This is the second brew guide for 2021 and it feels like spring is just around the corner even though only last weekend, people were still iceskating on the canals and lakes of The Netherlands.

I don’t mind an icy cold winter as long as it’s not wet and grey. I’m down with sunny and cold or sunny and warm. I was also glad that it wasn’t pouring cats and dogs yesterday when I shipped my most recent Coffeevine edition, which actually happened to be the biggest yet.

As I already said on Instagram, I am incredibly thankful to each and every one of you who puts his/her/their trust in my monthly coffee boxes. It means everything to me!

And now, let’s kick off the weekend with some beautiful and fragrant coffee, shall we? Here’s my brew guide for February.

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. I use the brilliant Peak Water filtration system
  • 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. More information about freshness and how to rest your coffees can be found in this article.

For espresso, I use my home espresso machine, a Lelit MaraX along with a separate grinder for espresso. I use the same water I use for brewing.

My recipe for DAK’s Colombia, Nuna for filter

Origami Dripper: I’m really digging this brewer. It’s super versatile and really good. You can use it with both V60 and Kalita (flat bottom) filters so it’s basically a combination of both. And it looks really pretty.

I used 12g of coffee ground medium-fine (22 clicks on the Comandante). Natural-processed coffees brew faster than washed coffees if you use the same grind size so you need to go a bit finer to avoid underextraction. Add 48g of water at 95ºC and bloom for 30-45 seconds. Then add the remaining water in one continuous pour to avoid too much temperature loss. Swirl the brewer around to dislodge any grounds stuck to the side or use a small ladle.

Total brew time should be around 2:15 minutes.

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DAK’s recipe for filter:

We are big fans of using the Origami dripper with Kalita filters for this coffee. Start with 16g of ground coffee (we use a setting of around 4-4.5 on the Fellow ODE), and water heated at 93ºC. Bloom using 50g of water for 45 seconds, gently stir to ensure all grounds are wet. At 45 seconds, continue pouring 110g until 1:30 minutes.

Gently tap and swirl the dripper after the pour. At 1:30 miniutes, finish pouring the remaining 100g, for a total of 260g. Total brew time should be between 2:45 – 2:50 minutes.

DAK’s recipe for espresso:

3:1 ratio. 18 – 20g of finely ground coffee, for 54 – 60ml out in 30 seconds.

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Ernst Kaffeeröster’s recipe for filter:

V60: 17g, 270ml, 30g. Bloom for 30 seconds. 270g continuously brew full amount of water up to 1:10 minutes, wait 10 seconds, give your coffee a soft swirl, brew should be finished at 2:30 minutes.

Kalita: 16g, 260ml. 45g at 30 seconds, 100g  at 1:00 minute, 150g at 1:30 minutes, 200g at 2:00 minutes, 260g at 2:30 minutes, finish at 2:45 minutes.

Ernst Kaffeeröster’s recipe for espresso:

18g input, 32 seconds extraction time. 45g yield.

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Vannelli Coffee’s recipe for filter:

Ratio 1:15. Personally we do 20g of coffee for 300g of water. The water that we use is between 50 to 80 ppm.

Vannelli Coffee’s recipe for espresso:

We suggest to start with a basic recipe: 20g in for 40g out and between 20 to 25 seconds extraction. The water that we use is around 150 ppm.