When we first moved to San Francisco, our favorite weekend activity was to start our day with a phenomenal local coffee roast from one of the many amazing coffee shops in San Francisco (e.g. Andytown, Ritual, Flywheel, Four Barrel, Sightglass, or Snowbird). However, we have recently been searching for more economic and sustainable ways to move this process in house. Here are a few methods that we have particularly enjoyed.
Bialetti Espresso
Thanks to the Bialetti, espresso is now our daily staple. Making coffee with the Bialetti Moka Express is super easy and does not require purchasing a super fancy espresso machine.
- Grind coffee beans on a fine setting (8 on the Baratza Encore). For the 3 cup pot, grind 3 tbsp of whole beans.
- Fill the base to the valve with cold water.
- Assemble the pot.
- Heat over medium-low heat on the stove.
- Remove from heat when you hear the water bubbling.
Additional Thoughts:
- We own the 3 cup Moka Express. Since you cannot adjust the output, we recommend going small when deciding which size to purchase to avoid unnecessary waste.
- Alternative brew guides can be found at Blue Bottle & Illy.
Chemex Coffee Maker
When we lived overseas, we never bought a coffee maker because we thought it would be wasteful to spend money on something with a non-transferable plug. Instead, we made coffee everyday using a Chemex. Today, we have moved away from daily reliance on this laborious method. However, it remains our favorite preparation method for specialty roasts.
- Boil 700g of water.
- Grind 45g of coffee beans (24 on the Baratza Encore).
- Rinse the paper filter with hot water, discard the rinse water, & add the coffee to the filter.
- Slowly add the first 100g of water and use a spoon to saturate the grounds.
- At the 45 second mark, slowly add 300g of water in an even circular pattern.
- At the 2 minute 30 second mark, slowly add the remaining 300g of water.
Additional Thoughts:
- Using a Chemex is also a fun reason to buy interesting coffee making equipment such as a Chemex Six Cup Carafe, Hario kettle, & Hario Ceramic Coffee Mill or Baratza Encore burr grinder.
- An alternative brew guide can be found at Blue Bottle.
French Press
While the French Press is a classic, it has never really made it into our daily rotation for making hot coffee. Actually, I usually use it to make cold brew coffee, and I hope to publish a post later with more information. Here, I just want to include a method for making
- Boil water & grind coffee beans (30 on the Baratza Encore). I recommend grinding 6.5g of whole beans coffee for every 100g of water.
- Add coffee beans and then the boiled water.
- After 1 minute, stir the coffee grounds and place lid on top of press.
- After 4 minutes, press the filter down and serve.
Additional Thoughts:
- Alternative brew guides can be found at Blue Bottle & Illy.
Turkish Coffee
I have been eager to add Turkish coffee to our lineup for a few years and am really excited that we finally obtained a Turkish coffee pot (cezve) recently.
- 2 tbsp finest ground coffee beans (1 on the Baratza Encore)
- 2 tsp fine sugar
- 1 cardamom pod (cracked)
- 1 cup cold water
Add all ingredients to the pot or a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and spoon the froth into two small mugs. Return the pan to the heat. When the coffee starts to rise to the top again, remove from the heat and fill up the cups.
Additional Thoughts:
- An alternative brew guide can be found at Illy.