Brewing Coffee Manually

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Category: Product Review (Page 6 of 8)

Manual Coffee Brewing- Bairro AltoAir Product Review

August 9, 2016 / / 2 Comments

The Bairro AltoAir (an item that made it onto my 2015 Coffee Gift Guide) is a stunning brewing device. It is made of stainless steel and boasts a unique and eye-catching geometric design. It is sleek, versatile and brews a great cup of coffee.

Since Christmas when my in-laws gifted me the AltoAir, I have logged a phenomenal amount of brews with it. (I am probably averaging over two brews a day). I have basically replaced my Hario V60 with the AltoAir.

After seven months of tinkering and brewing with the AltoAir, here are my thoughts.

What is the Bairro AltoAir?

According to the Bairro website, the AltoAir was conceptualize as a response to the way paper filters stick to the walls of most pour-over devices. The assumption is that sticking filters make it difficult to control flow rate and can yield an uneven extraction.

The AltoAir is designed so that hardly any material touches the filtering medium. The filter and coffee are essentially surrounded by air. They claim this design helps achieve a more even extraction and thus a more enjoyable cup of coffee.

The AltoAir fits both standard sized Chemex filters and Hairo V60 02 filters. It can be used as a stand-alone pour-over brewer or as an insert into the Chemex.

It can easily be assembled or broken down as a simple matter of lining up the holes and rotating the base a few degrees (it takes 5 seconds tops). The AltoAir is made out of stainless steel and is dishwasher safe.

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The Chemex Brew Guide and Informational

December 9, 2015 / / 5 Comments

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

September 1, 2015 / / 8 Comments

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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