The Perfect Cup: Different Coffee Brewing Equipment and Techniques
If you start your day with a fresh cup of coffee, you already have your preferred brewing style. However, if you are a true coffee enthusiast, you must know the different brewing methods and the best coffee brewing equipment in India for different needs.
Read on to learn more about different brewing methods for that perfect cup of coffee.
7 Classic Brewing Methods
Every coffee connoisseur has their own favourite brewing style based on multiple factors like personal taste, the materials available, and even the situation demanding the cup. If you are just starting out on your coffee experiencing journey, you’ll need to figure out what you like.
To help you understand, let us take a look at 7 different ways you can brew that perfect cup:
Arguably the simplest way to brew a cup of coffee, the pour over method is a classic one. All you need to pour yourself that perfect cup is a coffee cone and filter paper.
Just fold the filter paper into a conical shape and put your ground coffee in it. Slowly pour hot water over it in a spiral, starting from the centre and going outward. Use a narrow spout kettle for the most even pour. The water percolates through the coffee grounds due to gravity. As it does, it extracts the sweet and subtle flavours out of it. The result? A delicious cup of your favourite brew.
The pour over method allows the greatest control and experimental flexibility. It is a good way to figure out your preferences of flavour.
The French Press is an ingenious coffee making device. Invented back in 1929, the French Press method is considered to consistently extract better flavours than other brewing methods.
Using the French Press is simple. Soak and steep your coffee grounds in the brew chamber of the press. Once done, use the plunger to press the grounds down while straining the liquid out in the same chamber. Pour this into a cup and enjoy your coffee.
Since the coffee is steeped in water, the French Press extracts the flavours better than the simple pour over method.
Invented more recently in 2005, the AeroPress is a three part device to brew coffee. It is a significant improvement over the French Press style device.
To use the AeroPress, the coffee grounds are soaked with hot water in the brew chamber. Once it has steeped long enough, you have to push down the plunger or piston. The air pressure forces the brewed coffee out through a filter in the bottom of the brew chamber down into a receptacle.
The AeroPress is a simple and compact device that lets you brew smooth and rich coffee easily. It is believed to extract flavour even better than the French Press.
The Espresso is a coffee made using an Espresso machine. The Espresso machine was patented in 1901. Your favourite coffee comes out of the Espresso machine with greater concentration and enhanced flavours.
The principle is simple. This machine heats water to near boiling point and forces it through coffee grounds to make the coffee. The initial designs were simple and had little more than a boiler, pipes to carry boiling water and a filter for the coffee grounds. Modern Espresso machines are much more advanced with several settings so you can get that perfect cup without much hassle.
Coffee grinding is important in these machines since they are calibrated to a much finer degree. Therefore, Espresso machines use only very finely ground coffee in precise amounts.
The percolation method uses a specially designed stovetop coffee maker or Moka Pot patented in 1933. The Moka Pot has three chambers: the lower one holds water, the middle chamber has the grounds, and the upper chamber is for the brewed coffee.
The brewing is simple. When the pot is placed over flames, the water in the bottom pot boils. This pressure forces the boiling water and steam through the coffee grounds, where it steeps the coffee, and into the upper chamber. Now, just pour it into your favourite cup and enjoy.
The Moka Pot is a very simple device for easy coffee brewing. The percolation method allows you to make better brews with a richer flavour profile.
The vacuum brew method uses a device called the Syphon, invented in 1840 in Germany. The fancy design and flashy brewing process lets you make a fun brew while you impress your friends.
The Syphon pot is made of glass and has two chambers: the bottom one holds water and the top one holds coffee grounds. You heat the lower chamber, forcing water and steam into the upper one due to pressure. Here, the boiling water soaks the coffee. Once you remove the heat source, the brewed coffee from the upper chamber drops back down due to gravity. There you have it, a delicious cup of vacuum made coffee.
The vacuum method of coffee brewing is a somewhat finicky process and the Syphon coffee brewing device is mostly intended as a novelty piece. However, the coffee you get is just as delicious as any.
The Turkish coffee brewing style originated in Turkey and is the common brewing method in the Middle East. The brewing process is a unique one. A special long-handled metal coffee pot called ‘cezve’ is used.
Coffee, water and sugar are all taken in the same pot and set to boil. Once it starts boiling, the brew starts to froth up and overflow. At this point, the pot is removed from the heat till the froth goes down, and then put back in. This is repeated till the brew takes on a rich and foamy texture. You can now pour a cup and enjoy.
Turkish coffee takes some time to be ready since the brew is made by slow heating. Traditionally, the pot was heated in hot sand for a more even heat distribution. Its texture is what makes this coffee so unique.
