Brewing Tools

Like any other task, to achieve a consistent and enjoyable cup of coffee, it usually takes the help of a few tools. Some of them are pretty common, while others are not. Listed below are a few tools that will become quite handy for home-brewing. The goal is to equip you with the right tools that will help you brew coffee consistently and achieve quality flavor. 

Burr Grinder

Burr grinders are awesome as they tend to be consistent when grinding ensuring that your brewed outcome from batch to batch won't be effected by the grinder if it hasn't been adjusted. If your grind sizes are not consistent, your extraction will be off. If it's on, you're one step close to delicious coffee. 

Scale 

To delivery consistency, a scale will be quite useful. Most brewing recipes require a specific amount of coffee and water measured in grams. Because volume can differ from coffee to coffee, going by weight will help you achieve consistency from brew to brew. Most suggested brew ratios range between 1:15-1:17 coffee to water. For example, if you were brewing a 10-11 oz cup of coffee, a safe place to start would be 20 grams of coffee and 320 grams of water for brewing.  

Timer

Sometimes, even if you hit that ratio and the grind setting may be right, but your outcome may taste "off", the other tool that can help you fine-tune your brewing is a timer. For a standard cup of coffee on a pour over, a 3-3:30 brew time can get you a tasty coffee. French Presses take about 4 minutes for your coffee to sit and steep. Recognizing that those two methods require coffees that are ground differently, are filtered differently, and maybe require different amounts of water and coffee grounds, may influence the time difference as well. What's nice regardless of brew method is once you nail down that perfect brew cycle with your method of choice, a timer paired with your weight of coffee grounds and water will help you nail down that brew again. It's all about consistency achieving that delicious brew again. 

Gooseneck Kettle

Gooseneck kettles are not a requirement for all brew methods, but they come in handy when you need control over the speed and intensity of your pouring stream. A slight adjustment will help you nail down those components and be specific in achieving your target water weight.