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Ok I’ll admit it. I have a coffee blog titled “Brewing Coffee Manually” and I use my automatic drip coffeemaker at least three times a week. The other day when I was driving to work and sipping on my automatic brew, a thought occurred to me. I have never actually directly compared a pour over coffee maker vs. drip coffee maker scenario.
I generally have a cup of coffee 2-3 times a day so granted that is a smaller percentage of my actual coffee consumed (less than 20%) but I wanted to get it off my chest. Sometimes I take the easy road and use the automatic coffeemaker.
I generally use my coffeemaker when I have early morning shifts (we are talking before some McDonald’s are even open earliness). The automatic timer function ensures that I can get up at the last possible moment and everything that I do is essential to me getting to work on time (of course you will notice this means I pre-grind my coffee the night before… strike 2?).
Why not see exactly what I am actually missing out on?
My Automatic Coffeemaker
First, I’d like to get a little background on my coffeemaker. It isn’t a fancy Technivorm or Bonavita. It is a Cuisinart DCC-1200. Hence, I can not speak directly for the “elite” tier of electric coffee brewers.
It takes about ten minutes for a full pot of coffee to brew. My general process when I am using the coffeemaker is to fill up the reservoir up with water, grind an appropriate dosage of coffee, and set the timer to start brewing the coffee ten minutes before I want to be walking out the door. The coffee is ready and no early morning brain power is needed.
A few other notes on my automatic coffeemaker:
- I generally will buy less expensive* coffee to use in it, or if I roast a coffee I don’t like I will use it in my coffeemaker.
- I use a little less coffee when I brew coffee in my automatic coffeemaker. For manual brewing, I use somewhere around a 1:17 coffee to water ratio. For automatic brewing, I use a little more than half that.
- When my wife and I host gatherings at our house, I use the coffeemaker to make coffee in bulk.
The Pour Over Coffee Maker Vs. Drip
Well, I will spare you some of the gory details of my little experiments. (If you don’t care about any of the boring minutiae that is my comparison tests, just skip to The Challenge.) Spoiler alert: the pour over coffee was better.
I tested my manual pour over against my automatic coffee maker three separate times and I changed up the experiment a little bit every time based on my findings.
Pour Over Coffee Maker Vs. Drip Test 1- Head to head with no handicap
The first time I did my pour over coffee maker vs. drip test, I went with the dosage I typically use for manual brewing for the automatic coffee maker as well as my manually prepared cup. This was to remove any differences from the ratios alone. I was amazed at the sheer volume of grounds that went into the filter basket. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I use about half as much coffee when I use the electric coffeemaker.
The automatic coffee was, as could probably be expected, very unpleasant. The coffeemaker extracted an over abundance of the more bitter and astringent flavors. Next to the manually brewed pour over, the coffee maker coffee was lacking in sweetness, balance and I very much preferred the manual cup.
Pour Over Coffee Maker Vs. Drip Test 2- Head to head with everyone at their best
The second time I did my comparison, I decided that I should make my automatic brewed coffee with the dosage I am used to brewing with and the manually brewed coffee at the standard 17:1 dosage. This allowed me to compare each coffee “at it’s best.” (I also adjusted the grind to my standard settings for each method.)
The results were a little more evenly matched, but I still preferred the handmade cup. The manual pour over coffee was more balanced and had more pop. Still, the automatic coffee wasn’t terrible. This led me to wondering if I was being swayed by a preconceived bias.
The blind taste test
The third time around, I did a blind taste test. With the help of my wife, I was able to try both brew methods without prior knowledge about which coffee was which. This was an effort to eliminate any preconceived bias.
The result of the blind tasting were the same as test 2. (I even had my wife do a blind tasting and select which one she prefers.) I must admit I had a little harder time choosing the one that I liked at first. As the coffees began to cool, the differences really started to emerge. The automatic coffee just didn’t have the same complexity and flavors. It was muddled and muted in comparison to the manual pour over.
In a pour over coffee maker vs. drip coffee maker test, I prefer manually brewed coffee to automatic. Phew?
I may seem a little silly to test such a widely affirmed truth but it is good to not take things for granted. Have you ever tried two brew methods side by side for the sake of comparison?
The Challenge
All this tasting and testing got me thinking. While my series of tests wasn’t the most scientific, it did reaffirm to me that I prefer manually brewed coffee to automatic drip coffee.
What if I simply discarded my automatic brewer for a month? I would get back .5 square feet of counter space, drink better coffee on my early morning commute and have a calming five minute pause to begin my hectic early morning days.
Could I manage without it? I think I could.
Effective immediately, I will be placing my automatic brewer into my basement for storage until at least a April 17, or I cry uncle and get it out early (I will definitely fess up if I do this).
If you have never brewed a cup of coffee manually, I want you to try it. You don’t have to do it everyday, but at least do it once. You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment to start out with. Get a five dollar Melitta dripper and my Manual Brewing 101 will get you up to speed. If you own a French press, which is quite common, start there. You can also check out my getting started page for additional resources and information.
Wouldn’t you rather have a handmade cup of coffee in the morning and enjoy the calming ritual of making it? If you do a pour over coffee maker vs. drip coffee comparison, let me know. (Manual Brewing March? Manual Brewing Madness?….)
As always you can contact me with questions, blog topic suggestions and just to say hello at [email protected]. Cheers!
*My three very early morning shifts are unfortunately full of these sorts of compromises. Don’t judge me. Sometimes in those wee morning hours, I change from artisan coffee enthusiast to the addicted caffeine user.
French press coffee makers are a classic and simple way to brew coffee. Here’s how it typically works:
Grind Coffee Beans: Start by grinding your coffee beans to a coarse consistency. The ideal grind size for French press is relatively coarse, similar to breadcrumbs.
Add Coffee Grounds: Put the ground coffee into the French press. The general guideline is one tablespoon of coffee grounds per cup of water, but you can adjust this to your taste preference.
Heat Water: Heat water to just below boiling point. The optimal temperature for brewing coffee is around 195-205°F (90-96°C).
Pour Water: Pour the hot water over the coffee grounds in the French press, ensuring all the grounds are saturated. Give it a gentle stir to make sure all the grounds are evenly mixed with water.
Steep: Place the lid on the French press with the plunger pulled all the way up to seal the pot, and let the coffee steep for about 4 minutes. This allows the flavors to fully develop.
Plunge: After the steeping time is up, slowly and evenly press down the plunger. This separates the coffee grounds from the brewed coffee, pushing them to the bottom.
Pour and Enjoy: Once you’ve pressed down the plunger, your coffee is ready to be poured and enjoyed. Serve it immediately to experience the freshest flavor.
French press coffee tends to have a fuller body and richer flavor compared to drip coffee, as the coffee grounds remain in contact with the water for a longer period during brewing. It’s a popular choice for coffee enthusiasts who appreciate a more robust cup of coffee.