First up is the French Press brewing guide, followed by the Chemex and the Hario v60 brewing guides.

 Brewing Guide/V60 Pour Over from Square One Coffee on Vimeo.

(These videos were created by the fantastic Jason Pohlig.  Thanks again, Jason!)

Our roasting operation has moved a step closer to our customers!  If you’ve been to our shop in Lancaster lately, this won’t come as a surprise to you at all.  (It’s hard to miss that big, shiny, beautiful piece of machinery smiling at you while you wait for your drink.)

That’s right!  The back room has been converted into a space for roasting coffee and holding coffee cuppings/tastings and brewing classes.  There is still overflow seating for 6-10 people back there, (which is half the seating), but we are excited for all of our customers to be able to watch the process of coffee being roasted and have an opportunity to participate in more tastings and educational events.  It’s also a great place to meet with people who are interested in partnering with us by brewing Square One Coffee at their café/restaurant/establishment.

“The Roasting Studio” is still a work in progress, but we couldn’t be happier to have finally taken the plunge!  So stop by for a bag of coffee or a delicious beverage, and feel free to grab a seat in the Roasting Studio where you’ll have front row seats to watch the magic happen.

And here is a video clip from her time on the farm with Richard Kimondo, an expert coffee farmer.  (Richard took a very short break from teaching Jess all about coffee farming to tell her how long he’s been involved as a coffee farmer.  And then he jumped right back into the lesson.)  ;)

More pictures, videos and stories from this trip will be coming soon!

The other “newness” is the re-opening of our outdoor space (our “courtyard”). It had been closed for over a year, but now it’s back and better than ever! A big shout out goes to Sarah W., who overhauled the entire space. Thanks, Sarah! We’re excited to be able to offer our customers an cozy outdoor space to enjoy their beverages, so come take us up on that offer!

In the meantime, check out this clip from America’s Test Kitchen about automatic home coffee makers.  Since this method is one of the most common ways that people brew coffee at home, we think it’s important to look at (even though connoisseurs might scoff).  They tested a lot of home brewers (based on the initial criteria that the brewer needed to brew into a thermal server of some kind because of the fact that adding external heat to brewed coffee makes it deteriorate much faster).  Check out their findings to see if your brewer made the cut*.

America’s Test Kitchen video: Best Coffee Maker 

*Spoiler alert:  Unless you use a Technivorm MoccaMaster ($250), it didn’t.

A more complete explanation of the testing can be found at the link below, although you can’t see the full results without signing up for the trial.  However, the winner was the Technivorm brewer (with all the other brewers pretty much failing in every category tested).

Cooks Illustrated article on Home Coffee Makers

It’s probably the hardest thing for people to agree on.  That’s because taste is subjective.  However there are some obvious indicators that your coffee isn’t performing to its full potential.  So it’s part taste and part science.

The Specialty Coffee Association of America has stated the proper amount of coffee to use for a certain amount of water, but as I talk to customers I can see that they are often skeptical of that advice.  The SCAA recommends using 10 grams (about 2 tablespoons) for every 6 ounces of water.  And I can understand people who secretly think, “Yeah!  I’m sure they’d like me to blow through that much coffee!  Can you say ‘conflict of interest’?”

But, believe it or not, there is a method to the madness.  Using fancy gadgets like TDS meters and refractometers, and also professional palates and mass taste tests, they’ve tested brews at different strengths and determined a range of desirable results.  (A range…so there is some wiggle room.)

So what happens if you use less coffee?  Say, half as much (which would be 5 grams of coffee, or about 1 tablespoon, per every 6 ounces of water)?  The coffee will be over-extracted.  What that means is that the water has washed over the coffee grounds and eroded the bed of ground coffee, pulling out (extracting) all of the coffee solids that were meant to be tasted and consumed (all the good stuff), but then, instead of quitting while it was ahead, the water kept on coming (remember, this situation involves less coffee than recommended, so the proportions are off).  Now the water is extracting undesirables; solids that are more volatile and bitter.  There’s a reason that you discard a filter full of used coffee grounds.  You don’t try to brew a second pot with the same grounds, right?  And you don’t eat the grounds with a spoon.  That’s because we all know that there is part of the coffee that is useful for consumption and part that isn’t.  If you don’t use enough coffee, you risk extracting too much from your coffee…which spoils the flavor of the entire pot.  What does over-extracted coffee taste like?  Weak, thin and extra bitter.  Possibly even astringent (like a cleaning product).

No one ever asks, “What about using too much coffee in the filter?” because that’s a rare problem when using home coffee brewers (auto drip, anyway).  This is because the filters in most home coffee makers can’t hold the proper amount of coffee needed to brew a full pot.  So we recommend brewing a half pot or 3/4 a pot at a time (at the most).  That way, you’ve got room for the right amount of ground coffee (and room to let those grounds expand or “bloom”), and this way you’re also forced to brew more often which will improve the freshness of the coffee and the quality of your home coffee drinking experience in general.

But it’s worth mentioning for those who are curious (and for the manual coffee brewers out there) that using too much coffee can produce more sour or tart flavors or, at the very least, a coffee brewed too strong can overwhelm your palate and make it difficult to discern subtle flavors.  It would be thicker and more muddled; lacking clarity.  When you go to throw your filter of coffee away, you’d probably also notice that a lot of the grounds are dry, meaning that they didn’t get utilized in the brew (under-extraction).  You also run the risk of your filter overflowing once the brew has started (especially if your coffee is very fresh).

10 grams of coffee for every 6 ounces of water isn’t meant to be a rigid rule.  Different brewing methods can vary slightly.  Also, everyone’s taste is different.  So it wouldn’t be ridiculous to use a little more or less coffee (by a gram or so), but be on the lookout for those telltale signs of over or under extraction.  Those guidelines are a great starting point for experimentation.  So give it a try before you rule it out.  If you find that coffee brewed at those “proper proportions” is too strong for your taste, you can try adding hot water directly to your cup to dilute the strength*.  This way, you properly brewed the coffee, extracting only what was meant to be consumed, and then diluted it to your individual preference.  Over time, you will notice that your preference may change.  Before you know it, you’ll taste the subtle nuances that each unique coffee has to offer without the need to dilute it with anything (including cream or sugar).

*Of course, this is assuming that you’re using the correct grind setting for your specific brewing method.  If your coffee is brewed at the correct proportions, but you are having issues with strength, you may need to adjust your grind.  At the recommended proportions (10 grams of coffee for every 6 ounces of water):  Go finer if you find the finished brew weak or thin and coarser if you find the brew too thick and muddled or sour.

Additional Note:  For further reading on this topic, we couldn’t recommend Scott Rao’s books enough (“The Professional Barista’s Handbook”, and his latest “Everything But Espresso”).  They are more geared towards a commercial environment, but for any coffee aficionado the advice is extremely valuable!

Well, that depends on how you’re brewing your coffee.  You need to make sure that you use the appropriate setting for your brewing method because each method requires your coffee to be in contact with the water in a different way and for a different length of time, so a different size granule of coffee is required.  If the coffee is ground incorrectly, the coffee will be either very thick and bitter or very thin and astringent.  Finding the right grind for each brewing method will most likely involve some experimentation to see what works best.  With every brewing method there is a degree of flexibility. You can usually go a touch finer or coarser and still be within a good range. If you’re doing everything right and you find your coffee is weak (or brewing too quickly, especially for pour-over methods or espresso), try grinding a little finer (and vice versa:  if your coffee is thick and taking a long time to brew, you should coarsen the grind). 

In general, french presses or siphon pots required a bigger granule or a “coarse” grind because the coffee is fully immersed in the hot water for the full brewing time (called a “full immersion” method).  Automatic drip brewers or pour-over methods require a smaller granule of coffee or “medium” to “fine” grind because the hot water is simply dripping over the coffee momentarily.  Espresso requires a tiny granule of coffee or “very fine” grind because it needs to be able to be firmly packed together into a puck that can withstand all of the heat and pressure that an espresso machine applies to it without allowing the water to push through the coffee too quickly (shots are typically under 30 seconds).  

The type of grinder is important too. Blade grinders simply utilize sharp blades to chop your beans (so calling them “grinders” at all is a bit of a misnomer), while burr grinders (preferable) actually crush the beans.  Other issues that blade grinders have are their grind consistency and repeatability.  If you grind some coffee with a blade grinder and spread a sample of the coffee out on your counter, you’ll quickly discover that it doesn’t grind uniformly (there will be lots of bigger chunks, lots of finer pieces and everything in between).  And even if you are happy with the results of your blade grinder, the results are usually hard to replicate with much accuracy.  Burr grinders control the size of the grind by how close the burrs are to each other.  So, it’s not up to the user to pulse a button for the right amount of time to control the grind size because the grinder is already set to do the work based on the chosen grind setting.  The result is much more uniform granule sizes and because the beans are being crushed instead of chopped, there is more potential for better extraction.

The only downside in the blade vs. burr grinder issue is the price.  I don’t know of anyone who has done a side-by-side taste test and chosen the blade grinder over the burr grinder.  Burr grinders tend to be more expensive than blade grinders, but they usually last longer because the burrs can be replaced when needed.  Lots of people ask us for home burr grinder recommendations, and the most affordable option that we recommend is the Hario Skerton Hand Mill ($50 at our shop), but it’s a hand mill…so you’ll need to be willing to put in the elbow grease (especially if you’re grinding fine…and this hand mill can grind super fine for espresso, which is something that not all home burr grinders can accomplish). Another benefit of this old school hand operated method is that the burrs are moving at the speed that you turn them, so there is minimal heat produced.  Electric burr grinders can generate some heat which can also heat the coffee a bit while it’s grinding, affecting the flavor of the finished product.  The other obvious benefit of the Hario hand mill is its portability.  Traveling?  You’re good to go!  Camping?  You’re covered!  Apocalyptic power outage scenario?  You’ll be glad you have it!

We’ve also heard good things about the Baratza Maestro Conical Burr Coffee Grinder ($99), but we don’t have personal experience with it.  Our personal favorite home grinder is the KitchenAid Pro Line Burr Coffee Grinder ($250).  It’s a little more pricey, but it’s solid (the nickel pearl version has no plastic parts at all) and will stand the test of time.  (We’ve had ours for almost 5 years, and it’s still as awesome as the day we bought it.)  You can replace the burrs yourself, so you’ll never need another home grinder.  (And they’re not even paying us to say this, folks!  But…maybe they should be?)  ;)  The only negative factor about this grinder is that it can’t quite grind fine enough for espresso (which is another reason why we have the Hario Skerton Hand Mill).

What grinder is working well for you at home?  (Pros?  Cons?  Price point?)

(P.S.  I definitely deserve some type of medal for avoiding the cliche “daily grind”-type references in this post.  You’re welcome!)