How to Brew Coffee At Home
November 22, 2013 / Home Brewing Basics
Following our guidelines for brewing Shearwater fresh roasted organic coffee at home will result in delicious cup of coffee day in and day out:
First off, just buy enough fresh roasted organic whole-bean coffee to last 7 to 10 days. Most people find a 12oz bag sufficient. This initial period is the peak of flavor for fresh roasted coffee and though it will still taste great after 4 to 6 weeks (if properly stored to avoid exposure to oxygen) the beans are best ground and brewed in the 7 to 10 day period after roasting.
Grind just before brewing. Grinding hastens the staling process by exposing more surface area to oxygen. Ground coffee can go stale just after a few hours of exposure.
Use purest water source. Coffee is 90% water so if you don’t like your tap water then using it to brew coffee isn’t a good idea. Filtered or natural spring water is best.
If you use an automatic drip coffee brewer make sure it heats to 195 to 205F. If it doesn’t reach that just off of boil temperature you should plan on purchasing a brewer that does. I personally like Technivorm Moccamaster as it heats correctly and consistently brews great pot of coffee. French press is a great alternative to automatic drip. We sell the very advanced Espro Press that is double-filtered for a cleaner taste and double-walled for better thermal insulation. This is currently my favorite home & cafe brewing method for maximizing flavor in the cup.
I always get asked how much ground coffee is the correct amount. The golden rule is 60 grams per liter. You can extrapolate that ratio to various amounts of water and coffee used in your capacity brewing device. For example, I weigh out 72 grams of Shearwater coffee beans for 1.2 liters of water (10 cup 1.2L Moccamaster) on a small accurate kitchen scale, place in the grinder hopper, medium grind them and then drop the grounds into in the Moccamaster brew basket. Make sure your carafe and drinking cups are preheated with hot water to avoid the vessels from drawing off the heat from the coffee. In six minutes it brews delicious coffee that is naturally sweet, full of flavor with a wonderful mouth-feel.