roasts require a lower temperature of about 93C. If the water is too hot then you risk extracting bitter flavours. Top Tip: knock off the kettle just before the boil to get an optimum temperature for your dark roast.

Knowledge of method.

In our coffee world there are 4 primary brewing methods; espresso, pour-over, coffee press and Battle Bags. Each method delivers different tastes and requires some skill. The lazy people in this world are “too busy” and just opts for the “simple” instant coffee. This requires zero skill which results in zero taste.

• Battle Bag. This is our answer to Instant coffee. Don’t use boiling water because it’s a dark roast and brew for 3-5 minutes based on the strength you like your coffee. Make sure you time the brew period.
• Espresso. If you are using a Bean to Cup machine then it requires dialling in to get your grind and extraction time perfect.
• An Aeropress coffee isn’t technically espresso but it is coffee created under pressure and requires skill and timing to draw the perfect coffee. There are plenty of tutorials online so get watching.
• Pour Over. This is our favourite and arguably requires the most skill. The grind must not be too course to enable an even extracting when water is poured over. The water must be the correct temperature based on the roast profile and your amount of coffee is key to ensure you have balance. There is no quick trick to learn this method so practice with timing, temperature, and weight until you have nailed the perfect cup of coffee.
• Coffee press. “Not too course, not too fine” is a popular phrase from a precise US Army Ranger whilst he slowly plunges his coffee press in the film Black Hawk Down. He is correct, a fine grind will result in over extraction and sediment in your mug. A course grind will give you bin juice and under extraction.
• Timing is key, so park your iPhone with the timer running next to your press and wait for 4 minutes before slowly plunging. If you feel no resistance then your coffee press mesh has failed and you must replace it.

Everybody enjoys coffee differently. If you like a strong bitter coffee then brew for longer to draw out those flavours. Learn your method and practice often to find your path to a truly epic coffee.