Filter Coffee
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[edit] Filter Coffee
This TMC Wiki page is about the filter (drip) method of preparing coffee. It is still a stub that requires the addition of further content, certainly some corrections, images, links and all that.
There are many different kinds of drip coffee, the most common certainly are simple coffee machines with a heating plate and paper filters. There is the plain old Melitta porcelain filter, which too uses paper filter. There is the Chemex, which strictly is also drip coffee but seems to yield quite different results to normal drip coffee. I'll start with making coffee manually with a porcelain filter, please somebody (James? :)) add some insight to Chemex coffee making.
[edit] Porcelain Filter
This is a straightforward method and known to many if not most adults (I believe) that have been in contact with coffee making at home.
- put filter on mug
- put paper filter in porcelain filter
- some people recommend to wet the filter with hot water, I haven't made 'studies' on that. But it's a good opportunity to get the filter and cup up to temperature so I'm doing it, too
- add ground coffee (quite a bit coarser than espresso grind, finer than french press grind, about the same fineness like for vacpot)
- How you pour the water does have a considerable impact in how the cup finally tastes. What works for me (currently) is:
- Wet the grounds evenly with about 50-100ml of water; let it bloom for a while
- If it does not bloom, the coffee wasn't fresh; repeat with fresh coffee ;)
- slowly pour the water, so that you maintain nearly the same level of water in the filter over the whole brewing process
- Enjoy!
As always, there are many pitfalls in the details:
[edit] Grind
It's not too easy to dial in the grind for filter the first time. Give yourself time if you just started an let your tastebuds decide. If you know how your coffee tastes with other brewing methods you have a point to compare to, if not, just compare your results with each other.
[edit] Water temperature
Boiling water is too hot (as always for coffee), I use water 10-20 seconds off the boil and pour from a little higher
[edit] Time
How long the process takes is mostly determined by the grind used. For a one/two cup filter, the time should be arond 1-2 minutes. For a litre around 4-6 minutes. If it takes too long, either the dose was too high or grind too fine and vice versa.
[edit] Dose
The amount of ground coffee used per single cup filter cone is obviously best determined by personal preference, but a couple of gerneralisations can be made and used as guidelines.
1. Lowering the dose will lengthen percolation time (This is counter-intuitive, especially for the espresso-heads among us. I haven’t decided fully why this is the case, but I’ve tried and tested this several times and it seems to be the case. I can speculate that it has to do with blockage, and the fact that the diameter of a filter cone is much smaller near the base and thus less “puck” resistance is required to maintain an acceptable percolation time. I’m perfectly happy to receive counter-arguments!)
2. The longer coffee is out of roast, the longer the percolation time (Again, this is an observation. I believe this has to do with the amount of carbon dioxide remaining in the coffee; older coffees have less, and perhaps carbon dioxide somewhat hydrophobic when released from fresh coffee, allowing the brew to “wash” with more ease).
3. The lighter the roast level, the longer the percolation time (Once again, an observation. Again I speculate this has to do with the amount of carbon dioxide in the roasted coffee; that lighter roasts have less).
4. Higher doses tend to display a richer body, while lower doses become tea-like
5. Acidity and sourness are more pronounced with higher doses I have no idea why this is, but it is consistent with espresso extraction. The most water soluble substances in ground coffee are acidic and sweet ones.