The quality and type of coffee you use can make all the difference in whether you get a good or just so-so cup of joe, but brewing methods also come into play. Here’s an overview of some of the most popular coffee brewing techniques in use today:
Pour over: Most baristas concur that you have to begin with freshly ground beans, which are placed in a filter that rests inside a cone-shaped filter holder, also called a “pour over dripper.” Hot water is then poured from a gooseneck or drip kettle over and through the grounds to extract the coffee flavors into a cup or pot.
Even though water temperature, pouring speed and a scale are involved with pour over, this technique is easy to master and extracts the true flavors from coffee for a clean, robust cup. Bonus: the brewing method itself uses no electricity, and cleanup is a breeze.
French press: This method is touted by many as producing a strong cup of coffee not suited for wimps. Ground coffee beans are placed in the French press, and heated water is added. The ground coffee is steeped for the coffee drinker’s preferred length of time. The user then pushes down a plunger with a built-in filter screen that presses hot water through ground coffee, and voilà—a freshly brewed cup.
In a French press, it’s important to get the texture of the grind just right, so that, along with the mess of wet grounds that stick to the bottom of the gadget might intimidate a newbie. But once those kinks are worked out and the routine becomes second nature, many become loyal to their French presses.
Home espresso machine: Most quality home espresso machines run hundreds of dollars, but espresso enthusiasts will tell you it’s well worth the investment for that daily shot of burly caffeinated goodness. A home espresso machine brews coffee by forcing pressurized hot water through tightly packed ground coffee (sometimes called the puck) and a filter. The finished product, espresso, then drips into a shot glass-sized cup.
It’s not just the caffeine jolt, but also the flavor of espresso that many coffee enthusiasts adore; the espresso method can extract the best aromatic compounds found in roasted coffee without including the naturally occurring tannic acids.
Cold brew: There’s been a cold brew coffee boom in recent years, and with good reason: the cool water brings out the natural flavors in coffee’s oils that are otherwise altered by hot water. The cold brewing process also removes some of the acid naturally found in coffee beans, so those who usually suffer from heartburn after drinking traditional coffee might find cold brew more agreeable.
In cold brewing, cold water is used instead of hot water, and the grounds are usually steeped eight or more hours. With cold brew, the finished coffee has a slightly lighter, crisp taste than traditional hot brewed coffee. For those who don’t like java on ice, cold brew coffee can be brewed stronger and then later mixed with heated water.
Percolator: My grandma brewed pot after pot of Eight O’ Clock coffee (usually purchased from long-defunct A&P or Kohl’s food stores) in a stovetop or electric percolator, and these efficient brewing pots are still common today. A percolator works by sending boiling water up through a tube and over the top of a perforated basket, where the water rains down over the coffee grounds and back down into the boiling water to repeat the process. It’s fun to watch the coffee bubble in the glass knob on the cover, and a percolator produces a strong, rich brew, although some believe this method boils away much of the flavor.
With an old-fashioned stove percolator, it’s possible to over boil and end up with a pot of bitter brew, but most electric models automatically stop percolation when the coffee is finished, and then a warming mode kicks in.
Standard drip or automatic drip: We can’t forget good ol’ Mr. Coffee and his legion of imitators, which have been staples on millions of household kitchen counters since the 1970s. The standard-drip maker pours water over ground coffee beans placed in a filtered basket, and the finished coffee drips into a pot. As a fast, easy and economical method (standard drip coffee maker prices start around $20), you’ll still find a standard drip coffee maker in many American kitchens. The jury it still out on whether or not auto drip produces a decent cup of coffee. I’ve heard coffee aficionados balk at standard drip coffee, yet many are satisfied with a cup or two or three of coffee brewed this way and will drink it down to the last drop.
