Not all coffees are created equal.
The brewing method plays a critical role in determining a coffee’s flavor, body, and more. This guide will walk you through the major methods available for making coffee at home from drip machines to pour-over and beyond. Learn how time, equipment, technique and more impact your final brew. We’ll explain the differences between deliciously complex cold brew, bright and clean filter coffee, silky French press and more. Whether you want to refine your daily cup or expand your coffee horizons into new territory, this guide is for you. Master all the fantastic ways to transform simple beans into sublime beverages.
The only question is—how do YOU take your coffee?
Numerous methods exist for brewing coffee, each with its own unique equipment, process and flavor profile.
- Manual pour-over produces a clean, nuanced cup; the user pours hot water through ground coffee in a cone filter, allowing for careful calibration.
- Full-immersion French press steeps the grounds completely, yielding a robust body.
- Espresso uses pressure to rapidly extract intense flavor and aroma into a small concentrated shot.
- For on-the-go convenience, the AeroPress combines compact size and paper filtration. Auto-drip appliances quickly make large batches using automation and rapid hot water dispersion for broad accessibility.
The optimal grind size varies as well – from finely ground espresso to coarsely crushed French press.
By matching techniques to beans, brewers can better access the diverse flavors locked within each coffee variety. Understanding basic principles of extraction illuminates the crema separating a mundane mug from a transcendent one.
