Better coffee. One cup at a time.

Category: Product Review (Page 6 of 7)

The Chemex Brew Guide and Informational

Ah the Chemex, where to begin; an iconic manual brewer invented in the 1940’s by Peter Schlumbohm? A third-wave coffee stronghold? One part pour-over, one part carafe and one part science-i-ness?

The truth is, I haven’t owned my Chemex for even a year yet but I adored it from the first time I used it. I love the classic vintage design, the amazing thick filters and it’s unmatched potential for brewing large batches of good coffee to share with the world.

It’s forgiving. It’s photogenic. It brews a pretty great cup of coffee.

Because it is one of my newer additions to my manual brewing arsenal, I have been dragging my feet on posting a brew guide. This is not because I lack confidence. I just wanted explore and answer some of my questions I had about the device.

Just because I haven’t owned the Chemex for a decade, doesn’t mean I haven’t spend time using it, I’m halfway through my third box of filters, which means roughly 250 brews.

After spending a solid month of concentrated Chemex brewing, including brewing for large family gatherings, work colleagues and even a few less than stellar Periscope performances. I’m ready to talk. Here is a my Chemex brew guide and some other relevant information.

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Hario Woodneck Drip Pot (Nel Drip) Intro and Tutorial

The Hario Woodneck Drip Pot is one of the less championed but more interesting manual brewers. Also known as the “Nel” drip (an abbreviated reference to it’s cotton flannel filter), this brewer consists of a glass carafe with a wood collar, a reusable cotton flannel filter and a wooden handled hoop to give the filter structure. It is a pour-over style brewer that comes in two sizes, the larger of which can hold around 480 mL of coffee.

Despite some extra maintenance and cleaning quirks, it is currently one of my favorite manual brewing methods. It produces a flavorful and full cup that has more body than traditional paper filtered coffee but less “sludge” than some of the metal filter options.

Brewing With the Hario Woodneck- My Nel Drip Method

As a manual pour-over device, I treat the Hario Woodneck a lot like I would treat some of the more common pour-over brewers. The flow rate is going to be a little slower than a traditional V60 brew, so I grind a little courser. I typically find myself one or two clicks to the east of my V60 setting on my Virtuoso grinder.

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Brewing Coffee Manually College Edition – 6 Tips to Get You Started

The summer days are starting to dwindle and for a large selection of the population the “endless summer” is starting to be numbered. The number of days are rapidly turning from double to single digits. Start saying goodbye to your friends, It’s almost time for college to start back up again.

In your excitement, checklists and packing guides, don’t forget about coffee. You will be leaving the shelter of the carefully (or maybe haphazardly) curated coffee selection of your parent’s house and striking out on your own. Are you prepared to navigate the oft turbulent waters of the college coffee environment?

If you don’t want to be stuck with the mediocre-at-best dorm coffee or shell out two bucks each morning at the trendy cafe for their drip coffee, it helps to have a plan. Manual brewing is a great way to ensure you will have great coffee at an affordable price. Here are six tips for getting the most out of your college (coffee) experience.

If you are new to the blog or manual brewing there are basically four items you will need in order to brew a great cup of coffee in your dorm or apartment: Fresh roasted coffee, a coffee grinder, a manual brewer and an electric kettle or hot water source. Feel free to check out my Start Here page for more links and resources on brewing coffee.

Buy Good Coffee

It should come as no surprise that a quality fresh-roasted coffee is at the top of the list. I recommend finding a business that roasts locally and trying out their offerings. It is fun to get involved in the local community and a local roaster or coffee shop can be a great resource for a lot of coffee related things.

A great bag of coffee could run upwards of 15 dollars for a twelve ounce package but don’t let this deter you. That twelve ounce bag of coffee contains roughly 24 single cups of coffee (.5 ounces per 8 fluid ounces). A quality cup of coffee at 63 cents a cup is a bargain. What does the coffee at your dorm or coffee stand cost? What about a can of Coke from the vending machines?

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