By popular demand, I am bringing back the monthly Coffeevine Brew Guide in its digital form after a few months of making it available only in our monthly COFFEEVINE MAG.

I am also working on a bigger and better magazine that will include more content about our brilliant roasters and space for you to take notes. For now though, please refer to the brew guide below to make the most of your January 2024 Coffeevine box.

Basic Setup

As in any good kitchen or bar, you want to be sure to have a few key items at your disposal that will aid you in preparing a delicious cup of coffee.

These include:

• • Scales (with or without a timer – you can use your phone or your watch)
  • A good quality burr grinder such as the Comandante Grinder
  • Your favourite brew method (Origami, Kalita Wave, V60, AeroPress etc)
  • A clean vessel for brewing and decanting
  • A ladle or stirrer for agitating the grounds
  • Water for brewing
  • A pouring kettle but a regular kettle will also do, however, it requires more precision

It’s very important to always freshly grind your coffee just before preparation because coffee is very volatile and quickly loses its full aroma in a matter of minutes.

You can also vacuum pack your coffee in portions, name and number each batch and then keep it in a dry cool place or put it in the freezer.

For espresso, I use my home espresso machine, a Profitec Pro600 espresso machine and a Profitec ProT64 grinder.

Blossom’s recipe for filter:

Dosage: 18g of coffee – Water: 300g – Temperature: 100ºC – Method: V60

Rinse your paper filter with hot water and then add the coffee. Bloom with 40g of water poured into the center of your coffee bed. After 30 seconds, start pouring the remaining water in one slow circular motion until you reach 300g. This should take around 1:45 – 2:00 minutes. Give the coffee a gentle swirl and wait for the water to drain through.

Total brew time: 2:45 – 3:00 minutes

Blossom’s recipe for espresso:

Dosage: 18g of coffee – Yield: 40g – Extraction time: 0:26 – 0:30 seconds

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Nowhere’s recipe for filter:

Dosage: 15g of coffee – Water: 250g – Temperature: 94ºC – Method: V60 with a bypass

The bypass method means that you add a bit of hot water to your brewed coffee to create a more crisp and floral tasting cup. Generally, this tends to be 20 – 40% of water of the total water needed for your brew.

Use your standard V60 method but grind finer to create more of a ‘concentrate’ and then add the missing water to the brewed coffee after you finish your brew. It’s worth experimenting with this as each coffee requires a different recipe to get the best flavour.

Nowhere’s recipe for espresso:

Dosage: 16.5g of coffee – Yield: 38g – Extraction time: 0:30 seconds – Temperature: 96ºC

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Prolog’s recipe for filter:

Dosage: 15g of coffee – Water: 25g0g – Temperature: 96ºC – Method: V60

Use soft water around 50 – 80 PPM. Use a relatively coarse grind for this. Wet your paper filter and then add the coffee. Bloom with 50g of water for 50 seconds. Your pouring pattern should be slow and continuous, pouring in a circular pattern and always returning to the centre. Pouring should be from a high enough stance to splatter slightly on the surface.

Total brew time: 1:45 – 2:30 minutes

Prolog’s recipe for espresso:

Dosage: 18g of coffee – Yield: 42 – 44g – Extraction time: 0:15 – 0:18 seconds – Temperature: 92 – 94ºC

Runtime should be faster than conventional espresso due to the light style of roast.

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Dune’s recipe for filter:

Dosage: 16g of coffee – Water: 250g – Temperature: 94ºC – Method: V60

Use a standard V60 recipe for this with 110 PPM water hardness. Use 5 pours of 50g each, always 0:30 seconds apart.

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What did you think of these recipes and and the coffees themselves? Feel free to leave a comment down below to share your own recipes and favourite brew methods.