Brewing - Details

In the shop. Not all commercial brewing equipment is created equal. Some manufacturers do make the right stuff, but you still have to use it properly. A full tutorial in brewing is beyond the scope of a web page, but here are the five most frequent problems -- and some solutions -- to get you started on a better cup.

The most frequent problem I see in brewing coffee is not using the right proportion of coffee to water. The correct proportion is 3.8 oz of coffee to 64 oz (1/2 gallon) of water. There's some leeway in that number -- say, 3.5 to 4.25 oz per 1/2 gal -- but if you're using less than 3 oz, you're better off buying on price and avoiding specialty coffee altogether.

Solutions: Weigh the coffee for each brew. Start with 3.8 oz/half-gallon.

The second most frequent problem is not getting the water hot enough. It should be 200 F ± 5 F. Modern electronic thermostats can do better (± 2 F), but many older brewers (which use mechanical thermostats) can't reach 200 F without boiling over, so they're set to 190-195. Worse, that's where the brew cycle starts; toward the end of the cycle, the water may be 10 degrees colder still.

Solutions: Set the mechanical thermostat as high as possible without boiling the water in the tank. Use a brewer with an electronic thermostat. Use a larger brewer that has a larger water tank.

Third is not keeping the water in contact with the coffee long enough to extract all the flavor. In a drip brewer, the contact time should be 4 - 5 minutes. That is, the time from when you push the "Start" button until the last of the coffee runs out of the basket, should be 4 - 5 minutes. The usual problem is that the depth of coffee in the basket is too shallow so the water runs through too fast; Bunn half-gallon brewers (STS-types for example) are notorious for their wide, shallow brew baskets.

Solutions: Use a deeper and/or narrower brew basket to give a greater bed depth of ground coffee. Try using a finer grind which will expose more surface area of the coffee particles to the water.

Fourth, spray heads (where the water sprays over the ground coffee) that don't soak the ground coffee evenly. Most American Metalware, Bunn, and FETCO spray heads are OK, but they do require maintenance, especially earlier FETCO units. The older Bloomfield brewers are the worst; they "drill" a hole through the center of the grounds and leave the edges dry. If you have an older Bloomfield brewer with the flat plate spray head, a better one is available free from us, just for asking.

Solutions: Replace the spray head. Clean or fix the one you have. Replace the brewer.

If all else fails, read the instructions. Check out The Coffee Brewing Handbook by Ted R. Lingle, an SCAA publication that has more than you ever wanted to know about brewing coffee. Available from the SCAA Resource Center. And check out the links to other useful coffee sites.

Remember, you still need a brew analysis to make sure everything is right, but the tips above will get you closer than you were. The bad news is you may need new brewing equipment or a new approach to brewing to get it all right, but the good news is the coffee will taste better

At home. The best way to brew coffee at home is to use a French press (also called a melior or "press-pot"). They're relatively inexpensive and available in many sizes from 1-cup up. The French press fixes all of the common brewing problems at once:

	It's easy to get the proportion right: use two (2) tablespoons of coffee to one (1) cup of water. Use level tablespoons and an ordinary coffee cup (which holds about 6 oz of water, not an 8 oz measuring cup). In metric terms, that's 10g of coffee per 170 ml of water.
	Boil the water to get it hot enough, then pour it over the coffee in the press.
	Stir the grounds into the water to saturate them thoroughly. Let it stand for 3 minutes. Push the top down and serve. If there's any left over, put it in a thermos to keep it hot.