Brewing Coffee Manually

Better coffee. One cup at a time.

Year: 2015 (Page 3 of 13)

Taking a Second Look at Keeping a Manual Coffee Brewing Journal

November 3, 2015 / / 2 Comments

Next week the blog will be turning one. While I was perusing old blog posts for ideas for an anniversary post, I came across this gem: Journaling and Challenging Yourself with Deliberate Practice.

Along with a few typos and formatting errors, I found it to be a pretty intense post. It has high aspirations, bold plans and even a mathematical concept or two. It is also one that I have had almost zero percent follow through on. My habit of journaling my brewing and improving my technique is still virtually nonexistent. (I’d be embarrassed but I think it is also one of my least read posts.)

After the I posted that article, I made a page layout template, cut out a cover (out of a Three Floyds six pack) and attempted to make an elaborate coptic stitch brew journal (it would have been pretty cool).

I smile at my blind ambition and the memory of my wife incredulously dismissing my original goal of recording two brewing sessions a day and encouraging me to start with one and see how it goes. Let’s do a postmortem on this journaling ambition. Where did I go wrong and why didn’t it work out the way I planned?

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Pulse pouring vs. continuous pouring techniques

Pouring Techniques: Pulse Pouring Vs. Continuous Pouring

October 27, 2015 / / 6 Comments

Comparatively, there isn’t a lot of content written on pouring techniques. I think part of the reason for that is it is a little bit of an ambiguous subject. Nearly everyone has their own method of doing a pour-over because everyone tastes and enjoys coffee a little differently. Nevertheless, every pouring technique falls into two basic categories: Pulse pouring and continuous pouring.

Here is a quick rundown on the pulse pouring technique as well as the continuous pouring technique.

First the Basics

Before I dive into the captivating minutia of pouring water onto a bed of coffee grounds, here are some things to keep in mind.

  1. This is not necessarily a beginner level concept. If you are just starting out, don’t let this post scare you off. Start at the beginning with Getting Started- Drip Brewing 101 to see how simple brewing better coffee can be. At the same time, just because you are a beginner doesn’t mean you can’t use some of these concepts and accelerate your progress.
  2. Gooseneck Kettles are not required but… very helpful. I wince at the thought of saying you need a gooseneck kettle to participate in the pouring technique adventure, so I won’t. There are many ways to get creative with your brewing techniques and I have heard of people using all sorts of devices for pouring. That being said, the bottom line is that an entry level gooseneck is really not that expensive.  If you are serious about practicing your pour-over technique it is twenty-five  dollars that is worth spending.

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Coffee Leaf Rust, It’s Impact on Coffee and What You Can Do To Help

October 20, 2015 / / 2 Comments

I find it an interesting cultural phenomenon that coffee, like most things we purchase and use, is consumed without much thought about where it comes from. For example, having 25+ coffee origins to choose from is a pretty amazing thing that the average coffee shopper doesn’t bat an eye at. Coffee comes from somewhere, and not anywhere close to where most of us live.

If you are curious about green coffee and the locations it comes from, you can check out my posts on origins and green coffee.

The reality of coffee is that it is grown in some of the poorest places in the world and being a coffee farmer is often a hard life with many obstacles. Coffee rust (or la roya in spanish speaking countries) is one of those obstacles. It is destroying farms and thus the subsistence of entire families.

Whether it is through an increase of price or a particular coffee not being available anymore, coffee rust effects all specialty coffee drinkers in some shape or form. Further up the coffee chain are many in the coffee industry that have strong relationships with coffee farmers and seeing them lose everything is hard.

Here is a synopsis of what coffee rust is as well as something you can do to help.

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