It is the first month of the new year and I think I can speak for everyone when I say that sincerely hope this pandemic is over soon. I MISS HUGGING STRANGERS! I MISS GOING TO RESTAURANTS! I MISS TRAVELLING!

Although Michal and I have felt very cosy and happy in our apartment throughout the last lockdown, using this as a great chance to do some renovations and buying some new furniture, we are getting a touch of cabin fever. Work keeps me sane and I continue to learn something new every day, which makes all of this more bearable.

One thing I’ve been experimenting with a lot is using my favourite brew methods to find new ways to extract coffee with them. That is also why for this brew guide, I am including a low-temperature and high-agitation recipe for the Aeropress because it’s fun to try new things. This one is by Olav from the Instagram account @aeropress_recipe

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

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
  • The Kruve Sifter (not required but handy to filter out fines)
  • Your favourite brew method (Origami, Kalita Wave, V60, AeroPress etc)
  • A clean vessel for brewing and decanting
  • Water for brewing, ideally mixed at home. I used the Barista Hussle recipe as I find that it results in the best tasting coffee:
    • 40.1g Buffer
    • 80.7g Mg
    • 879.2g DI water
  • A pouring kettle but a regular kettle will also do, however, it requires more precision

You can also vacuum pack your coffee in portions, name and number each batch and then keep it in a dry cool place. More information about freshness and how to rest your coffees can be found in this article.

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.

My suggested recipe for filter via Olav from @aeropress_recipe

Aeropress: 16g of coffee ground medium-fine (22 clicks on the Comandante) Inverted method with one paper filter. Flush your paper filter with freshly boiled water and then let the water cool down to 75ºC. Add your coffee to the Aeropress and even out the bed.

Add enough water to wet the grounds and start the bloom. Stir in a circular motion once every second for 30 seconds. Then add all of the water while stirring and continue stirring until you reach the 1:30 minute mark.

Start pressing down and press slowly to finish the extraction by about 2:10 minutes. Press all the way through.

Drop Coffee’s recipe for filter:

Small 155 Kalita filter: Use 15 grams of coffee and 250g of water at 92 – 96°C. Start with wetting all the coffee, using 40 – 50 grams of water. Let the coffee bloom for 25 – 30 seconds. Then add 50 – 60 grams of water when the coffee stops bubbling. Keep adding 50 grams of water every 30 seconds until you reach 250 grams.

The total brewing time, when all the water has passed through the coffee, should be 2:45 – 3 minutes.

Drop Coffee’s recipe for espresso:

Dose: 18g. Water temperature: 93 – 96°C. Beverage weight: 38g. Time: 28s. TDS: 10%. Extraction yield: 19%.

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Cloud Picker’s recipe for filter:

V60: 1 cup ratio 1:15. 16g dry coffee ground medium fine. 240ml total water. Brew in three minutes and pour in three even pours of 80ml each. After the first pour allow to bloom before giving a light stir to ensure all grounds are wet. Temperature range kept within 90 – 96ºC.

Cloud Picker’s recipe for espresso:

19g in 38g out with 27 – 30 seconds extraction.

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Deep Coffee Roasters’ recipe for filter:

V60: 15g of coffee ground medium-fine. Use 250ml of water at 95ºC water temperature with a total brew time of 3:45 minutes. Bloom: 50ml then spin V60 with high agitation, make sure to wet all grounds. Add 100ml at 45 seconds, add 100ml again at 1:15 minutes and agitate. Target a total brew time of 3:30-3:45 min.

Deep Coffee Roasters’ recipe for espresso:

18g in, 40g out, 96°C water and around 28 seconds extraction time.